Dove the Cenotes (chac mool) in Mexico for the first time - very dangerous.
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Some of the new mixed gas computers, such as the X1, have OLED displays which are always on and put out enough light to follow the line once your eyes have adjusted to the darkness.
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I also have been to Choc Mool and thought everything went extremely well- wasn't with Phantom Divers though. A lot of shop operators are realizing it's bad for business to drown customers so they are starting (slowly in some cases) to incorporate it into their way of doing business.
One last piece of advice which may help in the future is this:
"Any dive may be ended by anyone for any reason without recourse"
If you're not comfortable doing what you're doing, end the dive. You mentioned the instance of some guy losing his reg messing with your head, it sounds like that had you unnerved. If it would've been me, I would have aborted.
One last piece of advice which may help in the future is this:
"Any dive may be ended by anyone for any reason without recourse"
If you're not comfortable doing what you're doing, end the dive. You mentioned the instance of some guy losing his reg messing with your head, it sounds like that had you unnerved. If it would've been me, I would have aborted.
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Too bad. Too new for such adventures, too cheap/lazy take his own gear, not willing to accept responsibility for jumping in over his head. Hope things get better.
Well, you've been a member here for a few years. It's okay that you may not be into all this, SB or dive training.
Well, you've been a member here for a few years. It's okay that you may not be into all this, SB or dive training.
Chac Mool...Hopefully my dive computer profile for the dive will post...Cenotes diving was discussed not too long ago especially wrt newly qualified divers. A search on SB will probably reiterate some of the salient points that were discussed. In my case, I dove the site with Dressel Divers... very professional outfit. I ended up being the last diver in my group based on my overall experience and comfort level, the second last being by GF and dive buddy. Even though we dove single file we still dove as buddies and in close proximity to each other. She followed the folks in front of her and from time to time, she looked back at me who was just behind her. I also had no problem signalling her with my dive light to get her attention on stuff worth seeing. I agree that one or two areas might have been a tight fit for two divers but overall nothing too drastic. She is AOW qual with well over 100 dives. Having said that, one of the two divers preceeding us said that he was an experienced divers with 100s of dive and was quick to volunteer to be the very first guy behind the DM. He also hit the ceiling twice and blamed it on his camera distracting him...his buddy did better only hitting the ceiling once
driftwood
Contributor
We don't use shops in PDC since we generally stay in Akumal and have never used Phantom Divers. I will say that there are no circumstances where I would use that shop. There was a thread a couple years ago about dive op's hand feeding bull sharks off PDC. Phantom Divers was kind enough to respond to my email asking if they did shark feeding dives. They confirmed that they did feed the sharks.
Poorly maintained equipment isn't safe and having bull sharks associate divers with dinner time is asking for trouble.
I agree with Driftwood. I used PD the first time I dove in Playa. I do not use them any longer for the reason stated. I do not consider them unsafe - but I do question their business practices(feeding sharks). Which could easily also include allowing divers to do dives - such as Cenotes - when clearly they should not - for the divers sake as well as the preservation of the site. As to the issue of equipment - you really are opening yourself up to junk when you rent. One should not expect Scubapro BCD's or Atomic regs on a rental line. There are plenty of junky rentals in the States just as in Mexico. I would never dive a rental.....
k374
Contributor
I did Dos Ojos and Dreamgate a while ago with Luis from PlayaScuba... a first rate operation, Luis was extremely experienced and at all times made sure safety was a priority.
@warmwaterturner - diving with rentals sometimes is inevitable. Carrying your own SCUBA gear can be not only costly but a pain in the behind when the sole purpose of your trip is not diving. I would rather dive my own gear that I really like but unfortunately I cannot cart it around!
@warmwaterturner - diving with rentals sometimes is inevitable. Carrying your own SCUBA gear can be not only costly but a pain in the behind when the sole purpose of your trip is not diving. I would rather dive my own gear that I really like but unfortunately I cannot cart it around!
First thing is first, paragraphs? It was hard reading all of that.
Chac Mool is actually one of the first dives I did after my Open Water certification (give or take 10-15 dives). Looking back it may not have been the best decision knowing what I know now but I still feel it is very safe dive if executed properly. I do agree with you that inexperienced divers shouldn't be in the cenotes.
While I certainly cant speak for your experience but I feel as though I have to comment on some of your statements.
I hardly found Chac Mool to be "super dangerous." Quite the opposite actually; It was beautiful cavern where in reality you're never more than 200ft from an exit. It may appear to be further but in an emergency it "should" be easy for a guide to assist you to safety.
This is hardly true. Why exactly would you be toast if you're following proper procedures?
I find this statement bit offensive. I can't speak for Phantom Divers but I have been diving in Mexico for 10 years and there are several dive operators I would trust my life with when diving. Just because safety may not have been Phantom Diver's number one priority does not mean other dive operators share the same ideology. I don't think it is fair to make a blanket statement like this.
Also, the regulator incident in Cozumel has absolutely nothing to do with your cenote experience. I'm not defending the diver but had they followed their training and not panicked they could have quickly switched over to their backup regulator. This is more of a training issue. What would YOU have done in this situation in what matters.
Lastly, I cant comment on Phantom Divers as I have never dove with them but you certainly have a point about bad gear. I will not argue with you on this. If the gear was as bad as you said it was I certainly would not dive with them (though I bring my own equipment for that reason). I will just say one thing, rental gear often times can look very beat up and run down because it is, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad gear.
Heavily used, beat-up gear can still work fine and looks can be deceiving. Also a high pressure hose is hardly death sentence. It takes a long time for a high pressure hose to completely drain a tank. All this means is that it's time to end the dive. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that a complete HP hose failure in an AL80 with 3000psi would take about 20 minutes to completely drain.
I apologize in advance if this seems like a direct attack but I didn't mean it that way. I just think some of the statements you made should be clarified. Safety isn't always the lowest priority in Mexico and Chac Mool is hardly extremely dangerous.
Chac Mool is actually one of the first dives I did after my Open Water certification (give or take 10-15 dives). Looking back it may not have been the best decision knowing what I know now but I still feel it is very safe dive if executed properly. I do agree with you that inexperienced divers shouldn't be in the cenotes.
While I certainly cant speak for your experience but I feel as though I have to comment on some of your statements.
I hardly found Chac Mool to be "super dangerous." Quite the opposite actually; It was beautiful cavern where in reality you're never more than 200ft from an exit. It may appear to be further but in an emergency it "should" be easy for a guide to assist you to safety.
This is hardly true. Why exactly would you be toast if you're following proper procedures?
I find this statement bit offensive. I can't speak for Phantom Divers but I have been diving in Mexico for 10 years and there are several dive operators I would trust my life with when diving. Just because safety may not have been Phantom Diver's number one priority does not mean other dive operators share the same ideology. I don't think it is fair to make a blanket statement like this.
Also, the regulator incident in Cozumel has absolutely nothing to do with your cenote experience. I'm not defending the diver but had they followed their training and not panicked they could have quickly switched over to their backup regulator. This is more of a training issue. What would YOU have done in this situation in what matters.
Lastly, I cant comment on Phantom Divers as I have never dove with them but you certainly have a point about bad gear. I will not argue with you on this. If the gear was as bad as you said it was I certainly would not dive with them (though I bring my own equipment for that reason). I will just say one thing, rental gear often times can look very beat up and run down because it is, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad gear.
Heavily used, beat-up gear can still work fine and looks can be deceiving. Also a high pressure hose is hardly death sentence. It takes a long time for a high pressure hose to completely drain a tank. All this means is that it's time to end the dive. I remember reading somewhere on this forum that a complete HP hose failure in an AL80 with 3000psi would take about 20 minutes to completely drain.
I apologize in advance if this seems like a direct attack but I didn't mean it that way. I just think some of the statements you made should be clarified. Safety isn't always the lowest priority in Mexico and Chac Mool is hardly extremely dangerous.
I have to say, I finally fully agree with DandyDon on something.
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