Dove the Cenotes (chac mool) in Mexico for the first time - very dangerous.

[johny1]

I went to dive the Cenotes in Mexico for the first time (chac mool was the dive site). For those who don’t know what this is , it is a series of underwater caves that have exit holes here and there where sun light may penetrate make it very unique, I think one of a kind place in the world. You don’t need a cave certificate to dive them due to the fact that there are exit holes. However after diving them, I can say that this was the most dangerous dive I have ever done. Don’t full yourself, if something happens down there you are toast. You are close to 60 feet deep and Yes there are exit holes and even air pocket at one time but this is only at few spots throughout the dive, most of the time you don't have a good quick exit route. The dive is 45min, very cool dive, you are in huge caverns with stalactites and stalagmites including places where fresh water meets salt water creating layers of water that separate, but this was super dangerous and unless you have at least 50 dives I would not recommend it. The dive master led the group and took people with only few dives under their belt, bad idea in my opinion You have to understand that this is Mexico and safety is last on the list. You have to be careful not to kick sediment as it will make it impossible to see, it is super dark and confusing to get out if emergency occurs. The caves are crooked jagged, and hard to tell how to get back. Yes, there is supposedly a rope to lead you out but many times you can’t see it right away. Some passages were only as wide as one diver could fit, if you are the guy in the middle and something happens you can’t go forward and backward as you are in a chain formation and you will have divers front and back preventing you to move. If you are last, like I was, the group may not even know something happened to you until the narrow passage is cleared by all divers and they realize you are missing – not good! If something happens you cannot do an emergency ascent easily. Two days prior to that dive , I was diving Cozumel where someone’s regulator in our group came out of his mouth as he inhaled water, that happened at 90 feet, he took too much water and had to shoot to the surface. Luckily he was not down there too long. He said that he turned his head to the left rapidly as he was inhaling and the regulator came out of his mouth. If this had happened in the Cenotes you can’t just shot for the surface as you will hit the sealing of the cavern. This was messing with my head as I was in the caves. Also, the dive shop Phantom Divers is BAD. They appear very professional on the outside, with their professional looking shop but the equipment is Run Down, really bad. I made the mistake not to take my own equipment, this one time, and I am lucky not to have had an accident – it is the worst maintained equipment, don’t use this shop!!!, moss looking thing covering the mouth piece, filters looking bad, leaking seals, rust….. we had to get to the surface on the second dive 1 minute after we started as someone’s pressure gauge seal gave up and his air was escaping rapidly – do not use this Shop!!!!, it is located in Playa De Carmen, Mexico located in Playa del Carmen - Phantom Divers is the name . Anyway I thought I should share this with you guys.

 

[TSandM]

I completely agree with you in general. I do not think brand new divers should do the cenote tours, because something like what you describe with the regulator could happen, and you need to know how you react to problems before you put yourself under an overhead. However, I do want to clarify that there are NO single file passages in the cavern tours, including the one at Chac Mool. If it were necessary, two people could pass side by side anywhere you went. Anyplace where you have to go single file is termed a restriction, and restrictions are off limits even to cavern certified divers.

All the "normal" cavern tour sites are quite sanitized, with heavy yellow gold line passing through pretty benign areas of cave. It would be difficult (although not impossible) to silt out the tour routes, and it takes only a little attention to keep track of the line. I agree with you that if the last person in the group has a problem, it can be difficult to get the guide back to assist, though. Again, these are not, in my opinion, beginner dives. But if the shop follows the voluntary guidelines (no more than four divers for a guide, everyone with lights, and lead diver in full cave gear with a full cave AND open water instructor cert) the tours are performed with a very acceptable safety record.

The biggest problem I see down there these days is that cavern tours are very lucrative, and not everyone follows the rules. My buddy and I watched two divers following a guide around in the downstream portion of Carwash cenote the other day, and they were without a guideline (there is no permanent line installed there). The visibility was poor to begin with, because of an algae bloom in the open water basin, and the passage of untrained divers through an area of heavy mung (organic silt which is very dark and very easily disturbed) had not helped any. We couldn't even see the entrance to the part of the cave we wanted to dive, and it would not have been difficult for someone to have drifted off into that part of the cave. Talk to your operator, and make sure they have lights (these guys did, but they weren't adequate for conditions) and that they ALWAYS run a line.

 

[johny1]

Yes, I forgot that it got blurry at times too, as divers were kicking the salt/fresh water as it was mixing, making it hard to see. I could swear that there were 1-2 passages that I thought only 1 diver can pass through... Yes, if all you think about is the exit line you can keep track of it but I cought myself looking around and then taking me some time to locate the line, i was thinking to myself that depends on the emergency I need to have the line located immediately, like 2-3 seconds.

 

[Ozwald]

I too went with a resort dive shop down there, the one associated with the "Princess" chain of hotels. I can honestly say that the ocean dives with this bunch are just "deaths" waiting to happen. Never again.

 

[DevonDiver]

Doing a trust me dive, in rented, unfamiliar kit, into an overhead environment with unknown divers, in a country where the dive industry is virtually unregulated.....

At what point did anyone imagine that it would be safe?!?

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Two days prior to that dive , I was diving Cozumel where someone’s regulator in our group came out of his mouth as he inhaled water, that happened at 90 feet, he took too much water and had to shoot to the surface. Luckily he was not down there too long. He said that he turned his head to the left rapidly as he was inhaling and the regulator came out of his mouth. If this had happened in the Cenotes you can’t just shot for the surface as you will hit the sealing of the cavern. This was messing with my head as I was in the caves.

I've dove Chac Mool. It's a stunning dive and an excellent introduction to cave/cavern diving. And the guided tours have an excellent safety record. There are no restrictions on the tour (you can go side by side at all times) and there is little silt to stir up in the areas used for tourist trips. And you're always within sight of an exit. In an emergency, I have no doubt that I could have gotten to the surface SAFELY in no more than 30 seconds. I'm not sure where you would have hit 65 feet either, unless you departed from the guided tour. In two trips through Chac Mool, our max depth was 43 feet, and average was more like 20. Did you depart from the guided tour?

I suspect that the real problem lies in the section of your post that I quoted. Your state of mind. If you're not comfortable in the environment, you're not going to have fun. If you're not comfortable with your own skills, you're not going to have fun. That doesn't make the dive inherently dangerous.

You never need to "shot[sic] to the surface". You put your reg back in your mouth. You cough and choke a minute. And then you're fine to either make a SAFE ascent, or continue the dive. Losing your reg is not an emergency, and the diver you describe responded incorrectly.

You might want to revisit your OW training and get more comfortable with how to deal with things like a lost reg.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Yes, I forgot that it got blurry at times too, as divers were kicking the salt/fresh water as it was mixing, making it hard to see. I could swear that there were 1-2 passages that I thought only 1 diver can pass through... Yes, if all you think about is the exit line you can keep track of it but I cought myself looking around and then taking me some time to locate the line, i was thinking to myself that depends on the emergency I need to have the line located immediately, like 2-3 seconds.

The blurred vision at the halocline is not caused by divers. It's inherent in the halocline.
There are no single-file passages on the tour of Chac Mool. Following the line is what keeps you in the tour. In an emergency, what you need to see is not necessarily the line, so much as it is the nearest exit. And that's even easier to see than the line, thanks to all that sunlight coming through it.
I really think the biggest problem with your dive was your anxiety.

 

[Downing]

I'm with Dirty-Dog on this one (hope I don't get fleas, lol).

Chac Mool was my very first dive post-OW cert and went quite smoothly. It's been a few years, and I'm at work without my logbook in front of me, but I don't remember the dive being anywhere close to as deep, tough or dangerous as the OP described. In fact, I thought it was probably the local "introduction to cenote diving" dive.

Here's what I remember: The dive wasn't sixty feet. It was more like twenty or thirty feet. Not that it really matters in an overhead environment, just want to be accurate. The water was only cool, not cold, and believe me I don't like cold. I wore a 3mm with no hood or gloves and was fine. There were no silt issues at all, but then again we stayed off the bottom. The halocline was super cool to look at. In some spots, it was definitely dark down there--until you shined your flashlight at it and then you could see just fine. Safety was an absolute priority for my guide even though he's Mexican (gasp!), and he watched over me like a hawk. The guide rope was plainly visible in both direct and ambient light. I remember waving at another group on a different rope about 30 feet away. If my reg had somehow fallen out of my mouth, I would have either put it back in or switched to my alternate and then put it back in--you know, how we were taught. Shooting to the surface in a cenote isn't much of an option but that's ok because I've been trained in how to handle that situation and I had a conscientious dive buddy. I do remember there was one spot where you had to be completely horizontal, take a few deep breaths and rise over some rocks before going forward. Hard to describe but fun to do and made me appreciate my buoyancy training.

To be clear, I'm not saying that just because it went smoothly for me that means it's safe for everyone. Some people just aren't cut out for this kind of diving. I don't say this in a mean way as I will absolutely conceed that I'm not cut out for cold water or technical diving. But I do think the bottom line is that it's not a particularly challenging dive provided you have a good guide, which I did, and stick to your training.

The only thing I didn't like about that dive was having to come up once it was over. I could have spent the rest of my vacation down there.

 

[Tool Belt]

Dove Choc Mool with Tank Ha. Just two of us and the DM, Ivan. Ivan had double tanks and his octo had a hose about 8 feet long. Ivan was very safety conscious, it was a great dive.

 

[MRadke]

I dove Chac Mool with Solo Buceo last month. Shallow depths, lots of openings and we had a good guide. Three divers plus the DM in full cave gear. I think the original poster is over reacting a little bit. That's the cenote that they take first timers to get their feet wet.