Hancocks Cave is a large freshwater cenote on Pedra Branca Dairying land that the CDAA lists as Cave-rated but currently closed. Its listing is one of the more detailed for a closed site. Access is through a 1 m-diameter solution tube about 7 m long, followed by a free drop of 9 m into the water, where the initial depth below the entry is about 15 m.

The cavity is bell-shaped, about 60 m long and 35 m wide, with a maximum depth of about 37 m. At the north-west end major roof steps and boulder collapses extend to more than 20 m; the south-east end contains swim-throughs and a low silty chamber. The lower chamber has 'extremely milky white silt' and, according to the listing, would suit sidemount access. A fixed line circuit of about 185 m runs around the feature, with a jump into the lower chamber.

Put together, that describes an impressive site – a big dark bell with collapse features, swim-throughs and a white-silt lower chamber, reached by a genuinely awkward vertical entry. The same owner's Hann's Cave is also closed. The row is included for completeness and because Hancocks has potential to return if access arrangements are renegotiated. If it does, expect it to suit CDAA Cave divers with strong vertical-access skills, with the lower chamber better left to sidemount-configured Advanced divers. Closed-site information can date quickly, so confirm details with the CDAA before relying on them. When open, allow extra time for rigging and for lowering cylinders through the tube, and plan how to recover an injured diver up the free drop.

Hancocks Cave is on Pedra Branca Dairying land near Mount Gambier and is listed by the CDAA as currently closed, so no directions or booking are available. When open, access involved rigging for a 7 m solution tube and a 9 m free-hanging drop to the water, with gear lowered separately. Check the CDAA site list for any reopening; do not approach the property independently.

Unaffected by swell or tide. Access and surface conditions on private farmland are the limiting factors: Total Fire Ban days may restrict access or compressors, summer heat makes vertical exits hard work, snakes are active in warm weather and winter rain turns farm tracks muddy. Underwater conditions are stable, with groundwater at a constant ~15°C.

Closed regardless of conditions.

Not applicable while closed. Historically divers followed the ~185 m fixed line circuit around the feature, with a jump into the lower chamber for sidemount divers.

CDAA grade: Cave (5L66), owner Pedra Branca Dairying – currently closed. ~185 m fixed line circuit; jump into lower chamber; sidemount suggested for lower chamber.

None – site closed (CDAA).