Question Equipment for Full Cave Course in Mexico

[Marie13]

It’s nice in MX that there are porters (aka scuba sherpas) to haul your gear up and down the steps at the cenotes if you have issues schlepping it yourself. Obviously, SM is better suited for this. 500 pesos/$25 a day is what I paid. Well worth it

 

[Guille G]

Most people do fine with 5 or 7mm wetsuits, but dry suits are also fairly common so you will probably be ok either way. One thing to consider, in that moment of the year you will be HOT when out of the water. Whatever you bring, it is better if it is something you can peel off easily between dives.

Enjoy the class! It is FUN!

[EDIT] Re - can light. I would recommend you do the class with it. You can always ask the instructor to loan or rent you one for the class, and then figure out if you want to get one or not.

 

[rddvet]

It’s nice in MX that there are porters (aka scuba sherpas) to haul your gear up and down the steps at the cenotes if you have issues schlepping it yourself. Obviously, SM is better suited for this. 500 pesos/$25 a day is what I paid. Well worth it

I generally don't use sherpas, but about 8 years ago we dove Caracol (think it's still closed) and it's a bit of a pain especially since it's filled with nondivers. We paid the sherpas and it was awesome. Felt a little guilty at first, but then realized it's how they make a living so rather than feeling like a lazy american I looked at it from the supporting a mexican citizen angle.
I wish they had porters at nahoch for when I sm dive there with stages. Nahoch's car park is just pure limestone and the covered/shaded areas are always taken, so it's often nasty hot. I always sweat my butt off and it can be a long walk. Sherpas would be nice there.

 

[Marie13]

I generally don't use sherpas, but about 8 years ago we dove Caracol (think it's still closed) and it's a bit of a pain especially since it's filled with nondivers. We paid the sherpas and it was awesome. Felt a little guilty at first, but then realized it's how they make a living so rather than feeling like a lazy american I looked at it from the supporting a mexican citizen angle.
I wish they had porters at nahoch for when I sm dive there with stages. Nahoch's car park is just pure limestone and the covered/shaded areas are always taken, so it's often nasty hot. I always sweat my butt off and it can be a long walk. Sherpas would be nice there.

The porter we used usually works construction at 100 pesos a day (he had been working for a dive shop that closed due to Covid), so 500 pesos a day and schlepping dive gear is better paying and nicer work. I considered it “valet” cave diving, but given my knee issues, it was the sensible thing to do. Instructor is in her early 60s and will often use sherpas. She often has older students or divers she’s guiding so why not make use of them and help a local make a living.

 

[Lorenzoid]

1) wetsuit or drysuit? I exclusively dive dry at home, but wet on holiday. Perfectly happy with both, but imagine being either way too hot dry or possibly cold during some of the longer dives.

I just returned from a week-long full cave course, and I dove dry, as I do in the Florida caves. I brought along a number of different undergarments to see what felt best for me. Our dives were often 1.5-2 hours. I started with thin fleece undergarments (probably about 150 g/m2, though the manufacturer doesn't specify). The first day, we spent a lot of time debriefing on the surface after a dive, and I got chilly. So the next day I added a super-thin wool undershirt, and that just did the trick for me. It was just enough--never chilly, never too warm. My wife, in contrast, stuck with her Fourth Element Arctic top the whole week and felt comfy. She gets cold easily. I use the Arctics in Florida, but I think I would have been a bit too warm in Mexico. To each his/her own taste.

2) should I get a canister primary light? I’ve got dozens of torches, but none that’ll give full power for 3hrs+. If so, I was thinking about the Orcatorch D630 as it seems to fit the bill without breaking my already stretched budget.

I'll vote with others who say "ask your instructor." In fact, I would advise running all your gear by your instructor. My instructor sent me a gear list, and I still didn't get everything exactly right. As for the light, I used a Halcyon Focus 2, and I had burn-tested it before the trip, noting a burn time of at least 4-1/2 hours. On one dive, my instructor said he noticed my light starting to dim. So, just take into account that during a cave course you will be spending a lot of time in the water with your light on, and you need a lot more burn time than you would need for a single dive.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

One issue with buying a canister light is the SM-BM dilemma; the glands and cord lengths are typically different. I realize some people hip mount can lights in SM and some use side gland in BM, but it's not ideal. If you're using BM and intend to stay that way, then a good can light might be the way to go. I would consider just using a good handheld for your class and try out as many different lights as possible. I personally would never buy another expensive canister light (or any light, really) without trying it in the water on a few dives. This stuff can be fairly subjective. And using a helmet (typical in SM down there) changes things too, IMO it favors using a handheld.

As far as wet/dry, the general rule of thumb I've heard is to your training in whichever you are more comfortable in. That is totally up to you.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I’m sticking to back mount, so the advice re gland orientation is something to consider. Ta. G

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I just finished my full cave in Mexico

Wetsuit is more than enough, I am on the skinnier side and used 5mm wetsuit + 3mm undersuit for 6 straight days of diving (intro+full cave) and didn't get cold once. So if you have more of "natural body insulation", you will be good just with a 5mm (make sure to bring a hood even if you don't usually dive it. You will need it during blind folded training to protect your head). That said, a lot of people dive drysuits there, just keep in mind that parts of the caves are uber shallow and sometimes you will be less than 3m deep.

If you already have a canister light I would bring it, but if you don't own one, I wouldn't purchase it. I was in the same shoes recently as you are now trying to decide which light to get, and I actually opted to get full cave gear except for the primary light. The reason is that its by far the most expensive part of the gear and I would rather rent a bunch of different primary lights canister/hand-held to see what I really like, and then purchase one. For my entire training I used a handheld bigblue light and it was always more than enough (you simply switch batterties between dives which takes 30 seconds and you are good to go).

Not sure where you will be doing your training, but i did it at protec and one of the great things about them is that you can get full gear rental at 0$ additonal cost. For my first trip when i did SM+cavern, I literally showed up with a pair of regs, fins, and a mask. So if you want to play around with different lights, I am sure if you can ask them to try handheld vs can during your training and see what you like.

Get information, thank you. Coincidentally I’m also doing mine at Protec, so will probably hold off on the can light for now

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I've been to Mexico cave diving two times for a week each. The caves are unbelievable. If you are comfortable in your drysuit, wear it. We were doing 2 non-training dives a day, about 4hrs, in the water, and I think I would have been cold in a wetsuit. Being cold sucks.

I use a canister light. I have a Light Monkey. They offer a few different lids so you could switch from a sidemount to backmount lid depending on your needs. I guess this also requires an E/O cord, but it offers a lot of versatility. You can change light heads, lids, and canisters.

Thanks. All my UK diving is dry so no issue using one for cave as well. I’ve got several, including a very lightweight FE trilam, which should do the job. I’ll probably chuck in my 5mm wetsuit for good measure as our baggage allowance is pretty good.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I say drysuit and can light. You can get away without a dry suit, but you'll be getting in and out of the water multiple times a day, standing around bs'ing. You can definitely dive mexico long term in a wetsuit, but if your eventual goal is to do some long dives there then it's best to have proper warmth protection from the get go. Train how you eventually want to dive. I also recommend a can light. Handhelds have come a long way, but again train for how you want to dive. If you want to do very long dives eventually, a can light is typically better. Add to that, now is the time to learn how to properly use a can light since you're in class. Things like stowing when working, cleaning up the cord, donating without entanglement. If you start your training with a handheld your short changing yourself since you're in class to learn. It's pretty easy to move to a handheld after gaining experience with a can. Plus imo if I dive with someone new, I judge how well the dive may go by how they manage their cord. So many people are sloppy with their can light cords and it says something about them personally. It should be properly stowed and protected when not in use. It sounds judgey as hell, but if I do a first time dive with someone who takes the time to properly prep and stow their cord pre-dive or while working, I know I probably am diving with someone decent. In my experience the people that keep it cleaned up all the time are thinking divers. I prefer to dive in caves with people who can think through issues. If you can't keep your cord clean, when one of us is out of air in a silty passage and you drag your cord through the silt it's going to end badly. (not that that's a common occurence, but I'm making a point).

As an aside, what is your technical diving experience. I would never recommend a class straight through to anyone. It's a recipe for disaster unless you're well put together going into class. I also believe even if you're an amzing tech diver, a zero to hero class is still a bad idea. I believe you should take a class (cave 1, cavern/intro, or intro/apprentice) and then go out and dive and gain experience using your new skills. Get comfortable, then move onto the next class. While not always the case, I find many zero to hero cave divers have a few things they're missing because they were focused on too many skills all at once. I also historically find the zero to hero people stay in the sport for less time. I also believe taking full cave all the way through with one instructor is a poor choice. Different instructors have different ways of teaching things and you will always learn something new from a different instructor. Of course this is all based on opinion and personal experience, so do with it what you will.

Thank you. Lots of useful insight and info to consider.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Most people do fine with 5 or 7mm wetsuits, but dry suits are also fairly common so you will probably be ok either way. One thing to consider, in that moment of the year you will be HOT when out of the water. Whatever you bring, it is better if it is something you can peel off easily between dives.

Enjoy the class! It is FUN!

[EDIT] Re - can light. I would recommend you do the class with it. You can always ask the instructor to loan or rent you one for the class, and then figure out if you want to get one or not.

Thanks for that. We’ve got nearly double our usual baggage allowance, so I’ll take both a wet and drysuit and decide on the first couple of days.