Cenotes—cavern diving. Safe for AOW diver?

[kafkaland]

A few quick comments: I’m a cave diver who has been frequently to the cenotes until last spring. The cavern cenote tours were my gateway drug. The first hit is free (you can do it on your open water cert and in rec gear), then I was hooked and spent a lot of money on training, gear, and travel. And now I’m having withdrawal symptoms...

I believe that these tours are quite safe, as long as they are conducted by a responsible guide. The local community has become much more serious about policing the shops and guides, and bad ones should be reported (any cave instructor down there should be able to help with that) and will likely be weeded out very quickly. The last thing the local shops and cenote owners need are more accidents.

Statistically, the fatality rate for these tours is comparable to Great Lakes diving (I did the math a while ago, but don’t have the numbers handy right now). So it’s higher than your reef bimble, but not higher than what’s generally accepted in other more challenging dive locations.

And since Taj was mentioned, I’m quite familiar with that site. The spot that’s farthest away from daylight is at the jump arrow to the waterfall (cave) line, if I recall correctly. I’m pretty sure the closest open water at Cenote Esmeralda is no further away than 130ft (Sugarbowl is, I think). But it’s not at all obvious where Esmeralda is, it’s a small hole that some may not be aware of, and and you’d have to leave the line (generally a big no-no) to get there, and there’s not much light coming from it. I’ve actually never gone there, I just have a general sense of where it is. A guide who knows the site well and really needs to get a client to open water as soon as possible might opt for it, but it’s not something a possibly panicked diver should or could attempt. So in that sense, the line at Taj is as far as I can tell conforms to the letter of the rules, but maybe not to the spirit that you can always just swim out towards the light.

 

[Mr.337]

I know this is a fairly older post..... but i thought I would also weigh in on some topics in here.

I just finished my intro to cave course last month * will go back to finish full cave probably in 1 year want to get more cave dives before going full cave *

1000000% agree Cenote/cavern diving is a gateway drug to spending a ton of money! You will either hate it and say it's not for you or you just experienced the coolest thing you'll ever see... I was the latter. I was a Open water diver with ~25 dives before our first cavern dive.

I started this addiction this time last year and now yearn for more every day! next thing i knew I had ~50 dives and completed AOW, Deep, and Nitrox 40. Then said i need to learn sidemount as my foundation to caves. Then began the buying of all the sidemount gear (wifey was not impressed by bank account statements while trying to build a house seeing dive stuff show up). Over 4 different week long trips to PDC we dove quite a few caverns:

Dos Ojos (barbie & bat line) 2 times x2tanks
Chac Mool ( little brother & kulikan)
Angelita
Carwash ( one of the "easiest" cavern dives great for beginners)
Tajmahal 3 times x2 tanks
Eden 3 times 3 times x2 tanks
Zapote
Maravilla ( this is what heaven i think looks like!!!!)

These we did on our 4th trip we use the same guide each time so we were very comfortable diving with him as we had good dive plan and practiced proper buoyancy and trim while doing these dives below. These were really the ones that got my interest into getting cave certified. When i say it doesn't fall into a cenote dive. I'm fully aware the line committee agrees it is safe to dive as a "cavern" tour, but by definition these lose daylight from sight for the majority of the dives. These are fantastic places that are almost always going to be Empty of groups! They are not a "beginner" spot and i absolutely recommend the ones on the list above and do a good portion of those before asking your guide to go to these below.
Tak Bi Ha ( certainly does not fall into "cenote dive")
Tak Bilum ( Certainly does not fall into "cenote dive")
Dreamgate (Certainly does not fall into "cenote dive") 2hr 1 min dive with 1on1 guide before reaching our turn pressure slow and easy but beautiful dive.

i decided after our 4th trip to fly back without the wifey and friends for a week and complete my cavern and intro to cave course. I was able to finish it in 5 days and then 6th day was a fun intro cave dives in nahooch na Chich. 5 trips to PDC in 9 months wifey says we just need to buy a condo down there now since we love the area so much.

The wifey isn't like me and she likes them but nowhere near enough to go full cave and will do Cavern tours when we go but she likes the ocean more (even though she gets seasick every boat ride haha)

Everyone is different i have 1 friend who did 2 days with us in dos ojos and eden/taj and he said nope not for me and will not go back. 1 friend got open water certified 1 weekend and the next weekend his first dive away from class was Dos Ojos. So for me we do a mix of diving when we go to PDC. Every time from here on out Maravilla will ALWAYS BE A MUST DIVE for me. It is definitely important to have a good understanding and respect of the limits in the cavern as a new diver. You have to respect the rules and have plans for worst case scenarios and know what to do immediately. I definitely will admit i have become a much more aware diver by going through the cave course than before taking it.

I could go on forever but i feel this is already crazy long. Just be prepared to either open your wallet as the darkness and curiosity suck you in, or say nope it's not for me i'm good.

 

[Zack-Bloom]

In the times I've been in Mexico I've only heard of two near accidents and they both have a common theme: a guide taking people outside the bounds of what is permitted for their certification level. As long as your guide is very clear about only taking you into the cavern you will be perfectly safe. If someone offers to take you into the cave hoping for a tip, run away. Don't leave the cavern line and you will have a great experience.

 

[Tchau]

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.

I dove in Dos Ojos and it was pretty easy. Felt extremely safe.