German Diver Dies in Utila

[GoProHonduras]

Just a couple of clarifications;

The victim was not found with a mask or fins, his friends reported he was swimming and got lost, as they heard his last call through a chamber and was found 10 ft from the water surface.

The freshwater cave the victim was found in, is yet to be connected to the ocean by divers, though there are fresh water haloclines on the ocean side.

A sad event, and shows the need for training, equipment and diligence in these environments.

 

[koozemani]

Once again the media is completely off with their story. The only thing they left out was the shark infested waters.

 

[Slamfire]

So this has gone from being a scuba cave diver, to a snorkeler, to just a swimmer...

You just have to wonder how many things we get wrong with everything else in the world because of less than accurate news.

 

[Sloeber]

The freshwater cave the victim was found in, is yet to be connected to the ocean by divers, though there are fresh water haloclines on the ocean side.

I'll certainly take your word for it, Andy, as clearly you would know better than me, but my landlord has told me that Gunther has, in the past, had to swim from oceanside in to recover a body wedged into the rocks from the FW side. Is my landlord incorrect, or perhaps mixing up the wrong cave system?

 

[GoProHonduras]

Hi Henry,

There are 3 caves, I think there is some confusion on this cave. There is one (sea water cave) where you do access from the ocean but not this one, I have surveyed it twice before, there may be the outer part which leads to ocean, just outside of the crawl through, but not the inner part.

Regards,
Andy

 

[bleeb]

The information provided here is incorrect, as is so often is the case.

The gentleman went into the cave ALONE and with only SNORKELING gear, as is very common in this cave. After some time had passed his wife and friends became concerned he had not returned, and they went to look for him. He was found at the bottom, right next to the entrance. He was not back in the cave system, nor was he scuba diving it.

What actually happened no one will ever know, despite the news outlet attempting ot recreate the scene, simply because he was alone. What most have surmissed is he was freediving the cave, as is common because there are several chambers all with guide ropes leading the way. He may have become disoriented and lost his way, but as I mentioned above he was not found inside the system, but rather right at the entrance.

Anything beyond that is purely speculation. Sad story indeed, but for the SB community this was not a scuba accident.

HTH

What's the source of your information? Other local media? Police reports? First, second or third hand statements from rescuers you may know? Common knowledge on the street? Thanks.

 

[dktexas54]

Pretty sad story again....Last Friday it was those 3 divers in Playa, again in a cave. That is 1 of the reason why i will not dive in caves. The other, well I'm too chicken.....

Condolence to the wife and friends...

I went diving in dos ojos several years ago. Way cool experience. However, I am an PADI Rescue certified open water diver. We went into confined areas where access straight above was not there. I was uncomfortable and felt nervous. I kept thinking while diving that I needed more training for this type diving.

I gained a tremendous amount of respect for cave divers and those trained for this type diving. I will seek more knowledge before I go again but I would not be scared and only use a reputable dive shop.

 

[Angry Turtle]

I wonder if the "only one diving mask" comment refers to free diving and not a scuba diving. I am not familiar with Upco.

A rather moot point after the clarification on facts, but...

This is an artifice of a literal translation from the original article in Spanish.

What the reporter means by "...sólo una mascarilla de buceo" is not "only one diving mask" as you translated, but rather "just a diving mask" as in, just a diving mask and no other diving equipment.

 

[Sloeber]

Sorry for the late bump (this happened about 8 months ago) but I had a few PM's regarding this so I wanted to add a thing or two here -

What's the source of your information? Other local media? Police reports? First, second or third hand statements from rescuers you may know? Common knowledge on the street? Thanks.

Most of what I had heard was street knowledge, but as always seems to be the case that isn't 100% accurate. It came from multiple sources overall. I believe GoPro corrected any of my errors.

So this has gone from being a scuba cave diver, to a snorkeler, to just a swimmer...

You just have to wonder how many things we get wrong with everything else in the world because of less than accurate news.

I would contest anyone who felt this was "just a swimmer." I cannot speak on the lack of fins/mask, but I can tell you that I personlly recovered the deceased's light cannon and dive computer which was left at the bottom of this cave. The light cannon was a proper cave diving light to the tune of $500 retail when new. From this alone I'm guessing the gentleman had experience in this environment. An interesting note on this dive light - it was obvious it had failed. It had a full charge on the battery but was inoperable. Perhaps the root cause of the accident? Additionally, he had a dive watch wrapped around the light cannon, still logging "the dive." So the idea of this gentleman going in with no gear is entirely false. Again, I cannot comment in regards to the no mask/fins, but that doesn't make any sense to me considering he was in there with $1000 worth of a computer and light.

Again, sorry to bump an old thread, but just wanted to add this in there in hopes of clarifying any misinformation.

 

[GoProHonduras]

Hi Henry,

The wife and friends of the deceased reported the gentleman went in to swim and explore. That was the official report direct from first hand witnesses on the scene, your latest post is based on speculation, not that there's anything worn with that, but perhaps better to keep that to yourself when your speculation goes directly against first hand witness reports.

I would be surprised of any experienced and trained cave divers breaking the cardinal rules in this environment. I do not know of the deceased diving history or qualification so will leave it at that. I do know it is not uncommon for people exploring the freshwater caves to take dive lights, and carry watch style computers, particularly if active divers.

Regards,
Andy