Chapada Diamantina, Bahia
Lapa Doce
Info · exploration
Expeditions only: the sumps are explored by Brazilian cave divers with permission from the owner or the managers; no operator takes visiting divers.
- Max depth25 m
- CertificationFull cave
- SpecialExperienced divers
Diving and fills
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Now at Lapa Doce
The dive
A dry system of huge passages full of formations, where the groundwater, the Poço do Lima, surfaces in some twenty places. In some wells the water is 25 m deep and passages branch off underwater.
Profile and sections
A dry system of huge passages full of formations, where the groundwater, the Poço do Lima, surfaces in some twenty places. In some wells the water is 25 m deep and passages branch off underwater. A catfish found only here lives in the water.
Lapa Doce I is 9,300 m long, Lapa Doce II 16,500 m. In 2021 a team of Brazilian cave divers, with XDEEP's support, connected the two caves through a tricky underwater passage and then the northern section through the Jorge Lima siphon. The farm with the caves belongs to the family of Simpliciano de Oliveira Lima, the well-known Brazilian caver.
Practical: information only; no operator takes divers.
- Depth and profile
- In some wells the water is 25 m deep; depths of the sumps are not published.
- Configuration
- Expedition dives: gear carried through dry cave to the water.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Configuration unknown — research beforehand
- Goes down to 25 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
On the Lapa Doce farm near Iraquara: a trail across the semi-arid plain to a large sinkhole, and a steep path down to the entrance. The cave is a show cave with guides; the water lies deeper in the system.
Around Lapa Doce
FillsNo fill station known nearby
No provider in the Chapada Diamantina yet
The caves here are listed as information only: we don't know a dive centre, guide or club yet that takes visitors, so you can't plan a trip here yet. Do you know one, or are you one? Let us know.