Cenotes diving

[dbulmer]

What's actually involved in Cenotes diving?
I'm an OW certed bloke and Cenotes are overhead environments (or am I wrong) - how can I try a Cenotes dive in (measured) safety and would I need to bring any specific equipment with me?

I really want to know what's involved on these dives from a safety point of view, can anyone do them or do you need a specific qualification - PS I am well aware that real cavern/caves require specific training and equipment but I just wonder how the try out dives are managed because ... I'd really like to try it but want to make sure I'm not getting myself into something I;m untrained and unprepared for.

TIA

 

[Driznik]

Where are you looking at going?

I haven't done it myself yet, but I'm off to Cozumel / Playa del Carmen in a couple of weeks so I've been researching Cenote diving a little bit. As I understand it (and I may be completely wrong here), the big difference between cave and cavern diving is that in a cavern there is a space of open air between the waters surface - as opposed to a cave or a wreck where there is no air space between the water and the enclosing ceiling. So, if you surface in a cavern, you hit open air. If you try to surface in a wreck or cave, you hit the environment ceiling (and are still underwater).

As a result, most of the cenote dive operators I've looked at in that area only require you to have your open water certification - and provide you with the special equipment that you need for the trip.

I'd never do it for the first time without an experienced local guide though.

If you're looking at going to the same area I am, there are a couple of threads on this board and reviews on www.diveglobal.com that speak very well of Diablo Divers (www.diablodivers.com), Tank-Ha Dive Center (www.tankha.com) and Abyss Dive Shop (www.abyssdiveshop.com). I'm planning on giving it a try with one of these shops.

Good luck,

D

 

[azcaddman]

Cavern would be the Daylight zone of a cave.. ie you can still see daylight from the surface.. , you are still in an overhead area.

You can go on a Tour, with a Guide (supposed to be a cave instructor I belive, used to be just Cave certified, but its changed), all you need is you OW cert to do the tour.

one shop that I have done cave training with, is now doing tours as well Zero Gravity I recomend going with a shop that does training also, not just tours. This helps to ensure that the guide is qualified.

 

[catbrown]

In this area of the Riviera Maya cenote diving is very common for Open Water divers and we usually do 2 days in a week of cenote dives and more when the weather is very windy here - the best thing you can have is good buoyancy, it is very important to not kick up the silt on the bottom or bash the overhead. Our guides for the caverns are cav certified adn cary all the necessary safety equipment and the shop supplies all your gear and flashlights

 

[verona]

Hidden Worlds are very good and well used to OW divers with no previous cavern experience.

http://www.hiddenworlds.com

When I was there, the other 2 divers were OW and relatively recently qualified. They managed fine. groups are small and I thought the briefing and approach to safety was good. You are never out of the light zone but as others have said you need good buoyancy. Also helps if you are comfortable in dim light and narrow spaces (though never so narrow that 2 people can't get through). I loved diving the cenotes - they are a fantastic experience as long as you approach them properly and follow the instructions of the guides. Think the ones at Hidden Worlds are all cave trained.

 

[rwb]

Was in Play del Carmen in Oct. 04 and did two "sea notea" dives. They are an easy dive, provided you are not nervous about overhead environment. You can almost always see a way out. They are well worth doing, but keep in mind - no marine life to speak of. Some of the the geological sites are awsome and the water clarity is almost unbelievable. The fresh water is cool so get the offered wet suit and enjoy.
Bob

 

[Scuba_Steve]

.... As I understand it (and I may be completely wrong here), the big difference between cave and cavern diving is that in a cavern there is a space of open air between the waters surface - as opposed to a cave or a wreck where there is no air space between the water and the enclosing ceiling. So, if you surface in a cavern, you hit open air. If you try to surface in a wreck or cave, you hit the environment ceiling (and are still underwater).....

Odds are pretty good that you will be in overhead with NO air between the water's surface and the ceiling of the cave. There are spots as you say, within a cavern dive, that this is the case, but it's not the norm. You'll be in complete overhead, but within a certain linear distance/light zone from a non-overhead environment.

As far as I know, a certified Cave Diver, not just an Instructor, can perform the duties of Cavern guide in Mexico. I would be suprised if this has changed since my most recent trip this past fall, when I'm pretty sure that's how it was then.

If anyone attempted to try it on their own, they'd probably take you out and shoot you, if you didn't kill yourself diving them first. Don't even think about it.

Have fun, there are some truly amazing Cavern dive to be had there. Listen well to the briefing, and wear some extra thermal protection. I'd even bring a hood along.

 

[dbulmer]

Thanks a lot everyone.
A coupel of extra questions. My equipment will be BP/W and long hose. My buoyancy skills are not good but I'll have had a couple of sea dives before maybe trying. I'll have full 3mm wetsuit - in temperatures of about 20C I'm ok without a hood -
can I assume water temperature will be about 22/23 (January)? Since I have no real overhead experience I cannot say if enclosed spaces is a worry but I don't believe that'll bother me provided my buoyancy is up to scratch. What sort of depth are the caverns -( my buoyancy is not that great in the 1 to 4 metre) range and how far is the penetration?

As for kicking up silt, well I'm a crap diver - I can just about do a modified frog kick and I am able to stay off the bottom.. usually

Thanks again.

 

[dbulmer]

One more question - my regs are DIN, will I need to bring my DIN to A-Clamp converter with me? ie Do the Steel tanks have DIN fittings? I'll have my converter with me anyway for sea dives I am just wondering if DIN steel tanks are available for Cenotes dives? And do you do a weight check before the dive?

 

[verona]

Just looked at my log book: temp was 24C, which I think is steady all year round. I wore 3mm long suit, no hood. Max depths were as follows for the routes we did:

Bat Cave - 10.1m
Dos Ojos - 7.6m - from the profile, this route looks like there were more parts in the 4m range.

You should never be more than 40m from the surface at any point on the dive. But in some places you will not be overhead and the surface will be directly there.

Buoyancy is really important for 2 main reasons:

1) the bottoms of the cenotes are layered with very fine silt and if you kick it up you'll create a cloud - not good in overhead env.

2) the limestone is fragile and you don't want to bash into it and break bits off.

If your buoyancy is as poor as you are suggesting, you might want to practise it more and intensively before you go!