(birds chirping)
- [Narrator] Here where there is not a lake, river,
or stream for hundreds of miles,
there are small openings in the jungle, called cenotes.
(dramatic music)
Sources of water that could support whole cities.
(dramatic music)
No wonder the Maya attributed a spiritual power
to their mysterious underground water source.
Camila Jaber has her own special relationship
with the Maya's underwater water world.
She's a freediver.
She's actually Mexico's national record holder.
She went down deep.
- 56 meters, no fins.
- [Narrator] On a single breath.
- Yeah.
- [Narrator] For a long time.
- It means it's a dive of around
two minutes and thirty seconds, more or less,
up and down, down and up.
I grew up diving in the cenotes.
So, I go back very often.
For the Mayan culture, it was a portal to another world
where their souls went.
And they were used for sacrifices,
asking for rain from the Gods.
And it was a sacred place.
(ethereal music)
- [Narrator] If you want to access this world,
you have to dive 200 feet down
on a single breath, which is incredible.
But that's what freedivers do.
(ethereal music)
And if that wasn't enough, today,
Camila plans to dive into this errie,
toxic cloud at the bottom of the cenote.
(ethereal music)
- Frankly speaking, this is the most worrying thing
we can encounter cave diving.
- [Narrator] Vincent is accompanying Camila
as a safety diver.
- [Vincent] This is visually beautiful
but it's pretty toxic.
It has exactly the same affect as carbon monoxide.
So, it's not really a good thing to be swimming in for ages.
- [Narrator] Someone tell that to Camila.
(ethereal music)
(birds chirping)
(water splashing)
(tense music)
(water bubbling)
(tense music)
- [Vincent] Looks more like
dancing in the water than swimming.
I'm not really worried for her,
as long as she's not staying very long
in the hydrogen sulfite.
(tense music)
(ethereal music)
(water splashing)
(Camila inhaling)