Well start out with the readers digest version of the trip:
Description: Freakn Amazing!
Diving days: 6
Number of dives: 12
Bottom time: 17:02. Yes, thats seventeen hours.
Distance swam: On the order of 2-4 miles.
Maximum dive time: 111 minutes
Minimum dive time: 52 minutes
Maximum depth: 74 feet
Minimum depth: 16 feet.
Now for the details. Im not a great writer. So that I have an excuse, what Im going to do is just transcribe what Ive scribbled in my logbook. Ive got three sections. First is an overview. Second will be in individual entries for each dive. Third will be some scribbled notes that might not make a lot of sense. Where Ive added stuff, perhaps for clarity thats not in the logbook Ill enclose it in []s.
[Overview:]
Connies operation is very well run. Things run on time but you never feel rushed. She does stuff for the locals such that theyre willing to go out of their way to help her. She was giving the kids little porcupine Santas (no other way to describe them) this year.
Gear is dressed the night before. Morning starts at 7am with a moderate breakfast. None of the meals are large, so youre never diving on a stuffed stomach. Meals are always adequate, however.
After breakfast you load the gear into the van that Connie drives and at 8am you jump in to the van driven by a local and youre off to the site. Drive takes 15-30 minutes, and you suit up and in the water about 9-9:30.
Dive finishes about 11, head back and dress new tanks and pack the truck again. Lunch served about noon, jump in the truck at 1 and were off to the next site. In the water about 2, dive until 3-4 and head back, dress tanks, put stuff up in the equipment locker and have a couple hours before dinner at 7pm.
The rest of the evening is spent talking to new friends about the days adventures and adventures gone past in our lives.
The next day the cycle repeats.
One exception to the routine was the day we went to No Hoch. The previous day we grabbed an extra set of doubles and they were packed in by horses. The next morning our gear, which was sans tanks, was packed in by horses. We walked in the 1.25mi/2km on foot and spent the entire day at the site. 2 dives on one set of doubles, first dive 96 min @ 26ft second 52 minutes at 16 feet. Our gear was packed out via horse and the days returned to normal.
[Day 1] 12/9/01
Myan Blue
In-out/bottom time: 9:40-10:59/78
Max depth: 74
Short walk, giant stride in. A tunnel to Death Arrow Passage to the right side.
My buddy John turned the dive at the same time as I needed to turn [almost made it to the battleship room].
Open cave, wide & easy.
Haloclines are incredible! Several ins & outs of the halocline.
Minotauro
In-out/bottom time: 2:37-3:53/75
Max depth: 46
Steep steps, swarming bees [they went away] short walk. Bad tasting water.
Tunnel starts left and down. Very small, twisty passages [later I would lear that this was nothing!]. Very grabby cave at my level of diving.
Felt like a bull in a china shop.
[Day 2] 12/10/01
Vaca Ha
In-out/bottom time: 9:07-10:19/72
Max depth: 68
Proverbial puddle. Ladder leading down lotsa peat moss until first chamber (line starts on left ladder support on bottom).
Beautifully decorated cave. I like this one. Waterfalls [as in the speleothem (sp?) kind], pretty straight passage after initial right after peat moss entrance.
Very stable halocline swam above it mostly.
Akton Koh
In-out/bottom time: 2:04-3:47/88
Max depth: 43
Developed for snorkelers. Chairs to change on. Short steps, short walk, developed entrance w/dock and bracing pole. Entrance far side on right. Line starts just inside on right. This cave has everything. Big, bold thick formations to fine delicate ones. Lots of twists and turns in narrow passages to huge open rooms affording multiple paths across them, all in view of the line through the middle. Air pockets with live speleothems, others with dead ones. Broken slabs and scalloped walls. Hints of haloclines in spots.
[Day 3]
No Hoch
In-out/bottom time: 9:45-11:31/96
Max depth: 26
1 1/4 mile walk in, horses carried our gear (tanks went in the day before). Wear shoes for the walk.
Ladder entry, line starts on right at dark edge of twilight zone. Huge rooms, massive decorations in an area called Disneyland. Tall soda straw (4 diameter) about 20-30 tall -- buzzed it like a flyover. Oblique lighting brought out the texture. Heavens gate -- huge flow of speleothems cascading over a ledge. Floor to ceiling decorations in many areas. Turned dive at small cenote (3-4 people max).
No Hoch
In-out/bottom time: 1:21-2:13/52
Max depth: 16
[I have the comment beside the space for how long the safety stop was] Why on a 16 dive?
Start on main line, take jump to Parker line on left. Pass DeRosa line jump on left to downstream. Beautiful decorations, very low tunnel. Go to jump (this is a T this week according to Connie). John and I turn dive at this time, rest of group continues on. Uneventful return, jump, turn right and exit. Explore basin and find another downstream (?) line. Load gear on horses and walk out. Connie really books -- she's a pleasure to walk with. Van shows up about 5 minutes after we get back to road -- another flawless execution.
Dive done on same tanks as first dive.
[Day 4] 12/12/01
Gran Cenote
In-out/bottom time: 9:12-10:43/91
Max depth: 44
Medium walk, steep stairs and tree trunk swim platform. We hired sherpas to carry our gear down to the water. I carried my 14AH canister light to make it a bit easier. Theres a gold cavern line here, center right Connie ties off a primary and runs it into the cave line. Large, bold formations in good-sized rooms. We end up doing a loop at the end with a few narrow spots. Loris inflator sticks, she ends up doing oral inflation for the rest of the dive. Connie gaps to a line to do a traverse later in the day and gaps the loop as well. Her colored gap line is easy to recognize.
Ken finds a lounge-chair like rock and settles in to observe what buoyancy does to the female form (the snorkelers) during the safety stop. The ladies notice and leave. I explore the cavern zone.
Calimba
In-out/bottom time: 1:56-3:28
Max depth: 42
Short walk from road, down some shallow steps and into a small dry cave. We have to bend way over with double to make it. Water turns to milk as we enter, line starts above water on the far side of the cave. This cave starts out small and stays small. Fuzzy speleothems initially. Brilliant white sand everyone by Connie appears to silt to some degree. One tight spot my tanks and belly are rubbing in a chimney. We gap to a side line and then hit Connies gap spool she set earlier in the day. We exit at Gran Cenote -- my first traverse. Jeannie [goads me and] gives me testosterone poisoning and I climb the ladder-like stairs to get out on my own -- no sherpas wearing my 14AH light.
Felt like a bull in a china shop again.
[Day 5] 12/13/01
Temple of Doom
In-out/bottom time: 9:12-10:36/83
Max depth: 59
Medium long walk in, giant stride entry in. Ladder out. GS [giant stride] entry about 8-10. Entry behind ladder.
Enter Madonna passage. Brilliant white dissolution walls. A must see. Continue up to the Fang, jump left to old Florida passage to Hall of Giants, turn dive.
Play with Halocline on way out. Make Lori sick with my elevator routine up & down through the halocline. More examples of halocline lapping at the shore.
Exit via Coliseum -- huge room.
Climb up ladder with doubles on is, shall I say, challenging.
Akton Koh
In-out/bottom time: 2:44-3:52/66
Max depth: 45
Downstream side. Entrance behind and to right. Jump, then [2nd] placed as we went by end of circuit.
Did loop, came back to permanent line via 2nd placed jump, I pull spool. Cross sencond jump, I pull spool. Go to small cenote thats next to the road that goes to Akton Koh. Car passes by as we're sitting there. Continue around, come in from left side of T. Swim out. A few tight spots, a chimney and a halocline. Im able to slip through tighter spots easier than at the start of the week.
[Day 6] 12/14/01
Dos Ojos
In-out/bottom time: 9:15-11:24/111
Max depth: 29
Short walk, stirs and a good swim platform. Awesome cavern site.
Up stream to air dome.
Connie flashed the broken sign at an arrow added at a line change by someone whos been changing lines.
Return to cenote, John and I went on the cave-ern loop. Surfaced in Bat Cavern, finished beyond that in a few minutes.
Dos Ojos
In-out/bottom time: 1:01-2:55/99
Max depth: 35
Swapped tanks at site and ate lunch.
Downstream. Medium sized rooms to tight passages as we did the grand traverse for our last dive.
First stop Dos Palmas [cenote], then High Voltage [cenote], Tapirs End [cenote] with an exit at Monlita [Monolith cenote].
Vacation was a 12 out of 10. I cant wait to do it again!
[Notes]
Connie LoRe 12/8/01 12/15-01
Husband Charlie
Divers:
John
Jeanne
Bill
Lori
Ken
Roger
Next year: Small backpack (very small) bug spray, wire ties, Leatherman
Store exchange rate a little less than 9:1.
Buy a HID Its the only way to go www.sarind.com
I was in room 11, big room 104.
Have Connie bring a phone card next year for check in so I can call home.
Totals: 6 days of diving, 2 dives a day, 17:02 dive time.
Suggested Cenote diving [snorkel and OW]: Dos Ojos & Gran Cenote
Bring 400 ASA film next time.
Henderson 7/5, double Luxfer AL80s, Dive Rite/Sea Elite/Halcyon manifold, FredT heavy backplate, EE Scout backups, AUL halogen 50W light, Scubapro jet fins, EE safety spool, 4 lb V weight. May be slightly overweighted. Tusa Platina Mask.
Dave Barry Bmoogle to Lori.
Room 10 bed for two.
1.5 hours from Cancun to Akumal.
Swimmers ear stuff.
Lightweight hood.
Description: Freakn Amazing!
Diving days: 6
Number of dives: 12
Bottom time: 17:02. Yes, thats seventeen hours.
Distance swam: On the order of 2-4 miles.
Maximum dive time: 111 minutes
Minimum dive time: 52 minutes
Maximum depth: 74 feet
Minimum depth: 16 feet.
Now for the details. Im not a great writer. So that I have an excuse, what Im going to do is just transcribe what Ive scribbled in my logbook. Ive got three sections. First is an overview. Second will be in individual entries for each dive. Third will be some scribbled notes that might not make a lot of sense. Where Ive added stuff, perhaps for clarity thats not in the logbook Ill enclose it in []s.
[Overview:]
Connies operation is very well run. Things run on time but you never feel rushed. She does stuff for the locals such that theyre willing to go out of their way to help her. She was giving the kids little porcupine Santas (no other way to describe them) this year.
Gear is dressed the night before. Morning starts at 7am with a moderate breakfast. None of the meals are large, so youre never diving on a stuffed stomach. Meals are always adequate, however.
After breakfast you load the gear into the van that Connie drives and at 8am you jump in to the van driven by a local and youre off to the site. Drive takes 15-30 minutes, and you suit up and in the water about 9-9:30.
Dive finishes about 11, head back and dress new tanks and pack the truck again. Lunch served about noon, jump in the truck at 1 and were off to the next site. In the water about 2, dive until 3-4 and head back, dress tanks, put stuff up in the equipment locker and have a couple hours before dinner at 7pm.
The rest of the evening is spent talking to new friends about the days adventures and adventures gone past in our lives.
The next day the cycle repeats.
One exception to the routine was the day we went to No Hoch. The previous day we grabbed an extra set of doubles and they were packed in by horses. The next morning our gear, which was sans tanks, was packed in by horses. We walked in the 1.25mi/2km on foot and spent the entire day at the site. 2 dives on one set of doubles, first dive 96 min @ 26ft second 52 minutes at 16 feet. Our gear was packed out via horse and the days returned to normal.
[Day 1] 12/9/01
Myan Blue
In-out/bottom time: 9:40-10:59/78
Max depth: 74
Short walk, giant stride in. A tunnel to Death Arrow Passage to the right side.
My buddy John turned the dive at the same time as I needed to turn [almost made it to the battleship room].
Open cave, wide & easy.
Haloclines are incredible! Several ins & outs of the halocline.
Minotauro
In-out/bottom time: 2:37-3:53/75
Max depth: 46
Steep steps, swarming bees [they went away] short walk. Bad tasting water.
Tunnel starts left and down. Very small, twisty passages [later I would lear that this was nothing!]. Very grabby cave at my level of diving.
Felt like a bull in a china shop.
[Day 2] 12/10/01
Vaca Ha
In-out/bottom time: 9:07-10:19/72
Max depth: 68
Proverbial puddle. Ladder leading down lotsa peat moss until first chamber (line starts on left ladder support on bottom).
Beautifully decorated cave. I like this one. Waterfalls [as in the speleothem (sp?) kind], pretty straight passage after initial right after peat moss entrance.
Very stable halocline swam above it mostly.
Akton Koh
In-out/bottom time: 2:04-3:47/88
Max depth: 43
Developed for snorkelers. Chairs to change on. Short steps, short walk, developed entrance w/dock and bracing pole. Entrance far side on right. Line starts just inside on right. This cave has everything. Big, bold thick formations to fine delicate ones. Lots of twists and turns in narrow passages to huge open rooms affording multiple paths across them, all in view of the line through the middle. Air pockets with live speleothems, others with dead ones. Broken slabs and scalloped walls. Hints of haloclines in spots.
[Day 3]
No Hoch
In-out/bottom time: 9:45-11:31/96
Max depth: 26
1 1/4 mile walk in, horses carried our gear (tanks went in the day before). Wear shoes for the walk.
Ladder entry, line starts on right at dark edge of twilight zone. Huge rooms, massive decorations in an area called Disneyland. Tall soda straw (4 diameter) about 20-30 tall -- buzzed it like a flyover. Oblique lighting brought out the texture. Heavens gate -- huge flow of speleothems cascading over a ledge. Floor to ceiling decorations in many areas. Turned dive at small cenote (3-4 people max).
No Hoch
In-out/bottom time: 1:21-2:13/52
Max depth: 16
[I have the comment beside the space for how long the safety stop was] Why on a 16 dive?
Start on main line, take jump to Parker line on left. Pass DeRosa line jump on left to downstream. Beautiful decorations, very low tunnel. Go to jump (this is a T this week according to Connie). John and I turn dive at this time, rest of group continues on. Uneventful return, jump, turn right and exit. Explore basin and find another downstream (?) line. Load gear on horses and walk out. Connie really books -- she's a pleasure to walk with. Van shows up about 5 minutes after we get back to road -- another flawless execution.
Dive done on same tanks as first dive.
[Day 4] 12/12/01
Gran Cenote
In-out/bottom time: 9:12-10:43/91
Max depth: 44
Medium walk, steep stairs and tree trunk swim platform. We hired sherpas to carry our gear down to the water. I carried my 14AH canister light to make it a bit easier. Theres a gold cavern line here, center right Connie ties off a primary and runs it into the cave line. Large, bold formations in good-sized rooms. We end up doing a loop at the end with a few narrow spots. Loris inflator sticks, she ends up doing oral inflation for the rest of the dive. Connie gaps to a line to do a traverse later in the day and gaps the loop as well. Her colored gap line is easy to recognize.
Ken finds a lounge-chair like rock and settles in to observe what buoyancy does to the female form (the snorkelers) during the safety stop. The ladies notice and leave. I explore the cavern zone.
Calimba
In-out/bottom time: 1:56-3:28
Max depth: 42
Short walk from road, down some shallow steps and into a small dry cave. We have to bend way over with double to make it. Water turns to milk as we enter, line starts above water on the far side of the cave. This cave starts out small and stays small. Fuzzy speleothems initially. Brilliant white sand everyone by Connie appears to silt to some degree. One tight spot my tanks and belly are rubbing in a chimney. We gap to a side line and then hit Connies gap spool she set earlier in the day. We exit at Gran Cenote -- my first traverse. Jeannie [goads me and] gives me testosterone poisoning and I climb the ladder-like stairs to get out on my own -- no sherpas wearing my 14AH light.
Felt like a bull in a china shop again.
[Day 5] 12/13/01
Temple of Doom
In-out/bottom time: 9:12-10:36/83
Max depth: 59
Medium long walk in, giant stride entry in. Ladder out. GS [giant stride] entry about 8-10. Entry behind ladder.
Enter Madonna passage. Brilliant white dissolution walls. A must see. Continue up to the Fang, jump left to old Florida passage to Hall of Giants, turn dive.
Play with Halocline on way out. Make Lori sick with my elevator routine up & down through the halocline. More examples of halocline lapping at the shore.
Exit via Coliseum -- huge room.
Climb up ladder with doubles on is, shall I say, challenging.
Akton Koh
In-out/bottom time: 2:44-3:52/66
Max depth: 45
Downstream side. Entrance behind and to right. Jump, then [2nd] placed as we went by end of circuit.
Did loop, came back to permanent line via 2nd placed jump, I pull spool. Cross sencond jump, I pull spool. Go to small cenote thats next to the road that goes to Akton Koh. Car passes by as we're sitting there. Continue around, come in from left side of T. Swim out. A few tight spots, a chimney and a halocline. Im able to slip through tighter spots easier than at the start of the week.
[Day 6] 12/14/01
Dos Ojos
In-out/bottom time: 9:15-11:24/111
Max depth: 29
Short walk, stirs and a good swim platform. Awesome cavern site.
Up stream to air dome.
Connie flashed the broken sign at an arrow added at a line change by someone whos been changing lines.
Return to cenote, John and I went on the cave-ern loop. Surfaced in Bat Cavern, finished beyond that in a few minutes.
Dos Ojos
In-out/bottom time: 1:01-2:55/99
Max depth: 35
Swapped tanks at site and ate lunch.
Downstream. Medium sized rooms to tight passages as we did the grand traverse for our last dive.
First stop Dos Palmas [cenote], then High Voltage [cenote], Tapirs End [cenote] with an exit at Monlita [Monolith cenote].
Vacation was a 12 out of 10. I cant wait to do it again!
[Notes]
Connie LoRe 12/8/01 12/15-01
Husband Charlie
Divers:
John
Jeanne
Bill
Lori
Ken
Roger
Next year: Small backpack (very small) bug spray, wire ties, Leatherman
Store exchange rate a little less than 9:1.
Buy a HID Its the only way to go www.sarind.com
I was in room 11, big room 104.
Have Connie bring a phone card next year for check in so I can call home.
Totals: 6 days of diving, 2 dives a day, 17:02 dive time.
Suggested Cenote diving [snorkel and OW]: Dos Ojos & Gran Cenote
Bring 400 ASA film next time.
Henderson 7/5, double Luxfer AL80s, Dive Rite/Sea Elite/Halcyon manifold, FredT heavy backplate, EE Scout backups, AUL halogen 50W light, Scubapro jet fins, EE safety spool, 4 lb V weight. May be slightly overweighted. Tusa Platina Mask.
Dave Barry Bmoogle to Lori.
Room 10 bed for two.
1.5 hours from Cancun to Akumal.
Swimmers ear stuff.
Lightweight hood.
