Cenote Diving and Safety

[Grover48]

This situation is driven by money. It is a case of cost verses rewards. The cost is negligible, as in no money laid out, verses rewards... mega-tips. It is the same way with the Blue-Hole in Belize and the Devil-Throat in Cozumel. As long as there is money to be made, there will be divers doing it with the guides who think of the money first. I have heard of people who were newly certified taking a couple of dives with an operator and then doing the "Been there, Done that, Bought the T-Shirt dives."

I do not have an answer for the problem, only a first hand observation of people on this type of dive that were in over their head. No pun intended.

 

[lindenbruce]

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

 

[decompression]

I'm off to Mexico next month and it seems like we've have such a bad year this year, I'm hoping that there are no "incidents" while I'm there......or at all, ever.

 

[Drewpy]

Thanks for that Lynne..I will be doing a few Cenote dives for the first time in Feb. I do appreciate the info.

 

[eelnoraa]

And just how often do guides in Hawaii takes OW divers into the lava tubes?

I had first hand exerperience in this. The boat charter has 2 guides, at least 15 divers (I know because I am #15). Some divers are very new (didn't carry enough weight for initial descent). These guides took the group into lava tubes. I was at the end of the group and observing. In no time the lava tube viz was reduced to zero. Despite having a 21W HID, I can't see beyond a few ft from the entrance. I said to myself, no way I am going in there like this. Guides are leaving the dive in the from, so I swan over the tube and met the group on the other side (which was previously discussed).

Two comment here, 1)I think all divers should learn non-silting kick technique before passing OW. 2)Guides need to be more conservative. In this case, if a client at the back of the group has issue, no way a guide can go back and find the person, not to mention helping him/her

 

[tstormdiver]

I had first hand exerperience in this. The boat charter has 2 guides, at least 15 divers (I know because I am #15). Some divers are very new (didn't carry enough weight for initial descent). These guides took the group into lava tubes. I was at the end of the group and observing. In no time the lava tube viz was reduced to zero. Despite having a 21W HID, I can't see beyond a few ft from the entrance. I said to myself, no way I am going in there like this. Guides are leaving the dive in the from, so I swan over the tube and met the group on the other side (which was previously discussed).
Two comment here, 1)I think all divers should learn non-silting kick technique before passing OW. 2)Guides need to be more conservative. In this case, if a client at the back of the group has issue, no way a guide can go back and find the person, not to mention helping him/her

Another case of divers, blindly following the guides, that was exactly what happened in Italy to the 3 divers & 1 guide who perished in a sea cave there. One thing I DO teach my OW students, is to NOT blindly follow a guide. If the dive is beyond their skill level, or they are not comfortable with it, do your own dive & meet back up with the group. With their OW training, they are supposed to be skilled enough to dive with another diver to their own level independently. Some guides, whether driven by money or bravado, don't think twice about taking their clients into potentially dangerous situations. I once saw an OW instructor take a newer diver (less than 15 dives) through a swim through in MX & come out of that swim through at roughly 150 ft. I could only shake my head & wonder what was he thinking. I went through all the "what ifs" that could have happened..... Divers coming out of an OW class need to know, they CAN do their own dives with another diver, they don't have to always follow the guide.

 

[boulderjohn]

Another case of divers, blindly following the guides, that was exactly what happened in Italy to the 3 divers & 1 guide who perished in a sea cave there. One thing I DO teach my OW students, is to NOT blindly follow a guide. If the dive is beyond their skill level, or they are not comfortable with it, do your own dive & meet back up with the group. With their OW training, they are supposed to be skilled enough to dive with another diver to their own level independently. Some guides, whether driven by money or bravado, don't think twice about taking their clients into potentially dangerous situations.

One (and only one) of the problems with the Italy situation was that the dive guide was 100% unsuited to the situation. He had no overhead certification of any kind. He had been hired just before the dive and been shown the interior of the cavern one time the day before the dive. He apparently had no idea that the little side tunnel through which he led his guests was an opening to a silty cave that would be the death of all of them.

So, you are a diver being told that you are being led into a perfectly safe cavern by a professional guide. How are you to know the difference?

 

[Mike]

So, you are a diver being told that you are being led into a perfectly safe cavern by a professional guide. How are you to know the difference?

Because there is no such thing as a perfectly safe cavern. Divers who want to live to dive another day should realize that every dive potentially could be their last, all that's required is the right combination of over-lapping circumstances.

 

[boulderjohn]

Because there is no such thing as a perfectly safe cavern. Divers who want to live to dive another day should realize that every dive potentially could be their last, all that's required is the right combination of over-lapping circumstances.

Nothing in diving is perfectly safe--dive safety is measured in relation to other diving, not staying in bed all day. People follow DMs into long swim throughs in Cozumel by the thousands every year. Are you saying that none of those are safe and divers without cave training should stay out of them? When you go to Cozumel, do you refuse to go through them? o you think that an absolute rule that no one should ever enter an overhead environment, even if it is not as long as their body, will ever be honored around the world?

 

[TSandM]

John, I think anyone who goes into a swim-through where they can't see the light from the exit from the entrance is taking a big chance. I remember reading a story of a woman who panicked in one of those in Coz and tried to reach the surface by means of a crack where she could see light; she got stuck, panicked further, and by the time her husband pulled her down, she had quit breathing. She survived, but that was a close one. But this particular thread really shouldn't degenerate into an argument about all overhead environments -- this thread was specifically to alert people traveling to the Riviera Maya that there ARE safety rules that have been promulgated, although they are voluntary, and that there IS training for guides, although not all guides have taken such training. It is buyer beware on cavern guiding, and the recent horrible fatality was an example of what happens if you don't do your due diligence, and if you stop taking responsibility for your dive.