Diving the Rio Verde

in Underwater by Marcelo Krause — September 30, 2010 at 3:56 PM | 5 comments

The Rio Verde’s headwater is located near the city of Itanorte, in the State of Mato Grosso. From there, the waters go north trough the rivers Sacre, Papagaio, Jurema, Tapajós until finally reaching the Amazon River. This dive site is near the city Campo Novo Do Parecis, and I had some help from my friends Rogério Perdigão e Jadilson Luis Souza. Verde in Portuguese means green; witch is the river water’s color. Despite the green tonality the water can be reasonable clear.  The dive is done on a “U”-shaped branch of the river that may be near 1900m in length. At the end of the dive we had to walk trough a short trail in order to get back to the starting point. The dive path has some interceptions and one should take care not to pass the ending point of the dive.  As such is recommended that the dive should be done only with divers who know the area well. The dive site is very seasonal, and should be visited during the dry season. During the wet season the rains might reduce the visibility. Most of the fish life consists of small fishes of the Amazon Basin.  The bigger ones are wolf fish that can be found hidden near the river margins. Another nice thing is to dive under some rapids as it very interesting to see them from under the water.

Below a small video and pictures from the dive. HD version is available on Vimeo.

Diving The Rio Verde from Marcelo Krause on Vimeo.