Diving Devil's Throat and Columbia Deep

[cvchief]

Wow, so referrals mean nothing in this business? I'm all for risk "aware"... that's just being smart and responsible but this is very risk "averse" imho... Yes it's diving, yes people can die, but if Dive Ops and their DMs do not take a referrals from people they TRUST then that is a bit much imho... Would love to hear more from Dive Op owners/managers about this... private message me if need be...

cheers,

JK

I don't know if that is true or not. You might find one Coz OP to call another OP. I think if I was a DM, I would REALLY want to know about the person I was taking through the throat. If a diver had a freakout in there, you would be screwed trying to help I think. Beyond that, we took the nephews through it. They aren't great on air. Think we got them 100 AL for it. No freaking, so no problem. Did worry me a tad when I could only see the one nephew in front of me. Had to assume he knew which way to go. I couldn't see the lights in front of him. I know my OP wouldn't consider taking me until she was convinced I had my ears working well enough to get down quickly.

 

[Mike]

Wow, so referrals mean nothing in this business?

Somebody has to protect over-confident, inexperienced divers from themselves and their sue happy lawyers their surviving family members will sick on the dive operator who trusted that referral after you're dead.

Let's cut to the chase here. With 30-40 or so dives you have done, the odds are you're most likely not qualified to do the Devil's Throat.

If on the other hand you're actually an exceptional diver then you'll prove it to the dive op by proving it to them in the water where it counts.

Any dive op that takes you to Devil's Throat with your tiny amount of experience based on some third party's opinion is a fool. That aren't that many foolish dive operators on Cozumel. But if you search hard enough you might find one who will be dumb enough to put you in a situation you probably shouldn't be in without proving otherwise first.

By-the-way - Are you diving with a known dive buddy on this trip or are you planning to just 'insta-buddy' on the throat?

PS - in regards to your certifications, I'd put my life in the hands of a 500 dive OW diver long before I'd put my life in the hands of a 40 dive rescue diver or a 70 dive dive master. Just say'n.

 

[walrus2]

Does anyone have a dive profile for this site? Depth vs time for a 'typical' guided dive?

 

[cicopo]

OK here's what it's about. After the briefing & entering the water everyone needs to get to the bottom which is roughly 80 feet below & group up. If anyone has trouble equalizing, or getting trapped air out of their wetsuit etc the group just waits & burns air. Once everyone is there you take turns entering in an agreed to order, & hope those before you didn't kick enough to turn the tunnel into a snowstorm. ANYTHING that slows the progress of the group working their way to the exit adds to ALL the divers wasting air, and remember that those waiting at the exit are now at 120-130 feet so every breath uses more air than while on a reasonable deep dive. Also keep in mind there can be strong currents on the wall at the exit making divers breath heavier while fighting the current & waiting on the last diver to pop out. If you are part of a small group this all takes less time, & maybe the DM will then take you through one or both of the other swim throughs there, but that's very unlikely when boats are full thanks to it being a holiday season or around Carnaval Time.
Also realize that IF one diver has run low on air at that site most likely the entire group will have to surface as a group due to the currents. There isn't much room for error with a mixed group at that depth when you can't verify how the currents running before exiting the throat. The entire group needs to stay together once you commit to entering the throat because there's no other way to verify that everyone is accounted for until it's too late.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

In other words it's a cluster f* *k. Sounds about right.

 

[Ron Lee]

Actually Devil's Throat is close to a not great dive (my opinion). Sure do it someday but if you miss it this trip, there is always another trip. Consider a different dive op that is not limited by the least experienced diver. Also do it with a 120 cu ft tank.

I usually go in last since I don't care if sand is stirred up. On one passage, the person in front of me had their tank hit the top of the opening. I thought it was funny and laughed then proceeded to do it myself. Just laughed more.

On another dive two people decided to not go in so I just led them out and moved north on the inland side until we met up with the rest of the group.

On another dive there I encountered a huge loggerhead turtle that passed a couple of feet away from me. That was great.

My preference is just about any dive site other than Devil's Throat.

 

[azscubadude]

Does anyone have a dive profile for this site? Depth vs time for a 'typical' guided dive?

Here is one from my computer - Dive was done - 8/26/2010 9:48 am

Starting pressure - 2894

Ending pressure - 1075

Max Depth - 131.25 - Average - 59.47

Total time of dive - 36 minutes

I've done it enough times that it isn't one that I care to do any more. Nothing against it but I'd much rather do Punta Tunich or one of the other reefs. I can understand why everyone wants to do it but for me there are many other fun dives I'd rather do. If the boat (divers) wants to do this dive in the future I will not complain but will sit it out.

Been there, done that, nothing much to see for me.
--

 

[Mike]

In other words it's a cluster f* *k. Sounds about right.

With a dive op that verifies their divers abilities through observing them during their previous diving days, and only allows divers who are confident, accomplished and competent to do the dive, the dive is nothing to be concerned with, especially if you dive it on steel 120s and everybody has a dive light. Dived with an op like that, you'll likely have a very relaxing dive, with the throat swim thru, followed by some double back swim thrus of the adjacent areas, followed up by a leasurely dive back over the top of the reef where you'll see all the champaign bubbles coming up through the reef from all your groups air escaping from your swim thrus you did. Some even end up seeing the Cathedral at the end.

Now with an op that does it on aluminum 80s, no dive lights, lets 1st dive day divers on the trip and doesn't know their groups skills though seeing and evaluating them, then it's got everything you will need for a cluster f**k just waiting to happen.

If you want to see it, click here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-IGs8yEOrc

The actual "throat" is at 1:33, and if you're observant you'll notice that you see the exit the entire time you're in the devilish 'throat', and it's hardly a squeeze.

 

[walrus2]

Thanks azscubadude.

 

[azscubadude]

If you want to see it, click here : THE DEVILS THROAT DIVE COZUMEL MEXICO - YouTube

Thanks for the post.. Great music !! Seeing Scuba II at the surface topped it off..