In August 2012, my friend Ali (with whom it seems I have most of my adventures) told me that he had discovered a cave near Riyadh, that not only went deep underground, but that also had a mysterious underground lake at the bottom. His suggestion was that after our Eid break with his family in Bahrain, we should drive back and explore this interesting phenomenon.
We researched the spot online and found that the place had previously been explored by a number of people, but the last recorded visit seemed to be around 10 years ago. The cave was supposedly made up of several chambers, the first of which was a steep decline down to a point at the bottom where there was a small opening in the rock, through to a secondary chamber. Passing through this chamber into a third, brought the explorers to an underground lake around 100m wide, by 30m deep. The cave had been explored and dived before, but this only slightly deflated our desire to go and explore what we initially thought may have been a previously unexplored area.
Myself, Ali and Mido drove through the night from Bahrain and arrived in Riyadh in the early morning, where we met Tariq, who had been visiting family there. After some early morning tea, we hit the road again to find the cave.
The cave was called Ain Heet, 'ain' being the Arabic for eye. We had found the coordinates but as we drove, it seemed like we possibly wouldn't find it, until, as we turned a corner, we saw a magnificent cliff face in front of us. Excitedly, we got out of the car and jogged over to take a closer look. Sure enough, as we looked down towards what should have been the base of the cliff, we saw that it didn't meet the sand, but instead curved inwards to form a large, wide opening, shaped, interestingly, like an eye.
Apparently the cave had been subject to quite a number of geological surveys as it contains a layer of the rock (ahyndrite) that is commonly found when looking for evidence of oil. My understanding is that it is this kind of rock that provides a kind of 'cap' that seals the oil underneath, so if you find it, even without there being actual oil present, it is likely that there will be other areas where oil can be found in the locality.
Oil had already been discovered in other nearby parts of Saudi, but the discovery of the ahyndrite reignited the search for further deposits, leading to more discoveries.
We climbed down over a lot of loose rock, taking notice of the garbage around us. Mostly old plastic water bottles, and the graffiti on areas that just seemed unreachable. How do people manage to spray pain areas that seem humanly impossible to reach? It was sad to see, but thankfully did not deprive us of the sense of adventure that had been building up in anticipation of the trip. We could not see the bottom of the cave as the descent was so steep that the roof of the cave obscured our view.
As we continued on, we noticed that many pigeons seemed to have made this cave their home. We were hoping for bats, but it was nice to see that the cave was not entirely devoid of life. They seemed to have a pretty localised roosting section because we passed an area that was covered in bird faeces. We navigated around it and continues our descent.
Eventually we reached a point where we noticed that things were much darker and we could tell that there was a flat, black surface below us. We could see the water and negotiated our way down to its edge.
We were surprised to find it so soon however. The information had said that the water was to be found through several chambers, but we were still in the first. We considered that if you can find an underground lake in the middle of the desert, then it isn't at all impossible that the water may have risen. It was also possible, we thought, that cave had collapsed slightly, opening a way to the lake without having to negotiate the chambers.
The first thing that we noticed was that the surface of the water was covered in what looked like a fine dust. We couldn't be certain what it was and at first it deterred us from continuing further. If the roof had collapsed, then it wasn't impossible, we reasoned, that this could be left over from such an event.We also noticed man made debris floating on the surface of the water. As we discussed it, we were anxious that this meant that the water was not as pure as we had expected. We managed to clear some of the 'dust' to discover that below, the water looked crystal clear. Ali and I made the decision to go in.
We quickly changed into our swimming gear and got our masks, fins, and underwater torches ready. Ali was first in and he took the gradual route, wading from the shallower end. I sat, perched on the edge and pushed myself forward into the cool water. Tariq stood by the side debating with himself as to whether to join us as he was suspicious of the dust layer on top.
What we saw below was incredible. The water seemed to disappear down for a surprising depth. Our torches could not shine light so far. The area that I accessed the water from was a massive boulder that was perched against the wall at the side. It was an inviting route for exploration but required us to return with diving gear and an experienced cave diver. There is no way we would have risked free diving down and underneath, with the possibility of being trapped under the rock.
Tariq's resolve soon gave in as we told him that the water was so clear beneath. He was keen to join us and quickly was swimming around and gazing at the fascinating sights below, all anxiety gone.
We swam around for 10 minutes, had our photos taken by Mido who stayed on the side. We talked about ways we could go back to explore some more, finding a cave diver friend and taking some equipment to clean the place up. We were truly fascinated and we were excited about our return visit.
At this point we dressed again (well most of us), and began the climb back out of the cave to make our return trip to Jeddah, a 9 hour drive away. We talked and joked about the return visit.
Prior to making the trip we conducted some online research, however there was apparently very little information on the cave. Saudi people, in general, do not explore terribly much, unless it is to find a camping spot to stop and eat. This is a huge generalisation, but what it means is that there is not a lot of information on places such as this, and what there is, seemed hard to find.
We talked about taking water samples, but didn't know who we could find to analyse them. We discussed caving safety and took some ropes with us, but in the end did not need to use them as we remained in the main chamber. We were simply a group of friends, interested in trying new things and looking for adventure. The experience has made me keen to look into caving as a potential pass time. There are apparently a number of places in Saudi that are ready to be explored. The challenge now is to find the people who can help me make this a reality.
What I have also discovered now though, is that research is invaluable. I must say however, that I was not expecting what I found, when I was looking for the previous sources of information to list in my blog.
It turns out that in 2011, a team explored the cave, having heard about the rise in water level themselves, and keen to find out more for themselves. They discovered that the water had risen about 27m. Apparently a lake had been formed, 7km away to the North, on the outskirts of Riyadh. It seems that water from the lake has found its way into the cave, through something called a karst, resulting in the rising of the water level and what it turns out was not a dust layer, but rather a bacterial slime as the lake near Riyadh is in fact filled with sewage.
Needless to say, that it is unlikely that we will ever be diving in this fascinating underwater lake again. It adds to my sense of dismay, that beautiful, unique places like this however, are subject to such destruction by man.
http://www.saudicaves.com/hitvideo/index.html
http://www.splendidarabia.com/location/riyadh/heet/
http://www.sgs.org.sa/English/earth/Pages/CavesExploring.aspx
http://www.saudicaves.com/sewage/index.html
We researched the spot online and found that the place had previously been explored by a number of people, but the last recorded visit seemed to be around 10 years ago. The cave was supposedly made up of several chambers, the first of which was a steep decline down to a point at the bottom where there was a small opening in the rock, through to a secondary chamber. Passing through this chamber into a third, brought the explorers to an underground lake around 100m wide, by 30m deep. The cave had been explored and dived before, but this only slightly deflated our desire to go and explore what we initially thought may have been a previously unexplored area.
Myself, Ali and Mido drove through the night from Bahrain and arrived in Riyadh in the early morning, where we met Tariq, who had been visiting family there. After some early morning tea, we hit the road again to find the cave.
Apparently the cave had been subject to quite a number of geological surveys as it contains a layer of the rock (ahyndrite) that is commonly found when looking for evidence of oil. My understanding is that it is this kind of rock that provides a kind of 'cap' that seals the oil underneath, so if you find it, even without there being actual oil present, it is likely that there will be other areas where oil can be found in the locality.
Oil had already been discovered in other nearby parts of Saudi, but the discovery of the ahyndrite reignited the search for further deposits, leading to more discoveries.
As we continued on, we noticed that many pigeons seemed to have made this cave their home. We were hoping for bats, but it was nice to see that the cave was not entirely devoid of life. They seemed to have a pretty localised roosting section because we passed an area that was covered in bird faeces. We navigated around it and continues our descent.
Eventually we reached a point where we noticed that things were much darker and we could tell that there was a flat, black surface below us. We could see the water and negotiated our way down to its edge.
The first thing that we noticed was that the surface of the water was covered in what looked like a fine dust. We couldn't be certain what it was and at first it deterred us from continuing further. If the roof had collapsed, then it wasn't impossible, we reasoned, that this could be left over from such an event.We also noticed man made debris floating on the surface of the water. As we discussed it, we were anxious that this meant that the water was not as pure as we had expected. We managed to clear some of the 'dust' to discover that below, the water looked crystal clear. Ali and I made the decision to go in.
What we saw below was incredible. The water seemed to disappear down for a surprising depth. Our torches could not shine light so far. The area that I accessed the water from was a massive boulder that was perched against the wall at the side. It was an inviting route for exploration but required us to return with diving gear and an experienced cave diver. There is no way we would have risked free diving down and underneath, with the possibility of being trapped under the rock.
Tariq's resolve soon gave in as we told him that the water was so clear beneath. He was keen to join us and quickly was swimming around and gazing at the fascinating sights below, all anxiety gone.
We swam around for 10 minutes, had our photos taken by Mido who stayed on the side. We talked about ways we could go back to explore some more, finding a cave diver friend and taking some equipment to clean the place up. We were truly fascinated and we were excited about our return visit.
We talked about taking water samples, but didn't know who we could find to analyse them. We discussed caving safety and took some ropes with us, but in the end did not need to use them as we remained in the main chamber. We were simply a group of friends, interested in trying new things and looking for adventure. The experience has made me keen to look into caving as a potential pass time. There are apparently a number of places in Saudi that are ready to be explored. The challenge now is to find the people who can help me make this a reality.
What I have also discovered now though, is that research is invaluable. I must say however, that I was not expecting what I found, when I was looking for the previous sources of information to list in my blog.
Needless to say, that it is unlikely that we will ever be diving in this fascinating underwater lake again. It adds to my sense of dismay, that beautiful, unique places like this however, are subject to such destruction by man.
http://www.saudicaves.com/hitvideo/index.html
http://www.splendidarabia.com/location/riyadh/heet/
http://www.sgs.org.sa/English/earth/Pages/CavesExploring.aspx
http://www.saudicaves.com/sewage/index.html
Lovely...until the sting in the tail.
ReplyDeleteYou write about thinking of going back to clear the litter. What about going back to put up a sign saying that the water is contaminated, in suitable languages?
I hope you keep well.
DH
Haha, not a bad idea Dunc. I might look into it. At the moment I am just laughing away about it and hoping there are no long lasting effects.
Delete