Cenote Diving and Safety

[JamesK]

That is a great video.

 

[tracydr]

I've only done the cenote dives one day, two dives, and it was a few years back. The DM was very safety conscious and we all were diving through Aldora Divers. The dive was fine, but not really my cup of tea due to lack of aquatic life. Some of the underwater formations were kinda cool. I don't even remember which cenote it was. All I remember was about an hour van ride south of Playa. It's one of those things prolly worth doing once. Bruce

I think there are some people like you, that say its a nice thing to do once. Other people like T Sand M who is hooked after one cenote dive. Or me, who I saw a cave dive on a video once and I've been dreaming of cave diving ever since. ( of course, its quite possible I could hate it when I try taking the course but I seriously doubt it).
I wanted to edit to add this:
I'm the type of person who has to look under every crack or crevice when diving. I used to love diving or even snorkeling our local mud hole in OK when I lived there because there was a shallow rock ledge along the shoreline and it just fascinated me. I could swim along at 3-4 feet deep for hours just as happy as could be looking at rocks!
Also, although OW class for me was a long time ago, I really don't think that the dangers of not diving overhead were stressed nearly enough. In fact, I don't think overhead was really defined.
With my DM training I noticed that it really isn't emphasized much around here, either. I do hope some instructors are emphasizing it more than the instructors that I observed.

 

[TSandM]

I fell in love with the caves after watching a video that, to my knowledge, isn't available on line any more. It was "Andrew Georgitsis's Mexico Cave Diving Video" and hosted on the ScubaGuys site. It featured a team swimming through what I think was NoHoch, accompanied by a Van Morrison song with the refrain, "It's so beautiful in here . . .". From that moment, I knew that what I wanted to do was dive in the Mexican caves, and I set myself about a three year program to get that done.

I love the caves with a deep passion. I am really happy that an industry exists to allow open water divers to get a taste of the magic of diving in these unique places. It makes me incoherently furious when guides betray the trust of their clients by violating the very simple safety parameters that make these dives so successful, even for people who have no business at all doing them.

The majority of the cavern guides are good, honest, professional people, who keep their clients where it is safe for them to go. But the incidents that have resulted in fatality showed me that the clients need more education about what to expect from their guides, and some idea of when they, themselves should stop and say, "No more." Thus this thread.

 

[nkped]

A factor for some of us. You are going to have to walk a hundred feet or so and up and down uneven steps in your gear in very hot weather. After a very thorough brief and a walk down to the entry site, I decided I really shouldn't do this.

 

[TSandM]

nkped, that depends on the site. Some have longer walks or funkier stairs than others. Some you can gear up right by the water.

 

[captnpat]

Hola,

Just a quick note. I read the sticky here before I went to Puerta Aventuras just before Christmas. I would have to say "the guide makes all the difference!"
I did 4 cenote dives with Natalie Gibb who owns Diablo Divers in PA. I found her exceptional! (and cute as a button)
She did a very thorough briefing before we ever left the dive shop, and then another briefing on each site (Ponderosa, Chac Mul, Taj Ma Ha, & Chikin Ha). We never deviated from the dive plan, and stuck to the rule of thirds.....

While I loved the cenotes, cave diving is probably not in my future, but I'm pretty sure a future trip with the family back to PA is!

 

[Dan G]

If Lynn, the OP, does not mind this as part of her thread, it would be great to get dive op recommendations from people for the cenotes.

 

[boulderjohn]

If Lynn, the OP, does not mind this as part of her thread, it would be great to get dive op recommendations from people for the cenotes.

Dan, I think that is a good idea, but I am not sure this is the best place for it. It is at the end of a long thread that many early participants have probably stopped following. Why not go to the Mexico forum and start a thread like that? You may, in fact, find some threads already there.

 

[scuba_drum]

My GF and I did some cenote dives a few years ago while in Cozumel. We fast-boated over to Playa Del Carmen, took a van ride to, if I remember right, Dos Ojos (2 eyes) and another one that I cannot remember. The dive shop was very strict about diving experience, etc, went thru the rule of thirds for air (I had already done some homework...). However, when we got to the cenote, we were joined by another guide with what turned out to be a very, very novice diver. After outlining how we were NOT suppose to kick without using the frog kick, and not to touch anything and use very good bouyance... well, let's just say if it were not inside a cenote that could easily be damaged it would have been hilarious - this guy looked like a bug on the ceiling at any given moment. the guide would pull him down by an ankle, and he'd almost immediately bounce off the roof. I'm not sure if they were doing this a some kind of favor, it was against all they had briefed us about the dives. Anyway, been there, done that. It isn't my cup of tea. I was too nervous about wandering off the beaten path or the guide lines, and I've been diving a bunch... too much better, more enjoyable diving to do. Do your homework on both the guides and cenote diving in general!

 

[Hintermann]

My wife (who was a relative beginner at the time) and I did 9 cenote dives in Tulum in November-December 2008. We had booked with an extremely reliable ex-Royal Navy guide named Eric 'Budgie' Burgess. I really appreciated how clear his briefings were, including the quiet but firm warnings to remain on the beaten path of cavern diving. Never would he venture past any of the warning signs and knowing his safety-first attitude, we were able to relax and enjoy the dives all the more.