The Car Wash Crocodile Rock

Car Wash Crocodile Rock

What would you do if you returned from a dive to encounter a crocodile floating on the surface between you and the exit? Jason Brown was in no doubt – take lots of photos!

Feature Details

Author:

Jason Brown

Publication Date:

April 2013

Publication:

Sport Diver UK

Feature catagory:

Wildlife

Photo Gallery #1:

Morelot's Crocodile

Photo Gallery #2:

Yucatan, Mexico

This feature and all images are copyright © Jason Brown and may not be republished, reproduced or copied in any form without the express written permission of the author. This feature and all images are available to licence.

As divers, our logbooks provide rich pickings for a good dinner party story – from that close call you had with a particularly territorial trigger fish to the death-defying joys of zero viz diving off the South Coast of the UK (what’s the point of a good story if you’re not going to embellish it just a little?). Recently, though, I got to add a thrilling new experience to my log book that I know I’ll be trotting out at dinner parties for years to come – I got to dive with a live crocodile in open water.

For most, it’s the stuff of nightmares but it proved to be an exhilarating experience that none us that were in the water that day would ever forget. Few animals that we divers can potentially encounter conjure up such deep, primeval fear within us as the positively prehistoric crocodile – even our dives with Bull Sharks off the coast of Puerto Del Carmen days before didn’t quite excite the same rush as diving with a living dinosaur!

Crocodiles and Caiman

Crocodiles and caiman aren’t unusual in Mexico but seeing them – particularly adults – is very rare indeed as they tend to be surprisingly shy animals. Mexico is home to two different types of crocodile – the American crocodile found in lagoons and swamps along the west coast and the Morelet’s crocodile that inhabits the shores and waterways of the Yucatan Peninsula.

"The surface layer of water at Car Wash is normally a thick green soup during the summer months so what could be lurking unseen in there is quite a sobering thought."

Our party of three had journeyed to the Yucatan to dive the beautiful cenotes that pepper the jungle landscape. On this particular day, we headed to Car Wash cenote which is located on the Coba road approximately 15 minutes north of Tulum and south of Puerto Del Carmen.

Car Wash was one of the very first cenotes to be discovered and dived by early cave explorers as it quite literally lays just a few metres from the roadside. The story goes that it got its name as the local taxi drivers would take their cars there to wash off the dust and dirt from the bumpy Mexican roads. The more romantic may prefer the Mayan name for the cenote – ‘Aktun Ha’ which literally translates as ‘Cave Water’.

Low profile resident

Under the watchful eye of local guide and friend Auré Naudinat, our party of three had just returned from a cavern dive at Car Wash when we spotted the crocodile lazily floating on the surface of the head pool. Auré had already tipped us off when we’d first arrived at Car Wash that it wasn’t unusual to spot a solitary crocodile hiding in the reeds that line the water’s edge but he’d kept a decidedly low profile when we entered the water.

The surface layer of water at Car Wash is normally a thick green soup during the summer months so what could be lurking unseen in there is quite a sobering thought.

Presented with the silhouette of a crocodile in the distance, I’m under no illusion that most sane people would have quietly exited the water but not us – we wanted to get up close and personal with this magnificent animal. In truth, our crocodile wasn’t of a size that would pose us any real threat but it’s presence still conjured up the same deep, primeval fears that most of us feel around one of nature’s most successful predators. And anyway, I felt fairly sure that the rest of the party would prove to be far easier targets than myself – I, after all, was the only one of us shielded by a large DSLR system!

As we approached the crocodile from below, I suspected that our bubbles would cause the animal to take flight but our toothy acquaintance seemed totally unphased by our approach. Even as we circled below it and came within inches of the surface, the young crocodile ignored us as I snapped off photo after photo.

Toothy threat display

Our guide Aure had dived Car Wash many times but even for him this was a glorious first – the crocodile displayed no fear or aggression and was quite happy to share the pool with us. Despite his limited size and non aggressive demeanor, the presence of those impressive teeth lining the full length of its jaw served as a useful reminder that it would probably still be wise not box our new friend in. If he’d felt threatened, we’d soon know about it - like many species of crocodile, Morelet's warn off those that get too close by opening their jaws in a threat display that definitely wouldn’t be misunderstood.

Being in the water with this magnificent animal was a truly humbling experience for us all that day. Whilst our scaly friend was still very much a juvenile in crocodile terms, the experience was no less thrilling. It may have been over all too quickly but the photos I got that day will bring the memories flooding back for years to come…

External Links

Tulum Tourism

Underworld Tulum

Zero Gravity Dive Center