Cave diving? I am tempted....

[fisherdvm]

We're going down to Cancun to take my father in law on a vacation. Aquaworld (which I have some reservation diving with them before), offered "cave" diving, and you don't have to be cavern trained?

Have you done it? And am I going to kill myself?

 

[Paco]

If you are talking about cenote dives, I highly recommend it. Typically, your are led by someone with an instructor rating and full cave certified. Each guide takes a maximum of four divers. You are always in view of natural light, so it is not a cave dive, rather a cavern dive. I went on two different trips and found them to be awesome dives.

 

[fisherdvm]

I think it is a cenote dive. I was going to bring a pony along, probably wouldn't be a problem, right?

 

[hudson]

If it's four divers tops you shouldn't need it. I have seen ops herd SCORES of divers in and out while we were doing the cenote dives though, I wouldn't have been comfortable in those groups. If you could arrange it so you end up in one of the less popular cenotes it could be nicer. The navigation in the cenotes is very easy, water comfortably cool/warmish, shallow, crystal clear, most (but not all) of it with ambient light and the guide would pack a powerful canister light. Definitely not something to do on a regular basis without training, but it must be experienced once.

 

[El Orans]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/211508-do-you-need-cave-cert-dive-cenotes.html

 

[tajkd]

I did the cenote with Aquaworld. It was very cool and very safe. They ran a good trip there, lined up the divers, ran safety checks. I would definitely recommend the trip.

 

[Barracuda2]

You don't need cert to cavern dive, however you need to have good buoyancy control so you don't break off stalactites or stalagmites, or crawl on the bottom and silt the place up. I'm heading there in Feb. and will dive with Dressel Divers out of Playa. Make sure you have above average confidence in yourself if you should dive Angelita Cenote. There is a cool sulfur cloud at about 60'. Once you drop through the cloud, it gets pretty dark even though the water is crystal clear and you do need a light. Dos Ojos, Gran, and Tajmahal are also very cool cavern dives. If you've never done this before, you're in for a treat.

 

[TSandM]

The topic of OW divers doing cavern tours without cavern certs can cause a lot of heated discussion, but this is routinely done in Mexico, with an apparently acceptable safety record. The agreement there is that the guide must be at least an OW instructor, full cave certified, and dive in full cave gear (doubles, long hose). The guide is to lead no more than four people. A guideline is to be run to open water.

I have heard that not all operators adhere to these guidelines, so it's worth asking the questions before you go.

In my opinion, you should have good buoyancy control and fairly horizontal trim before you do the tours, just out of respect for the cave. The formations in the Mexican caves tend to be small and fragile.

All that said, I think cavern tours are, first off, a magical experience, and second, an excellent way to find out if cave diving intrigues you enough to pursue training.

 

[Meng_Tze]

You don't need cert to cavern dive, however you need to have good buoyancy control so you don't break off stalactites or stalagmites, or crawl on the bottom and silt the place up.

I would say that you do need cavern training when you do cavern dives. The fact that in MX they do tours and accept the dangers of brining OW divers into an overhead environment is a different matter. During cavern courses you learn proper techniques and buoyancy to avoid the crawling, silting up and damaging the cave. I think it is generally accepted that for cavern diving, a cavern cert is needed.

Now for MX specifically: since it is accepted practice for the tours to happen, my advise would be to make sure that the guide/tourist ratio does not go beyond recommendations, that you can see daylight and the line at all times and reference it often. It only takes one person to silt up in there and the entire area becomes a haze. Make sure you know where the line and the surface are.........

Beyond that have fun.

 

[SussexMedic]

I've made two trips to the area and have made cenote dives on both trips. (Dos Ojos and Chac Mool) I used Hidden Worlds for the first trip and Dive Mike for the second and they appeared to follow the rules with the largest group being 3:1 ratio. I used to think that the NC wrecks were my favorite dives but I think the bug has bitten me. I'm researching cavern/cave courses now. So be careful what you start...

Seriously though, make sure your buoyancy and trim are solid so you don't kick the bottom or get pinned to the ceiling. Also, be aware that the halocline can be very disorienting.

To paraphrase Dory, "Just keep breathing..."

Allen