Devils Throat TAKE LIGHT

[MMM]

One other observation. I've done this dive many times. I remember on one dive however (Blue Angel, Matt was DM) folks on the boat wanted to do this dive. Matt said "oh, so many people want to do this dive. I actually think that a better dive is at that site, but without doing the Throat." For a moment I wondered if he just didn't feel like doing the dive. Then I thought, naw, he will dive anywhere, anytime. He doesn't want to do that dive with the people on this boat...probably for safety reasons without "insulting" anyone's ability. So I happily agreed.

 

[Cozdreamer]

So happy to hear a miracle ending to this story! You don't say who you were diving with. Would you mind sharing the dive op so I can tuck their name into our list of dive ops to book with in the future if/when our favorite is already booked? You and your wife are blessed to be able to continue diving together.... I wish you both continued safe diving and life's best side from here forward!

 

[Jarrett]

If you don't mind talking a little more about incident for educational purposes, would you mind talking about the ascent? In that case, did the DM take your wife straight up at a certain rate? Did anyone do safety stops? I've never really thought about this scenario before and wonder what the best proceedure is.

 

[scubawife]

This post got me to thinking (and looking back at some old threads) and doing some self talk (time to do that rescue cert). I've never been on a dive that went south (oops, scratch that, I remember one in La Paz but no one was unconscious) so wondered exactly what you do in terms of an ascent? Did you ascend at safe rates and do any necessary deco/safety stops along the way, or did you just blast up, as fast as possible, and make plans for a chamber visit?

Good question, Marg. I was thinking the same thing. It's a very deep dive and a drift dive. Do the other divers just stay together and slowly ascend and spend a few minutes at around 75ft to clear out any deco obligations, then slowly ascend for the safety stop? Or does everyone do an emergency ascent as a group? That's not something that I've ever had covered in a dive briefing on any boat, anywhere.

 

[MMM]

Would you mind sharing the dive op so I can tuck their name into our list of dive ops to book with in the future if/when our favorite is already booked?

I'll leave the OP to state this but I'm pretty sure I've figured it out by checking their previous posts in which they note the op they go with, zooming in on the avatar (you can see the dive op's initials on the tanks), and Christi's comments about them being her personal friends. Question is whether the DM was Jorge or Roberto. I'm guessing the latter.

 

[Rule62]

Several folks have asked who the dive op was we were with in order to arrange dives with them as well. It was Liquid Blue and I'll be eternally grateful to their handling of a real life or death situation. My wife shares my feelings and does not want to dive with anyone else the next time we go.

As far as the ascent, we pretty much “bounced”. Based on my computer our total time was 16min from drop in to surface. I hit 125ft and my wife 118. We were at depth for so little time it didn’t make much difference on the ascent. We didn’t emergency ascend but ascended at the recommended rate not exceeding 1ft per sec without a safety stop but a minute pause at about 25ft.

 

[MMM]

It was Liquid Blue and I'll be eternally grateful to their handling of a real life or death situation.

Thanks for the confirmation and info. Proof that you get what you pay for. Folks looking for bargain rates should keep this in mind (or be extremely confident of their abilities in a crisis).

 

[5615mike]

Your story brought back memories I dont enjoy. About 5 years ago we were diving on Devils throat but we got there a bit late. We did not know there were so many groups on the site. As we arrived in the cathedral there were two different groups on the site and two just ahead who had completed the dive. Inside was a mess. as I entered two divers went below me and I had to keep from running into them. They came out of nowhere. Very difficult to see and as we decended the throat it was almost a silt out. My wife paniced and was grabbed by the DM ahead of her. I could see in her eyes how scared she was and we took about two minutes as we exited to look into each others eyes. I could see many tears but I was on a mission to keep her calm at 120+ft and scared. I just kept giving her the sign with two fingers from my mast to her mask and made sure we kept eye contact. After several minutes she shook her head she was ok and we completed the dive. It was a scarey dive for her and thought she might remain scared of diving. Since, she has been fine and has never shown the effects. It is certainly nothing like drowning but fear at depth is dangerous, very dangerous. Sounds like you had a DM that was frankly on the ball with the rescue but making that dive without a light is not a good idea. I certainly wont do it again without one but under our conditions a light would have done no good anyway. I wont make that dive again if that many people are on the site at one time.

So very glad to her your wife is ok.

PS.........Tim, I remember reading about your ride in the chamber

 

[Ben_ca]

Morals of the story? Take a light into the Devils Throat, dive with a trained dive op, go to San Miguel Clinic if you need med attention, request Dr. Piccolo for dive related issues, have DAN coverage, ENJOY EVERY MOMENT YOU HAVE, LIFE IS FRAGILE!!! BE GRATEFUL!!!

How about "Beware of Trust Me Dives" ....

There is always option #1

There's another thread going on right now about a lost diver in Puget sound who should have "Know better" than doing a 200 ft dive on a single al 80...

Not saying that Puget Sound and Cozumel are anything alike but..... warm water will kill you as dead as cold water...

 

[Martha]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I am so happy your wife is OK.