Located in Hays County, Texas, about an hour outside of Austin, is a submerged sinkhole fed by a natural spring known as Jacob's Well. The well draws both those looking for some cool water to splash around in, and adrenaline junkies willing to risk it all for the thrill of exploration.
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00:00Located in Hayes County, Texas, about an hour outside of Austin, is a submerged sinkhole
00:05fed by a natural spring known as Jacob's Well.
00:09The well draws both those looking for some cool water to splash around in and adrenaline
00:13junkies willing to risk it all for the thrill of exploration.
00:16If you dive deep into the sinkhole, you'll find an underwater cave system whose siren
00:20song has led multiple divers to their deaths.
00:23According to Heather Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, at least a dozen divers have died
00:28attempting to explore the cave system, which can be accessed at 100 feet down the sinkhole.
00:33Alexander spoke to Don Dibble, a diver local to Hayes County, who has assisted in searches
00:38for missing explorers in the cave system.
00:40Explaining why so many people have risked their lives at Jacob's Well, Dibble said,
00:45"...it was the forbidden fruit, the allure of doing something dangerous."
00:49Or as Patrick Swayze's Bodhi put it in Point Break,
00:52"...if you want the ultimate, you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price."
00:57Unlike Bodhi, though, there's nothing sexy about the tragedies at Jacob's Well.
01:01On September 9, 1979, a group of friends from California arrived at Jacob's Well for a diving
01:07excursion.
01:08It was almost midnight, but as the group set up their tents, two of them, 20-year-old Kent
01:12Maupin and 21-year-old Mark Brashear, decided they wanted to squeeze in a quick dive before
01:18bed.
01:19At about the late hour, there were other divers at the site who saw the two men descend to
01:23the depths of the well and maneuver themselves through the tight opening to the cave's deepest
01:27chamber, which required them to take off their oxygen tanks and pull them in separately.
01:32It was reported that one of the divers who witnessed the two disappear into the chamber
01:36noted that the men didn't have backup lights or a safety light.
01:40He said he attempted to get their attention by flashing his own light at them, but that
01:43they didn't acknowledge his warning.
01:45Neither man resurfaced.
01:47Other divers, including Don Dibble, spent weeks attempting to recover their bodies,
01:51but were unable to traverse the treacherous passage that kept the men trapped at the bottom
01:55of Jacob's Well.
01:57After his efforts to recover Maupin and Brashear's bodies, Dibble installed a grate over the
02:02entrance to the cave system in an attempt to keep more people from risking their lives.
02:06However, when he made a subsequent dive to check on the barrier several months later,
02:10the grate had been removed and a note left that read, quote,
02:13You can't keep us out.
02:15Maupin and Brashear are two of the many who have lost their lives in Jacob's Well.
02:19Maupin, at least, was an experienced diver who had been at it since he was 12 and was
02:23already a certified dive instructor.
02:25What about the well is so hazardous that it claims the lives of even experienced divers?
02:30In a 2001 article on Visit Wimberley, author Louis Bond laid out the various difficulties
02:36of navigating the cave system.
02:38In addition to extremely narrow passageways between the various chambers, Bond also refers
02:42to a, quote, false chimney, of which he says,
02:45It appears to be a way out of the well, but has trapped at least one diver.
02:50In deeper caverns, tight spaces combined with gravel and silt flooring can make visibility
02:55a major issue, particularly if the divers aren't careful not to stir up the loose material.
02:59A more serious grate has been installed to keep non-authorized divers from the temptation
03:04of exploring the dangerous depths of the well, but it didn't prevent 21-year-old diver Diego
03:09Adame from near catastrophe in 2015.
03:12Adame was doing a free dive and had descended to around 100 feet when one of his flippers
03:17came off, greatly reducing his mobility.
03:19With his adrenaline surging and his lungs screaming for oxygen, Adame made the decision
03:23to leave the lost piece of equipment and try to surface with just one flipper.
03:27Thankfully for Adame, his dive training kicked in and he managed to remain calm and focused.
03:32He surfaced just as his body began to run out of oxygen and avoided becoming another
03:36casualty of Jacob's Well.