Plenty of adventurers want to take on a challenge simply because it's difficult. If someone is told not to climb a mountain or explore a cave, they're only going to want to do it more. This has been the motivation of the divers who have tried to take on Jacob's Well, a Texas sinkhole that leads to an underwater cave system. Sadly, it has caused the deaths of multiple divers, and in some cases, rescue divers have been unable to retrieve their bodies. From the divers who have died to the reason it's so treacherous, let's take a look at the dangerous truth of Jacob's Well.
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00:00Located in Hayes County, Texas, about an hour outside of Austin,
00:04is a submerged sinkhole fed by a natural spring known as Jacob's Well.
00:09The well draws both those looking for some cool water to splash around in
00:12and adrenaline junkies 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. According to Heather Alexander of the Houston
00:26At least a dozen divers have died attempting to explore the cave system,
00:30which can be accessed at 100 feet down the sinkhole. Alexander spoke to Don Dibble,
00:35a diver local to Hayes County, who has assisted in searches for missing explorers in the cave system.
00:40Explaining why so many people have risked their lives at Jacob's Well,
00:44Dibble 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
01:06for a diving excursion. It was almost midnight, but as the group set up their tents, two of them,
01:1220-year-old Kent Maupin and 21-year-old Mark Brashear,
01:15decided they wanted to squeeze in a quick dive before bed.
01:18Despite the late hour, there were other divers at the site who saw the two men descend to the
01:23depths of the well and maneuver themselves through the tight opening to the cave's deepest chamber,
01:28which 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 line. He said he attempted to get
01:41their attention by flashing his own light at them, but that they didn't acknowledge his warning.
01:45Neither man resurfaced. Rescue divers, including Don Dibble, spent weeks attempting to recover
01:50their bodies, but were unable to traverse the treacherous passage that kept the men
01:55trapped at the bottom of Jacob's Well. After his efforts to recover Maupin and Brashear's bodies,
02:00Dibble installed a grate over the entrance to the cave system in an attempt to keep more
02:04people from risking their lives. However, when he made a subsequent dive to check on the barrier
02:09several months later, the grate had been removed and a note left that read, quote,
02:13"'You 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 already
02:24a certified dive instructor. What about the well is so hazardous that it claims the lives of even
02:29experienced divers? In a 2001 article on Visit Wembley, author Louis Bond laid out the various
02:35difficulties of navigating the cave system. In addition to extremely narrow passageways between
02:40the various chambers, Bond also refers to a, quote, "'false chimney,' of which he says,
02:45"'It 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. A more
03:00serious 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. Adame was doing a free dive and had descended to around 100
03:16feet when one of his flippers came off, greatly reducing his mobility. With his adrenaline surging
03:20and his lungs screaming for oxygen, Adame made the decision to leave the lost piece of equipment
03:25and try to surface with just one flipper. Thankfully for Adame, his dive training kicked
03:30in and he managed to remain calm and focused. He surfaced just as his body began to run out
03:35of oxygen and avoided becoming another casualty of Jacob's Well.