El Hipodromo
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
This cave is approximately 2 kilometers from the Hippodromo racetrack near the Santo Domingo airport, you will need local knowledge to get there. There is a parking on a large vacant lot with a large metal sliding gate, this is guarded and cars and belongings are safe if parked here.
Stairs lead down to the edge of the sink, the entrance is huge, one of the largest looking sinkholes on the island, about the size of a baseball field, there are huge decorations above the entrance in the dry part and it is worth the trip just to see.
This is a very poplar swimming site and is usually full of people especially on week ends, this is a very rowdy crowd, many drinking, jumping in the water and hanging out but people are very friendly and the vibe although extremely loud and wild is almost always cool.
The locals are all keen on finding out what cave diving is all about and will ask a million questions, questions such as: are there sharks in there?, what does it look like?, aren’t you scared of being eaten by sharks? does this connect to the sea etc.. take the time to talk to people about what caves are and why it is important to conserve them.
The mainline starts about 12 meters down, the cave is massive and unless you have a 24W HID you probably will have a hard time seeing the walls, there is a pronounced halocline and since very few people dive here it will percolate.
What this cave lacks in decorations is more than made up for by impressive looking sharp eroded rock and sheer size.