Swimming in Caves


Most people know about cenotes on the Yukatan peninsula. These are collapse dolines, mostly circular with vertical wall, which allow access to the waterfilled cave system below. Hundreds of them are used for bathing, a ladder or staircase was built, some have electric light if necessary, and there is a ramp or ladder to enter the water. Most people do not realize that they are swimming inside a cave.

Swimming in caves is necessary if you are a caver and want to explore a river cave. Most caves in temperate zones have water temperature between 5 and 15 °C, swimming is quite dangerous and may lead to hypothermia. A good thing is using a neoprene diving suit. However, that’s not the topic of this page, which is actually about leisure.

What we are talking about here are caves which have a natural or artificial swimming pool inside. This works only in countries which are very hot, where the average temperature is probably 25 °C, then the water has the same temperature. Then it is actually not cold, its refreshing and a relief. It’s also possible in countries with lower temperature if the water in the spring is thermal water.

And finally a word of bathing in tropical countries: for westerners that’s a bad idea. It’s a bad idea for the locals too, but they have no alternative. There is a bunch of sicknesses which you may get from the water, parasites which drill through the skin. Most common is schistosomiasis or “bilharziasis”. But also a bunch of other infections are caused by infections from the water. All those germs die in saltwater though, which is the reason why it is possible to go bathing at the sea in all countries. In general, running water is much better than stagnant water, and caves are better than outdoors. But actually this is only a numerical difference, the diseases you can get are basically the same.