Are there underwater Mayan ruins?

Sistema Ox Bel Ha (270.2 km), Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich (67 km), and Sistema Dos Ojos (82.47 km) are the world's three longest operating underwater cave systems in the Riviera Maya. As they were said to represent entrances into the underworld (known as Xibalba), cenotes were once the holy places of the Mayans.



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Underwater caves exist either in limestone (formed by dissolving of the rock by weakly acidic groundwater) or in lava (created as lava tubes during volcanic eruptions).

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Hranice Abyss (Czech: Hranická propast) is the deepest flooded pit cave in the world. It is a karst sinkhole near the town of Hranice, Czech Republic. The greatest confirmed depth is 519.5 m (1,704 ft), of which 450 m (1,476 ft) is underwater.

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Many people think of the open sea as the domain of sharks, but perhaps surprisingly, several species of sharks prefer to inhabit caves and even small crevices in reefs. Certainly those species known as nurse sharks routinely wedge themselves under ledges when resting.

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Tulum has many beautiful traces of Mayan culture and history, much like the rest of the Yucatán Peninsula and Quintana Roo. Visiting Tulum is worth it simply for the experience of seeing the historical Tulum Ruins in person.

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From numerous depictions in murals and other works around the site, Tulum appears to have been an important site for the worship of the Diving or Descending god. Tulum was first mentioned by Juan Díaz, a member of Juan de Grijalva's Spanish expedition of 1518, the first Europeans to spot Tulum.

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By the end of the 16th century, Tulum was abandoned as European diseases and epidemics decimated the population. Archaeologists have evidence that the population was killed off by the Spaniards when they introduced Old World diseases into the area as a way to destroy the native population.

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The Wakulla System and now the combined Wakulla/Chip's System at more than 45 miles in length and 30 different entrances is the largest underwater cave system in the United States.

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