, Auditorium
Mexico has extensive karst landscapes which have been explored for many decades and continue to hold a plethora of new caves. For those exploring new locales, access is generally negotiated on a case-by-case basis with individual landowners. From Dec 14, 2025 to Jan 1, 2026, a group of 16 American and Mexican cavers travelled across north-eastern Mexico and surveyed a total of 2.7km of new cave passage across three states. The team started in the state of Nuevo Leon, where Sumidero de Pablillo was mapped to 445m. Near the town of Xilitla in San Luis Potosi, the team mapped two neighboring vertical caves which eventually connected deep underground to form Sistema Huapango at 820m total survey. Towards the end of the trip, the team traveled to the mountains near González in Tamaulipas, an area with enticing karst which has long been impractical to access for Americans. The longest cave found in the area was Cueva del Agua, at 317m. Another trip to the area has already been completed to dive the sump at the end of Cueva del Agua (which goes!) and there is much more to explore in the future!
Carl Haken