Mexico
Carwash
There is no mystery as to how this cenote got its name - it was actually used to wash taxis in the past (no longer). The open water area is sizeable and there can be lots of snorkellers, swimmers as well as divers. There is an up and downstream cave lines - downstream is home to the Satan's Silt Hole. As the name suggests, not something that I would ever want to dive again. Tight and silty rule the day.
Upstream passage opens up wide with massive formations with the reddish/brownish tint. The main line then leads to Adrianna's Room and a jump just past Luke's Hope cenote eventually leads to a somewhat tight and curvy passage that eventually opens up to two rooms named Crystal and Room of Tears. This room is spectacular, fantastic, unbelievable - all in one. Delicate formations all over the place, sodastraw on the ceilings, some intricate patterns on the walls.
Carwash also has one of the most spectacular cavern areas and resident turtles in the cenote.
The upstream main line is set about 400 ft into the cave and could be somewhat tricky to find. The cave is deepish (around 60ft +) in that area and the formations can only be described as massive - huge fangs of stalactites right at the entrance (which makes the cavern area so picturesque), then massive columns and stalagmites on the way to main line. Unlike the yellowish formations of Extabay and white Grand Cenote, rust hues are predominant colors at Carwash, although they did look reddish in the light of out HIDs.
Past the beginning of the mail line, the cave becomes progressively smaller and shallower as it shakes its way around Luke's Hope Cenote. The floor of the passage there is on a 45% angle. Past Luke's Hope, the cave narrows even further to what looked and felt like a restriction to me (especially with the camera). Little bit further after that restriction that cave opens up into a room from another world called Adrianna's Room.
When I first got to that room, I stopped in complete and utter amazement for the cave around me was markedly different from the cave I have just left a few seconds ago. One glance at the line, and amazement turned to big question mark for the yellow line was there no more - the line I was looking at was white. I was just beginning to wonder if we were in the same cave when my buddy saw my confusion and showed me the yellow to white line change that was just three feet behind me - I was so mesmerized by the change in surroundings that I missed the line change by 3 feet. Seeing the line change suddenly brought the cave map back into memory and I knew exactly where we were - Adrianna's room. That room was so beautiful and delicate that we had to move with extreme caution.
