Sonador I
Costa Norte, Dominican Republic
On October 9th 2015, in Yasica Arriba, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Speleological Society team members Patrick Widmann supported by Angel Compres Ramos and Phillip Lehman, using a specially modified Rebreather, extended the horizontal length of Nascimento del rio Sonador to half a kilometer distance and a current maximum depth of one hundred and one meters.
This makes Nascimento del rio Sonador (Primera Boca) officially the currently the deepest flooded cave of The Dominican Republic.
During this exploration dive Patrick discovered a large tunnel sloping steadily downwards, at 100 meters Patrick reached the planed maximum depth and turned the dive at the top of a massive boulder pile that disappeared even deeper and out of view.
Nascimento del Rio Sonador is a very challenging dive site due to the cave’s remote location. Access to and from the entrance takes almost an entire day with the help of various local people and their horses.
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Specialized equipment, such as electric underwater heating vests and hydraulic booster pumps to blend specialized deep diving gases will have to be used.
In addition to the many logistical challenges the team will have prepare specific procedures and protocols to allow them to safely further the exploration of Hispaniola’s deepest flooded cave.
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