Cenotes—cavern diving. Safe for AOW diver?

[Catito]

Dear Cozumel experts who are NOT certified cave divers:

If you dived the cenotes...how was it? Feel safe? My claustrophobia level is...medium. We plan to dive with CenoteXperience—Tajmaha and Ponderosa.

Piece of cake?

AOW divers tell me about your recent experience.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Esprise Me]

What does a medium claustrophobia level mean in this context?

I did two guided dives in Dos Ojos when I was very new (and probably shouldn't have.) Three things I had going for me were pretty good buoyancy control/trim, pretty good self-/situational awareness, and a general tendency not to panic. My air consumption was not good. The guide told me to signal when I hit a certain pressure, which I did, but which happened earlier than we'd hoped, causing her to take a shorter path. I also had a bit of trouble equalizing with the depth changes; the guide at one point held my arm steady as I tipped my head to the side to clear my left ear. Fortunately I stayed calm, managed not to bump into anything or anyone, and had a good time.

The wisdom of diving in caverns in Mexico without specialized training has been debated extensively here. On the one hand, these are trust-me dives, which are frowned upon for good reason. On the other hand, if you're going to trust someone, the cavern guides in Mexico are usually pretty worthy of that trust. Their safety record is impressive. And for many people, the experience is worth some extra risk.

But I would be wary of doing this if you have any concerns that you might panic in there.

 

[CanadaDan]

It's a different experience but very doable and safe. The two biggest factors (other than your own comfort level) will be the quality of your guide and the quality of your buddy. Choose a reputable shop (preferably cavern/cave centric) and if you don't have a good buddy with you consider paying up for a 1on1 private guide. I've done them with insta buddies and travel partners... I'd avoid instas from here on in.

Angelita is another great choice as it's really open water with no overheads. DON'T let them take you to Calavera

Coming from a lake and ocean diver... cenote's added such a huge dimension to my love of diving. I'm bummed it's going to be 2023 before I can likely get back down there,

 

[Manatee Diver]

I did my first cavern tour as a newly minted AOW diver with an amazing 16 dives. We did those exact cenotes. Now as a cave diver, I was not ready knowing what I know now I realize how much of a trust me dive it was.

That being said, they have an impressive safety record, and as long as you and your dive buddies are reasonably competent it came be safely done. One exception is Zapote, the depth of that cavern increase air usage and the chances of deco. I saw both an air share, and someone swimming around for 15 minutes at 20 feet because of unplanned deco. Amazing cave, not a great place to do a recreational cavern dive.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would contact Nicolas ahead of time and tell him up front about your claustrophobia concerns,it's a little to late once your in a cenote. Nico and his crew are a great bunch of people and are good safe conscientious guides. There several cenotes that have large open water areas. I stick to them.

 

[Diverlady13]

My claustrophobia level is...medium.

I think we might need something a bit more clear. When feeling claustrophobic, do you tend to panic or can you keep it together? Some of the cenotes have multiple open areas where others are pretty enclosed. If you would be uncomfortable not seeing an opening for, say, 1/2 mile or more in and another 1/2 mile back out, some of the cenotes might not be for you. Also, some of the cenotes are entered through fairly narrow openings under the water.

As for my experience, I (along with my husband) dove 4 cenotes in February; El Pit, Dos Ojos, Eden, and Tajma Ha. At that time, we had 29 dives under our belt...so not a long dive history. My husband is fairly claustrophobic, but he thoroughly enjoyed the cenotes that we did dive. We were fortunate to have an excellent guide and felt very confident in his skills and he made us very comfortable with the dives. Once in, the cenotes we dove opened up into large rooms or passageways, so my husband was fine with that. He would not have wanted to squeeze into tighter tunnels, but I doubt that happens a whole lot with the guided cenote dives.

El Pit was the most open cenote that we dove. It has a large overhead opening and is a good cenote to begin with, IMO. Of course we took flashlights (and backups), but even down at 125 feet there was enough natural light to see without the flashlights (but they were good for looking at the cave formations). That might be a good one to start with if you don't mind diving deep. Of course you don't have to go that deep, but there is part of the cave where if you go down to that section there is a really cool underwater river above you.

I thoroughly enjoyed the cenotes...enough to make me consider cave training. The caves are beautiful and particularly so when there are openings and the sunlight streams in. It's quite otherworldly. We're going back next month to dive the cenotes again (and also snorkel with the whale sharks).

ETA: I do want to reiterate what others have said. These are trust me dives. If you don't feel confident with your guide, then don't go. If you don't have good buoyancy, then I'd work on that first. Please let your guide company know about your claustrophobia. If that causes you to panic, rethink your plan.

 

[jonhall]

Dove Tajmaha if it is the same as Tach Majal (and other various spellings) 4 ½ years ago in October. I did it just before being certified AOW.

The most strenuous part of it was carrying my tank and gear down steps to the cenote and back up after the dives. A few things that come to mind:

1. We used the dive ops 7mm wetsuits for this dive thinking the water would be cool. Guages read 77º F and my buddy and I knew we would have been okay in our own 3mm's. At the very most, we could have gone 5mm.
2. If you go with a thicker wetsuit, you will need to calculate the weight you need. The dive op should help you with this or have extra weight if you need it. You will probably do a check before going under on the first dive anyway.
3. There is a line to follow but you will be following your DM. Everyone in your group will be swimming in a line. You won't have to worry about sediment getting kicked up and viz is pretty good and a little blurry when you hit a halocline.
4. Depth can go to 40'+ and rise back up to 15'. Good buoyancy control is important.

It is a nice dive - there is a nice open area where you will most likely surface before you finish the dive - you can do it!

 

[pauldw]

There's cavern diving, and there's cave diving. Cenotes have both, and cave dives start in the cavern area and keep going. If you're a tourist, you should only be doing the cavern dives. They let you do that in Mexico. What a wonderful place! If you find someone who will take you cave diving, especially if you're claustrophobic, you should write your will in advance. Caverns have some overhead, but by definition are within view of light, and usually the guides won't take you far into the overhead, or to anywhere very cramped. Dos Ojos is popular, and I went in there worried that my claustrophobia might act up. It did, briefly, toward the end of one dive, which probably had to do with late dive buoyancy issues making me nervous. It did not act up in the part that's like going through a tunnel. Having said, you are you. Mexicans fudge the rule a little on what constitutes a cavern, for purposes of taking tourists to cool places. There are cavern dives in that are nearly out of the light, and where the sides are about close enough to reach out and touch. So pick a cenote you think will be safe. Frankly, the most important thing is buoyancy. In The Pit, it may not matter as much as long as you can control your ascent. In a place like Dos Ojos, you must be able to keep from banging into the ceiling or anything else, because you'll destroy formations.

 

[rmssetc]

Dear Cozumel experts who are NOT certified cave divers:

If you dived the cenotes...how was it? Feel safe? My claustrophobia level is...medium. We plan to dive with CenoteXperience—Tajmaha and Ponderosa.

Piece of cake?

AOW divers tell me about your recent experience.

Thanks in advance.

Here goes.

Where & When & Who
I went to Chac Mool cenote, outside Puerto Aventuras, with Dive Aventuras, during the week I was doing my AOW with them in 2015.

Claustrophobia
Interesting that you mentioned. My claustrophobia level is...probably negative -- I've never gone dry caving, but at $WORK I was usually the one sent to crawl into tight, dark spaces to deal with machinery and such. Never a problem for me, even when they were too small to turn around or roll over. I certainly didn't find the Chac Mool dive constricting, but I couldn't possibly recommend it to anyone who has any discomfort in confined spaces.

Preparation: Dive Aventuras was pretty familiar with my diving, as I had just done 20-ish dives with them during my AOW and lots of fun/skills dives, and they didn't raise any issues with my [limited] abilities in terms of air consumption or buoyancy. I was diving with one guide, and there were no other divers in our group or in the cavern at all. He had a twinset, and we talked very briefly in advance about air sharing, following the line, turn-aound pressure, and trim/buoyancy control, multiple flashlights, very basic signal by flashlight, etc. This was a reasonably well-run "trust-me" dive, not something where I had any say in the dive plan or where I could be an equal buddy.

Environment
The scenery and experience were interesting, but I'd rather look at pretty fish. I was also uncomfortably cold by the end of the 2nd dive. I was wearing a 3/4mm wetsuit (possibly with an additional shorty, I don't recall).

Safety
As far as safety....well... I doubt that our dive met the spirit of a "cavern". In some spots, it's possible that if we turned off all lights and let our eyes acclimate for a while, we might have been able to see a dim glow somewhere in the general direction of the entrance. Maybe, but I doubt it -- we certainly weren't in clear sight of open water at all time. The line was easy to follow, and I knew it was a loop, but I certainly didn't know the 1/2-way point or the shortest way out of the loop. I was pretty confident that if I had an issue that the guide could help me. The guide was probably 1000x more experienced than me, but also seemed to be considerably older and possibly less fit. I had zero confidence that I could help him at all if there was any issue.

Conclusion
For me, I'm glad to have done it once -- it wasn't a "bucket list" item, but it was interesting. Not something I ever plan to repeat.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Dos Ojos was my first Cenote. It will either be "wow that was incredible" or "its not really for me". Since Dos Ojos is the bus tour of first time cavern dives for many people - it is a great place to start. Yes you will be in an overhead environment - yes there will be rays of light for you to see an exit if needed. Pick a shop that teaches Cave Diving - not a company or guide that does tours only. Why - because a reputable Cave Instructor should keep you safer than someone who wants to impress you. I use Protec Tulum or Protec Playa. They are the home of XDeep gear. They are a first class shop. Look them up.