Crazyduck
Contributor
I contacted Yucatech diving through email and set up plans for a single day of diving with German Yanez.
Sure enough the day of the event I was picked up at the front of my resort and off we went.
Nothing like three divers, three set of doubles in a jeep with oxygen and dive gear.
The group was an instant success with my guide and new dive buddy TSandM. The dive guide was thorough with questions about my diving, training and inquisitive questions about my style of diving. Also making sure of my training and background.
My only prior cave diving was done in Florida and one thing for sure this was not Florida as we were passed by taxis and the highway is lined by jungle on both sides.
After trucking down the main highway on Cozumel we jumped off at an exit and stopped. We took a hard turn went off road and into the bush. We paralleled a small stream that merged into a pool and then connected some mangroves into a proper spring basin. It was similar in overall size to Peacock I entry pool at Peacock Springs without the steps or ladder. My guide advised that it was brackish water but for some reason that slipped from my mind staring into the pool of cool simmering water with fish and algae flutter on the rocks. This was Aeroito de paraiso.
We all pulled out our dive gear and reviewing what gear we had or were using. We all dove double al80 tanks with DIN valves and standard manifolds. Two of us had HID can lights and German had a new LED light (very nice and preproduction.)
This was the first time I had a chance to see a DSS (Deep Sea Supply) Kydex backplate and it was very…. Nice. Tobin makes some rocking dive gear. We were all talking about the new 3watt LED lights that have come out recently. I had tried to get one of the Oxycheq three watt raiders from Scubatoy’s and they were sold out; it was like telling a young child that Santa was not coming and I was not happy. However our guide was sporting two new 3 watt led backup units distributed by someone else but basically the same design; of course stainless steel clips.
Cave divers gravitate to great dive gear like pregnant women do to chocolate cake; do not get in the way!
The new lights were the talk for a little while. It has been such a change from basic bulbs, to HID and now the LED’s are coming out. For travel in the future this sure seems like the way to go; light weight, bright light, no bulb to break and long burn times.
After going through the normal questions and checks we talked about counting, hand signs, order in and out, jumps, lines and other necessary safety topics. Our guide pulled out a slate and drew the map to scale (freehand) including jumps, notated line information, distance and depth. What it would be to able to draw this cave’s map from memory; I was having a blast.
So me and TSandM geared up and hopped in. Now, that is simple enough to say but standing next to the jungle and putting the gear on is really a misnomer.
First you lay down your doubles, put on your wing, line up your backplate to the correct bolt pattern, hunt down the wing nuts (where did they go?) to hold everything together. Then you attach anything else that is required to the rig. First your regulators and run your hoses. Mine had my 10watt Diverite HID light, goodman handle, and my attached leg pouch; That was really the hard part. So imagine this is still laying on the rocks. The rest is wetsuit, mask, fins, and then trying to gracefully sit on the rocks and your buddy holding your tanks up so you can slip into your harness. You put on all this gear that is bolted to these tanks and then the harness is basically bolt to you. Then either fall in or hopefully step in. Remember that algae on the rocks?
I tend to lack grace on terra firma so I slipped forward and face planted. Cool water enters your suit and it is mild relief; face down for a second and breathe that cool air. Oh, yeah remember that brackish water. This is where I took a mouthful of that stuff and it made sea water taste like a lightly salted margarita rim- OH… YUCK… ! After rearranging my gear for comfort, pulling a few things from my pocket, attached backup computer to d-ring, and generally adjusted everything things were starting to click.
My dive buddy was great on check list and procedures. We went through procedures, turned on primary light and worked through long hose exchange and practiced the exchange in the run. While I was a tad rusty my team mate was spot on with everything from the long hose exchange to gas management. If she was a representative for GUE and their divers then they have my upmost respect. Her rig was clean, everything had its place and even the converse sneakers made sense with the jet fins.
Our dive guide was ready in a blink, he dropped in extra weight and o2 if we needed it. We reviewed the plan and comfortably glided into the cave. The cave drops in from the surface to a ledge at 15ft. The guide did the primary and secondary tie offs and he ran the line to the main line. We averaged in depth from 22-24 ft to a max of 32ft. The cave was truly alive with many creatures and it was a pleasure to dive the system. We saw sponges on the line, brittle stars, snails, a pair of clams, and things that I never seen before in such an environment. The Halocline was a monster and often ran right through the middle of the cave acting like a horizontal line, marking a specific depth that we could swim through but with consequences. Disturbing the water was like mixing oil and vinegar and it distorted our vision. Being third was great watching my partners light up the cave in front of me and enjoying the great view. We swam along a trail of a silt floor with walls climbing out vertically and falling away at strange angles. You could look to the side and see jumps to other areas of the cave. It was amazing and yet not far from your mind was your training tempering the visual site with reality of how harsh this environment was. It was fine to enjoy the sites but we watched our line, checked our gas and each other regularly. While the cave is beautiful we cannot dismiss the dangers. Highlights were a pair of white calms with beautiful red lips and feelers out into the water sensing any changes. When you light them up they jetted around to remove themselves from the warmth of our lights. At first I could not understand how it knew we were there but shining the light on your hand you barely feel the warmth and that was enough for them to know in ordinary darkness that something was different.
On both occasions I was the diver to turn the dive. I tend to be average to wide load so my gas consumption was higher than my partners. I had no problem turning the dive since it was our safety and gas supplies are that important. However, I would have enjoyed the saying for hours just to explore and enjoy the sites.
One the way out we exited out a window in the ceiling. This was something you did not notice descending and something that is amazing on the way out. Our guide was gracious enough to wind up the line and we cruised to our ledge to hang out and use the O2. We did our hangs and slows drifted out of the palace of rock and creatures that we invaded only a short time before.
First dive time was 30 minutes and the second was closer to 50 minutes.
Hopefully in the future I can add a strobe or two my camera and show some pictures of the passages. It’s like diving in outer space.
Training Note-
While this dive was shallow it does not dismiss the necessary training to enjoy this unique environment.
Continued Training and education-
Diving is sport were we have modular training. Just like every professional we need to continue our education and learn new techniques and ideas. Get involved and try something new. I will be looking at GUE fundies class; their some techniques and ideas seem very interesting. Plus, I am still chasing that CCR dream.
Hope you enjoyed the write up.
My thanks to my dive guide and TSandM for a great day of cave diving in Cozumel.
Regards, Andrew
Links-
Yuacatech Expeditions- Yucatech Expeditions. Cenote, Cave, Cavern and Technical Dive Courses and Tours.
Training-
NSS-CDS Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society
NACD National Association For Cave Diving
Global Underwater Explorers Global Underwater Explorers | Global Underwater Explorers
Retail/ Manufactures-
DSS- http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/www.deepseasupply.com
Diverite- SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc
Oxycheq- http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/www.oxycheq.com
Scubatoys- Scuba Gear and Scuba Diving Equipment - Discount dive gear (Cheap online!)
Sure enough the day of the event I was picked up at the front of my resort and off we went.
Nothing like three divers, three set of doubles in a jeep with oxygen and dive gear.
The group was an instant success with my guide and new dive buddy TSandM. The dive guide was thorough with questions about my diving, training and inquisitive questions about my style of diving. Also making sure of my training and background.
My only prior cave diving was done in Florida and one thing for sure this was not Florida as we were passed by taxis and the highway is lined by jungle on both sides.
After trucking down the main highway on Cozumel we jumped off at an exit and stopped. We took a hard turn went off road and into the bush. We paralleled a small stream that merged into a pool and then connected some mangroves into a proper spring basin. It was similar in overall size to Peacock I entry pool at Peacock Springs without the steps or ladder. My guide advised that it was brackish water but for some reason that slipped from my mind staring into the pool of cool simmering water with fish and algae flutter on the rocks. This was Aeroito de paraiso.
We all pulled out our dive gear and reviewing what gear we had or were using. We all dove double al80 tanks with DIN valves and standard manifolds. Two of us had HID can lights and German had a new LED light (very nice and preproduction.)
This was the first time I had a chance to see a DSS (Deep Sea Supply) Kydex backplate and it was very…. Nice. Tobin makes some rocking dive gear. We were all talking about the new 3watt LED lights that have come out recently. I had tried to get one of the Oxycheq three watt raiders from Scubatoy’s and they were sold out; it was like telling a young child that Santa was not coming and I was not happy. However our guide was sporting two new 3 watt led backup units distributed by someone else but basically the same design; of course stainless steel clips.
Cave divers gravitate to great dive gear like pregnant women do to chocolate cake; do not get in the way!
The new lights were the talk for a little while. It has been such a change from basic bulbs, to HID and now the LED’s are coming out. For travel in the future this sure seems like the way to go; light weight, bright light, no bulb to break and long burn times.
After going through the normal questions and checks we talked about counting, hand signs, order in and out, jumps, lines and other necessary safety topics. Our guide pulled out a slate and drew the map to scale (freehand) including jumps, notated line information, distance and depth. What it would be to able to draw this cave’s map from memory; I was having a blast.
So me and TSandM geared up and hopped in. Now, that is simple enough to say but standing next to the jungle and putting the gear on is really a misnomer.
First you lay down your doubles, put on your wing, line up your backplate to the correct bolt pattern, hunt down the wing nuts (where did they go?) to hold everything together. Then you attach anything else that is required to the rig. First your regulators and run your hoses. Mine had my 10watt Diverite HID light, goodman handle, and my attached leg pouch; That was really the hard part. So imagine this is still laying on the rocks. The rest is wetsuit, mask, fins, and then trying to gracefully sit on the rocks and your buddy holding your tanks up so you can slip into your harness. You put on all this gear that is bolted to these tanks and then the harness is basically bolt to you. Then either fall in or hopefully step in. Remember that algae on the rocks?
I tend to lack grace on terra firma so I slipped forward and face planted. Cool water enters your suit and it is mild relief; face down for a second and breathe that cool air. Oh, yeah remember that brackish water. This is where I took a mouthful of that stuff and it made sea water taste like a lightly salted margarita rim- OH… YUCK… ! After rearranging my gear for comfort, pulling a few things from my pocket, attached backup computer to d-ring, and generally adjusted everything things were starting to click.
My dive buddy was great on check list and procedures. We went through procedures, turned on primary light and worked through long hose exchange and practiced the exchange in the run. While I was a tad rusty my team mate was spot on with everything from the long hose exchange to gas management. If she was a representative for GUE and their divers then they have my upmost respect. Her rig was clean, everything had its place and even the converse sneakers made sense with the jet fins.
Our dive guide was ready in a blink, he dropped in extra weight and o2 if we needed it. We reviewed the plan and comfortably glided into the cave. The cave drops in from the surface to a ledge at 15ft. The guide did the primary and secondary tie offs and he ran the line to the main line. We averaged in depth from 22-24 ft to a max of 32ft. The cave was truly alive with many creatures and it was a pleasure to dive the system. We saw sponges on the line, brittle stars, snails, a pair of clams, and things that I never seen before in such an environment. The Halocline was a monster and often ran right through the middle of the cave acting like a horizontal line, marking a specific depth that we could swim through but with consequences. Disturbing the water was like mixing oil and vinegar and it distorted our vision. Being third was great watching my partners light up the cave in front of me and enjoying the great view. We swam along a trail of a silt floor with walls climbing out vertically and falling away at strange angles. You could look to the side and see jumps to other areas of the cave. It was amazing and yet not far from your mind was your training tempering the visual site with reality of how harsh this environment was. It was fine to enjoy the sites but we watched our line, checked our gas and each other regularly. While the cave is beautiful we cannot dismiss the dangers. Highlights were a pair of white calms with beautiful red lips and feelers out into the water sensing any changes. When you light them up they jetted around to remove themselves from the warmth of our lights. At first I could not understand how it knew we were there but shining the light on your hand you barely feel the warmth and that was enough for them to know in ordinary darkness that something was different.
On both occasions I was the diver to turn the dive. I tend to be average to wide load so my gas consumption was higher than my partners. I had no problem turning the dive since it was our safety and gas supplies are that important. However, I would have enjoyed the saying for hours just to explore and enjoy the sites.
One the way out we exited out a window in the ceiling. This was something you did not notice descending and something that is amazing on the way out. Our guide was gracious enough to wind up the line and we cruised to our ledge to hang out and use the O2. We did our hangs and slows drifted out of the palace of rock and creatures that we invaded only a short time before.
First dive time was 30 minutes and the second was closer to 50 minutes.
Hopefully in the future I can add a strobe or two my camera and show some pictures of the passages. It’s like diving in outer space.
Training Note-
While this dive was shallow it does not dismiss the necessary training to enjoy this unique environment.
Continued Training and education-
Diving is sport were we have modular training. Just like every professional we need to continue our education and learn new techniques and ideas. Get involved and try something new. I will be looking at GUE fundies class; their some techniques and ideas seem very interesting. Plus, I am still chasing that CCR dream.
Hope you enjoyed the write up.
My thanks to my dive guide and TSandM for a great day of cave diving in Cozumel.
Regards, Andrew
Links-
Yuacatech Expeditions- Yucatech Expeditions. Cenote, Cave, Cavern and Technical Dive Courses and Tours.
Training-
NSS-CDS Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society
NACD National Association For Cave Diving
Global Underwater Explorers Global Underwater Explorers | Global Underwater Explorers
Retail/ Manufactures-
DSS- http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/www.deepseasupply.com
Diverite- SCUBA Diving Equipment for Technical, Wreck and Cave Diving: Dive Rite, Inc
Oxycheq- http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cozumel/www.oxycheq.com
Scubatoys- Scuba Gear and Scuba Diving Equipment - Discount dive gear (Cheap online!)
