When mentioning the bottomless Jacob’s Well in Wimberley, Texas, residents there feel fearful as it has “swallowed” numerous people into its deep abyss.
To date, eight individuals have been recorded as perishing while attempting to explore this well, all of whom were experienced divers. However, this hasn’t deterred the curiosity of tourists who flock to the site daily in an attempt to uncover its depths.
Legend has it that at first glance, Jacob’s Well is a deep, dark hole brimming with water, nestled within a relatively tranquil stream. With a 4-meter-wide opening and crystal-clear water, it serves as a popular spot for local teenagers to gather and swim during hot summer days.
Jacob’s Well lies at the bottom of the stream, descending approximately 10 meters before expanding further into its mysterious depths, reaching an additional 40 meters. Yet, this still does not mark the end of this unique well; within it resides a labyrinthine system of underground caves.
Silent Death
If you come here in the hot season, all visitors will be conquered by the cool, clear water. Those who come here are ready to throw themselves from the oak trees that grow beside the stream into the well. They did not notice the danger lurking below the still water, where 8 very skilled divers followed the “call of the bottomless well”.
There are many rumors surrounding these unfortunate deaths, but most say that the divers were too curious to explore the most mysterious areas of the cave below. At that time, there will be calls resounding from the depths and divers will completely lose their reason, following that call, the mouth of the well swallows them very quietly.
Here are some horror stories related to Jacob’s bottomless well’s ability to “swallow” without trace through the words of Don Dibble, a diving shop owner with 40 years of underwater experience.
According to him, Jacob’s well is the most dangerous place, at least in the US, for divers to jump in. Dibble has repeatedly pulled the remains of the ill-fated divers out of the well, and he himself nearly died during a dive in 1979.
The accident happened to him when he was trying to dive to retrieve the bodies of two young divers who had previously crashed, Kent Maupin and Mark Brashier. When he came to the surface, Dibble was stuck hip to the jagged rocks inside the cavity of the well. After that, he ran out of oxygen but was fortunate to be rescued by other divers but still suffered a ruptured stomach, emerging in a coma.
Aware of the dangers of bottomless wells, Dibble tried to block the holes below the well with wire mesh, when he did so in early 1980. However, that summer, when diving down. checked, Dibble was startled when the wire mesh was removed.
Curious divers refused to listen to the warning, they managed to break the net and left a message on a board tucked in the rock that read: “You can’t stop us here.”