Freediving Jacob’s Well

There are an abundance of great swimming holes in Texas, and Jacob’s Well is unique amongst them.
Beautiful crystal clear water that is a constant 72 degrees, it can be down right chilly even in the dead of summer. It’s also remarkably deadly. 8 scuba divers have died exploring it’s extensive cave system causing the caves to be grated and padlocked. But you can still freedive it!

Jacob’s Well is a spring in Hays County, an hour or so southwest of Austin, near the towns of Wimberley and Dripping Springs. The well is fed by the Trinity Aquifer, which pushes up its water through the well and spills it into nearby Cypress Creek.

That cool water has lured locals and visitors to the Hill Country spot for hundreds of years. And, for almost that long, Jacob’s Well has been a siren call for the adventurous, too. Daredevils leap from a nearby outcropping into the slim opening of the well. Free-divers probe the well, sometimes as deep as 100 feet, maneuvering into thin openings into underwater caves. Even SCUBA divers, on occasion, make forays into what the Jacob’s Well Exploration Project calls a “challenging, unforgiving environment.”

What’s considered serious fun for some — lounging around on the lip of the well, escaping the heat, spending time with friends — is a lifestyle to others. And it can be a deadly lifestyle.

Diego Adame, a 21-year-old from San Antonio, lost a flipper free-diving the caves deep in the well last July and had to cut away his weight belt to make it back to the surface before his breath ran out. He even captured a part of the dive on video.

“For a split second,” he told the San Antonio Express-News, “I thought of death and myself dying that day.”

At least eight or nine people have died at Jacob’s Well — the exact number is hard to come by — which has prompted some people to call it one of the most dangerous diving spots in the world. Two young Texas men were caught in one of the well’s caves and drowned in 1979. One diver’s remains were flushed out of the well in 1981. The other’s remains weren’t recovered until 2000.

Writer Louie Bond tells some of the well’s story on the visitwimberley site, in a piece called, “The Fatal Allure of Jacob’s Well.” He describes at least four caves deep in the well, some with openings so narrow that divers have to remove their tanks to get through. Bond also describes the recovery of one of the well’s victims in 2000, made by a diver from the San Marcos Area Recovery TeamL

“You couldn’t tell up from down, left from right,” Kathy Misiaszek says. “You couldn’t see your gauges. You were scraping the bottom and banging your tanks on the top. You had nothing to fall back on except your training. We were rather relieved to get out.”

The danger beneath is belied by the beauty of the place. But even up top, Jacob’s Well can be dangerous for those who make it that way.

The well, by at least one estimate, is only about 13 feet wide at the opening. Yet many wannabe daredevils climb to the rocks overlooking the opening and jump straight into the well, into the upward current. Some dive. Some do flips.

All of that is forbidden by the Hays County Park Department. But, as many YouTube videos show, those rules aren’t often obeyed.

In that part of Texas in August, temperatures routinely hover around 97 degrees during the heat of the day. Many days push higher than 100. In fact, in the hottest of summers, that part of Texas can string together days and days of 100+ temperatures.

If you’re looking for relief from the heat, Jacob’s Well is a great place to get it. If adventure is what you’re after, though, you should make sure cooler heads prevail.

It’s a rush, so venture forth to Wimberley Texas and have a freediving adventure!