Sistema Sin Nombre and Duck Pond, Cozumel, Mexico

February 2011 Exploration and Survey Trip

Overview

Duck Pond and Sistema Sin Nombre are two recently explored and named caves in Cozumel, Mexico.  Sistema Sin Nombre was first entered by Adam McDowell in June 2010 using a monkey diving configuration and limiting himself to a 50 foot spool.  After Adam saw the potential, he and Mike Young made the first dive using a side mount configuration.  Earlier attempts had been made using back mount but the entrance was too tight to allow a back mount dive.  Subsequent to this dive, Adam and Mike guided eight of us into the cave where each of us had the opportunity to explore virgin cave and lay line.

While the rest of us were diving Sistema Sin Nombre, Slim (Marc Leonard) made a dive in a small pond, subsequently named Duck Pond, that was about 200 feet away.  Slim’s dive revealed another cave.  However, as close as the two entrances were for these two caves, a connection between the two was not made.

In September 2010, Adam, Mike, Slim, and others returned to Cozumel to explore these two caves again.  During this visit, the owner of Sistema Sin Nombre did not allow the team to enter.  However, the owner of the Duck Pond did allow the team to enter and explore more passage.  During this trip, the team was able to survey new passage with still more leads to explore.  Still, a connection was not made to Sistema Sin Nombre; however, the team was able to survey the cave to within 50 feet of the ocean.

Plans are to return to the two sites February 11 thru 18, 2010 with the primary purpose to explore more leads, continue to survey the caves, and hopefully to connect the two caves.

Project Team: Mike Young, Adam McDowell, Slim (Marc Leonard), Jon Lillestolen, Barbara am Ende, Mike Bartlett, Charles Studley, Sandy Robinson, Michael Angelo G, Mike Wright.

National Association for Cave Diving, PO Box 14492, Gainesville, FL 32604, Telephone and Fax: 386-497-3011