Diving Nohoch Nah Chich - Need cave certification?

[Augustus]

I have never seen cavern dives in the system. Its either snorkel as mentioned above or full cave cert.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

In my opinion to take non cavern or cave trained divers on a tour of Nohoch is irresponsible. To have openwater divers who have not had the enviromental awareness and don´t realize the potential damage they can inflict on such a beautiful and fragile setting is a very poor call on the guide. I also feel that by providing a thorough breifing is not enough to justify this tour, at minimum a cavern cert should be held by the diver though I recommend they be full cave certified and experienced before diving is this environment.

Alternative tours does not do guided dives at Nohoch at the landowners request.

 

[deborahdelamar]

As far as I know, only certified cave divers are allowed into that sistema by the landowner, so not to worry. Where2Next has been encouraged to take a guided cenote tour at the places that allow resort cavern divers. This topic has taught her a little about what a cenote is, the fragility of their formations and the special nature of cavern diving.

 

[Where2Next]

Yup! Through this process, I discovered Nohoch Nah Chich was not the right spot for us. We have decided on a privately guided dive to Dos Ojos, Tajmaha and possibly Dream Gates.

 

[deborahdelamar]

All three are great choices. There are two routes (upstream & downstream) at both Dos Ojos & Dreamgate, so that's 4 tanks right there. Dreamgate is the newest discovery of the 3 (opened in 2003) -- pristine with zillions of very fragile formations of different types -- hope it remains as beautiful as it was then. Enjoy!

 

[Where2Next]

Nicolas recommended Dreamgate and Tajmaha, but I said I would like Dos Ojos and Tajmaha. Which he was fine with. However since I spoke with him, we have crossed paths with several people who have been to Dreamgate and said it is not to be missed. I am thinking about dumping Dos Ojos and diving Dreamgate instead. Thanks for all the input!

 

[deborahdelamar]

Flip a coin if you have to. Dos Ojos is a "not to miss", too. I'd say it's the most popular cenote amongst resort cavern divers because there's so much to see: The bat cave in one direction, many nice formations throughout, and a funny surprise on one of the lines -- both routes are good. If you're at all worried about bouyancy, go to Dos Ojos rather than Dreamgate -- it's easier for a first cenote adventure. Tajmaha is also easy -- Nicolas will surely point out the nice fossils there.

 

[TSandM]

Thank you guys for correcting me about the tours at NoHoch.

Dos Ojos was my favorite of the cavern tours I did, before I got cave certified, but I've never been to Dreamgate.