Cenote Diving in Playa del Carmen

[tdtaylor]

My daughter and I did Dos Oros last Spring for two dives. We were two groups of four. The first four were rather newly minted OW divers, and they spent 45-50 minutes working on buoyancy. The DMs were GREATLY concerned with it. At one point, there was a discussion about one of the young men having to sit out the dive.

Our group of 4 spent 5 minutes proving our buoyancy skills, then off we went. My daughter only had 30 dives, but her buoyancy skills have been superb since her first dives, and she is a natural diver.

Bottom line, you have to have good buoyancy, and good trim. Trim seems to be forgotten. And know how to kick without kicking up the sand- i.e. frog kick.

Unfortunately, the inexperienced group went first, and the crystal clear water, while clear, was not "crystal clear" after they went through. If you have time and still want to SCUBA the cenotes, I would recommend a Perfect Buoyancy class and to dive as much as possible before the trip. Otherwise, snorkel- putting yourself in danger is not worth it.

My two cents,

Terry

 

[nimoh]

My daughter and I did Dos Oros last Spring for two dives. We were two groups of four. The first four were rather newly minted OW divers, and they spent 45-50 minutes working on buoyancy. The DMs were GREATLY concerned with it. At one point, there was a discussion about one of the young men having to sit out the dive.

Our group of 4 spent 5 minutes proving our buoyancy skills, then off we went. My daughter only had 30 dives, but her buoyancy skills have been superb since her first dives, and she is a natural diver.

Bottom line, you have to have good buoyancy, and good trim. Trim seems to be forgotten. And know how to kick without kicking up the sand- i.e. frog kick.

Unfortunately, the inexperienced group went first, and the crystal clear water, while clear, was not "crystal clear" after they went through. If you have time and still want to SCUBA the cenotes, I would recommend a Perfect Buoyancy class and to dive as much as possible before the trip. Otherwise, snorkel- putting yourself in danger is not worth it.

My two cents,

Terry

this brings up another point. Even if you have good buoyancy and trim as a new diver, you may or may not be ready for finding yourself in a zero visibility silt cloud that the person in front of you causes.

 

[fjdavids]

My daughter and I did Dos Oros last Spring for two dives. We were two groups of four. The first four were rather newly minted OW divers, and they spent 45-50 minutes working on buoyancy. The DMs were GREATLY concerned with it. At one point, there was a discussion about one of the young men having to sit out the dive.

Our group of 4 spent 5 minutes proving our buoyancy skills, then off we went. My daughter only had 30 dives, but her buoyancy skills have been superb since her first dives, and she is a natural diver.

Bottom line, you have to have good buoyancy, and good trim. Trim seems to be forgotten. And know how to kick without kicking up the sand- i.e. frog kick.

Unfortunately, the inexperienced group went first, and the crystal clear water, while clear, was not "crystal clear" after they went through. If you have time and still want to SCUBA the cenotes, I would recommend a Perfect Buoyancy class and to dive as much as possible before the trip. Otherwise, snorkel- putting yourself in danger is not worth it.

My two cents,

Terry

Hi Terry,
I understand what the other people said about the bouyancy skill for newees and the confined enviorement but, I work in Playa del Carmen and I know some cenotes for beginners. There are some places very opens not with roof but with canyons an haloclyne and are also cenotes, some Instructors use these cenotes to do the Open Water course so you could imagine how difficult they are...
I strongly recommend you to enjoy this experience in family...
Please visit this webpage to know more Www.DiveLife.Mx
Best regards.
Fran

 

[divekraz]

I agree with the posters before, your group does not appear to be qualified from the information supplied to do the cenotes in Playa del carmen. There may be some that are more similar to a grotto or small cave but then they wouldn't be called a cenote. I've been to the cenotes, and the ones I've been in there had very, very limited access to the surface. You had to follow a line in and out as there was no visible light from the surface most of the time. We had to go through a hole early in the dive where I had to remove my BCD to get through. others in the group were skinnier and didn't need to. We ended up in a large cave and when my camera lights were off it was literally pitch black. Only you know what your skill level is and if you would be comfortable in that type of enviroment. I would queastion anyone willing to take you very carefully on what you should expect during your dive before going. For me personally, I'd much rather dive the reefs as there is almost no life to see in the cenotes.

 

[Panama Jones]

I dove the Cenotes (Dos Ojos) this last Tuesday. Let me say it was absolutely fantastic. I loved it. BUT, even though I am far from being a cave diver, in my humble opinion I was in a cave. When on each side, you are surround by rock 5 or less feet up, 5 or less feet down, 5 feet on either side, and at then end of the lines you are (I'm guessing) 60 to 80 feet, maybe more at some points, from the natural overhead opening... you are in a cave. It's black without your flashlight. Anyone that has been at the end of the line in both Dos Ojos caverns (caves) would agree. I know that is probably lame to a true cave diver

I dove with a DM, and a couple from Russia..a father and 12 year old daughter. The daughter didn't want to do the second dive. BTW she was fantastic on the first dive. Perfectly neutral, good movement. I would have had no idea she wasn't enjoying it.

However, if you are comfortable, it is a must do dive. Too dark for pics with a regular dive camera and flashlight.

Did I just get a taste for caves?

 

[TSandM]

I did three days of cenote tours on my first trip. I agree; Dos Ojos is the most "cave-like" cavern tour, and I'd love to see somebody actually run a measuring tape to find out if all of it is within "cavern" standards. If you liked that dive, you'll like caves.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

My daughter and I just got back from Playa where we dove Chac Mool. She's AOW without much experience; I'm cave certified, we had our very good guide, and one other inexperienced diver. With the guide in front and me bringing up the rear, I felt confident about my daughter's safety. The cenotes are incredible dives, and if your skills are up to it, not to be missed. The dives are nominally in the 'cavern zone', i.e. you're always supposed to be able to see daylight, but that doesn't mean open water is close; it can still be a substantial swim to the surface. Most of the dive you're in a very dark environment, using hand-held lights. You're following a line so there is some task loading, and, as others have said, you have to have good buoyancy control and trim to do it (and not bang into and damage the delicate cave formations). Chac Mool didn't seem to have light silt in the cavern zone, mostly sand and rock on the bottom, so any disturbance would clear quickly, but there was a halocline, a salt/freshwater boundary. These are really cool, but they get stirred up as you swim through them, greatly distorting visibility -- hard to describe, not blurry like taking your mask off, but rippling/swirling, like looking through moving liquid glass. So, line following in the dark using a light with distorted visibility more than 100' from open water so you can't bolt for sunshine and seagulls (I mean make a CESA) if things go south; those are the challenges. On the other hand, no sharks...

 

[tdtaylor]

I did three days of cenote tours on my first trip. I agree; Dos Ojos is the most "cave-like" cavern tour, and I'd love to see somebody actually run a measuring tape to find out if all of it is within "cavern" standards. If you liked that dive, you'll like caves.

I absolutely agree- pushing the definition. But what I didn't realize, having only been in this cenote, is that this is evidently one of the most "cavelike."

And my camera worked great in the cenote. But I have a full frame DSLR setup.

Fjdavids- hear what you are saying. I guess the only solution is I will have to visit several more times and expand my knowledge base. I was appreciative that the DMs were so concerned about the safety of the divers and protection of the cenotes.

Terry