Hola from Akumal Mexico

[locogringo]

Hello ScubaBoard community. It is good to be here and connect with the global divers of the water planet! Do you know Riviera Maya diving? Cozumel? Anywhere in Mexico. What's your story?

 

[JamesK]

Welcome! I love Akumal. Cave diving in the Yucatan is my favorite activity. My wife is from Mexico, and we plan on retiring to Playa Del Carmen down the road.

 

[TSandM]

Welcome! Are you a representative of the website of the same name? It's a handy sort of place . . .

I love the Riviera Maya. It's one of the only places I've ever gone in my life where I have been unable to stay long enough to WANT to go home.

 

[locogringo]

JamesK, since you're DIR obviously love the Playa del Carmen/ Tulum caves, you probably know Danny and Christolphe? They are old friends of mine. Zero Gravity apparently is doing quite well and I know they have a lot of fun exploring.

---------- Post added January 16th, 2013 at 08:24 AM ----------

Welcome! Are you a representative of the website of the same name? It's a handy sort of place . . .

I love the Riviera Maya. It's one of the only places I've ever gone in my life where I have been unable to stay long enough to WANT to go home.

TSandM, yes i am Gary Walten from Locogringo.com and i know what you mean about not wanting to leave the Riviera Maya. I've been here a long time and it is the best place I have ever lived, though i will say living here is different than vacationing. You have to work. That's probably good. Too much laying around, first you mellow, then you rot.

You should come on down.

 

[TSandM]

Gary, I did my cave training with Danny and Fred, and adore all three of those guys, and their dive op, too.

I WISH I could spend more time down there. They must need doctors, right?

 

[JamesK]

Well I am an ex DIR diver / undercover DIR now. I still believe in the philosophy of it, but have added SM to my arsenal, and now most of my diving is done that way. I still try to bring the protocols of DIR over to my SM diving as much as I can.

I do not know the folks you talk about, just their reputation. A good group of folks from what I can see.

 

[latestartfish]

*latestartfish seizes another opportunity to flaunt ignorance and learn something*

I'm sorry, y'all, but what is DIR diving?

LSF

 

[TSandM]

DIR, or "Doing it Right", is a highly standardized system of diving that evolved out of cave diving, and stresses a uniform equipment setup, standardized diving protocols, and a strong emphasis on working as a team. There is a fairly good essay about it HERE, and you can read a great deal more on the GUE website. And, by the way, although those of us who dive this way still use the acronym for convenience, and because we originally learned it, the term "DIR" has gone out of favor, because too many people see it as implying that any other way of diving is "wrong".

 

[latestartfish]

Thanks TSandM!

And as far as I'm concerned, any SAFE diving is GOOD diving! I've started on my journey...
:blinking:

LSF

 

[locogringo]

Yes, well I'd like to put in a personal opinion here if you all don't mind. I don't know if you cave divers are familiar with Bill Main, Bill Gavin and Lamar English (and a few other). They did mostly diving in the Tallahassee Fl area in the deep caves of the Woodsville Karst plains. These guys invented the core philosophy of a team having simple, streamlined equipment configurations and a consistent, well learned procedure for any underwater emergencies. It grew out of the need for it while exploring at great depth on mixed gas. George Irvine and those who came after to form GUE/DIR just built upon Bill basic concept which is a cornerstone of cave diving equipment configuration- keep it simple and streamlined, if you don't need it don't take it. Over learn your team emergency skills. The thing is, they never said, my way or the highway, our way is the only way. When you read about cave diving philosophy IMO you should keep an open mind in that regard. There have been many great cave explorers who have used a variety of techniques. Take the best of their inventiveness and match it to the environment you plan to enter and you will be well served. Side mount diving is a perfect example of "dressing for success" with an altered equipment configuration. Correct me if I am wrong but DIR/GUE last time I checked did not embrace side mount.