The Devil's Throat (Spanish: La Garganta del Diablo)
[Greg Benchwick: Cancun and the Yucatan. Lonely Planet, 2010, ]
p.81
/ref> is an underwater cave formation near the island of Cozumel
Cozumel (; ) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The ...
, Mexico, at Punta Sur in the Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park; it starts at approximately of depth and opens up at approximately - right at the edge of recreational dive limits.
Overview
The Devil's Throat is considered a "must dive" experience by scuba divers visiting Cozumel. Yet, due to the depth and the fact that it is a cave, it is considered an advanced dive and can be dangerous to inexperienced divers as decompression stops may be necessary if progress through the cave is slow. If divers keep moving and do not stop during the dive, decompression stops are not normally needed; standard ascent rates and safety stops are sufficient for a safe ascent.
The name "Devil's Throat" specifically refers to a narrow tunnel dropping through the red coral reef structure at around 45 degree, from about to .[ However, the entire formation, part of the Punta Sur (Southern point) area, is also commonly referred to as The Devil's Throat. The formation includes an underwater cave referred to as Catedral (the Cathedral), which was known for its unusual cross-shaped ]sponge
Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...
formation in the ceiling of the cave, with a shaft of light from one of the tunnels backlighting the sponge cross. Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin and the second-most intense tropical cyclone in the Western Hemisphere, both based on barometric pressure, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Wilma's rapid intensifi ...
inflicted damage on portions of the Cozumel reef system, and the sponge was lost to that storm.
Risks
Divers who exceed the no-decompression limits may require a decompression stop
To prevent or minimize decompression sickness, divers must properly plan and monitor decompression. Divers follow a decompression model to safely allow the release of excess inert gases dissolved in their body tissues, which accumulated as ...
.
Other risks include nitrogen narcosis because most divers are using compressed air when diving at Cozumel and not trimix.
Diving the Devil's Throat requires use of an underwater light, and it is recommended that divers not scissor kick because it stirs up sediment which heavily obscures visibility. By some definitions, the dive may be considered a "cavern" rather than a "cave", because light can be seen from most points in the dive, though the openings are generally too small for a person to traverse.
References
Sea caves
Underwater diving sites in Cozumel
Landforms of Quintana Roo
Caves of Mexico
{{Caving-stub