Cenotes-Mexico.. do you really need a guide?

[boydski]

doesn't matter if it is easy to stay on the line or not. Bottom line is if you are not with a certified guide or you are not certified to cavern or cave dive, then you do not belong in there. Like the warning sign says: even open water instructors have died in caves.

Wendy is right. If you don't have the right training and experience, you're not going to handle a simple event like a light failure, or having another diver silt-out the area and you can no longer find the line to get out. Small events like these kill divers every year that have ventured into caves and caverns without the right training.

With training, these become simple events, without, they can and do lead to the deaths of even very experienced divers every year. The cenotes seem very benign, but have also killed very experienced divers, as recently as just a few months ago.

 

[Mako Mark]

I almost met my maker in the Cenotes, get a guide...............

I think you need to post this in "near misses" let the audience decide why you shouldnt go in there without a guide.

 

[fgriffith]

I have dived the Cenotes in Mexico before and notice some of the Cenotes like Ponderosa have just a sign saying you can pay to get in, but no lights without a guide. How many others can you go to without a guide?

I got my cave certification down there. I definitely would not go without a guide.

 

[AmyJ]

Hi, we're heading south.. and were hoping to dive the cenotes (OF course with guides). We are open water, but with only a few dives. however, now reading this, it makes the cenotes sound scary!! Are they really dangerous.. or should we be fine with a guide. I understood the cenotes required only an open water cert as they are not an overhead environment. Am I just really confused?? (don't panic.. frequent occurence!) Thanks

 

[AKmountaineer]

I just did Dos Ojos and it's not too hard to find your way around the two main loops due to route markers, but I would still recommend a guide until you learn the specific cenote.

 

[boydski]

Are they really dangerous.. or should we be fine with a guide. I understood the cenotes required only an open water cert as they are not an overhead environment. Am I just really confused?? (don't panic.. frequent occurence!) Thanks

Hi Amy,

You should be fine diving the Cenotes as long as you are with a guide. They take groups of open water divers for tours every day, and I don't think they have lost anyone yet. :11ztongue

However, diving in the cenotes is definitely an overhead environment. You'll stay in the Cavern zone, and will always be able to see daylight from one of several entrances, but will have a ceiling overhead that prevents a direct access to the surface. The guide is there to assist should something happen (out of air, panic, silt, confusion, etc.).

Cavern Photos from Dos Ojos and Gran Cenote.