The Quintana Roo Speleological Survey (QRSS) is a special project of the National Speleological Society

National Speleological Society

The National Speleological Society is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally located in Washington D.C., its current offices are in Huntsville, Alabama...

. It supports safe exploration, survey and cartography of the underwater and dry cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

s and cenote

Cenote

A cenote is a deep natural pit, or sinkhole, characteristic of Mexico and Central America, resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock that exposes groundwater underneath...

s of Quintana Roo

Quintana Roo

Quintana Roo officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 10 municipalities and its capital city is Chetumal....

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The survey principally acts a data repository for explored sites within the state of Quintana Roo and distributes summary statistical tables through its webpage, which as of February, 2011 included 208 underwater cave systems with a total surveyed length of 910.4 kilometres (565.7 mi), and 50 caves above the water table with a total length of 41.8 kilometres (26 mi).

The geographical area for the data archived in the QRSS is essentially the whole of the state of Quintana Roo, which extends along the Caribbean coast of the Yucatán Peninsula

Yucatán Peninsula

The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...

, from Cancun

Cancún

Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...

 and south to the capital of Chetumal

Chetumal

Chetumal is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco...

 situated on the border with Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

. The explosive urban and tourism based development within the Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya

Riviera Maya, also known as the Mayan Riviera, is a tourism district following the coastal Highway 307 which parallels the Caribbean coastline of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located on the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula...

 and the Costa Maya

Costa Maya

Costa Maya is a small tourist region in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico, the only state with Caribbean Sea. This municipality is close to Chetumal on the border with Belize, until recently British Honduras...

 is leading to increasing and widespread environmental stresses. The documentation of the existence of the flooded and dry cave networks and cenotes provided by the QRSS is of fundamental importance in regional and site specific scale planning and management of development, water resources, waste disposal facilities, hazardous material handling site selection, and so forth. Certified cave divers

Cave diving

Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized equipment is used to enable the exploration of caves which are at least partially filled with water. In the United Kingdom it is an extension of the more common sport of caving, and in the United States an extension of the more common...

may obtain an information package on underwater survey and cartography opportunities in Quintana Roo.