The Pit & Dos Ojos

[deaconbest]

Hey,

I'm diving the pit next week - anyone been there? Have any comments or advice?

 

[Ed Hatfield]

I dove The Pit in 2009. The dive was 44 minutes with a gentle drop to 115 feet followed by a slow spiral return to the surface. The safety stop was of course thrown in. The highlights of the dive included not only the halocline but a distinct sulfur layer that hung like a fog similar to a thermocline. The water temperature was 77F. I prefer a 5mm suit for the cenotes but 3mm is fine. The entry/exit is a little different as the gear is lowered into/out of the cenote on a rope and pulley. Someone needs to be down in the water to take off the gear while the others hold the rope. This is not so bad for us but when the DM hauls his doubles out he will need some help.
The Pit is one of my favorite dives and it is spectacular if you get to dive it on a sunny day. The beams of light give it a mystical feeling (not narcosis induced). I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

[DandyDon]

The Pit is a great dive. The water surface is a good ways below the step off point, seemed like 20 ft to me, so discuss BC inflation and breathing of the stride with your instructor/guide. You don't want to take a deep breath after splashing, the pop to the surface.

It's on the same property as Dos Ojos. It's a nice dive.

 

[Julieofthesea]

I've been to Dos Ojos early in my diving career. The ride out there is a trip. It's one of my most memorable dives. After that dive, I decided to get into cave diving. You're going to love it.

 

[tommydz]

some bones and charcol at 135 feet in the pit. all good dives.

 

[yak]

I dove it last week for a second time, just posted some details here. We maxed out at 142 feet this time. It's a very cool dive.

I also wrote this trip report on my first time there.

 

[DandyDon]

I dove it last week for a second time, just posted some details here. We maxed out at 142 feet this time. It's a very cool dive.

I also wrote this trip report on my first time there.

I hadn't seen your 2007 report before. Very good one. You had to hump your gear the last quarter mile or so huh? The Op who took us had 2 pickups, one a 4wd, so we walked in from the road while he drove our gear in.

I also see that y'all lowered your tanks & BCs in before striding. The reason I mentioned "discuss BC inflation and breathing of the stride with your instructor/guide" is that we did our strides with gear on - and you wouldn't want to go in with a partially filled BC, take a breath a few feet down after hitting the water, then do a buoyant ascent with a lung of compressed air from even a few feet down. We held our breath for the stride and subsequent surfacing.

Different Ops, different styles.

 

[yak]

I hadn't seen your 2007 report before. Very good one. You had to hump your gear the last quarter mile or so huh? The Op who took us had 2 pickups, one a 4wd, so we walked in from the road while he drove our gear in.

I also see that y'all lowered your tanks & BCs in before striding. The reason I mentioned "discuss BC inflation and breathing of the stride with your instructor/guide" is that we did our strides with gear on - and you wouldn't want to go in with a partially filled BC, take a breath a few feet down after hitting the water, then do a buoyant ascent with a lung of compressed air from even a few feet down. We held our breath for the stride and subsequent surfacing.

Different Ops, different styles.

Don,

It's been almost three years since I first dove it, and the path was newly cut that year so it still had some dirt on it. It's totally eroded down to the bone now, and I can't see driving anything other than a quad on it, but some folks are harsh on their trucks.

Yes, we lowered the gear again this time. Too giant a stride for me, thanks. I wouldn't want to lose a mask on the way in.

 

[Odys]

I just made this dive for the first time with Scorpio Divers. Jorge and Gonzalo made it super fun. It's a decent drive in and we walked the 150 or so yards with gear on an easy trail. Both me and my fiancé made the jump into the cenote (she elected to have her gear lowered in, I made it full gear.) It's probably my favorite as I've made a few other cenote dives before. As stated by other posts, there is a halocline around 30' and the sulfur cloud around 90'. Both were very cool. There are several videos up on YouTube as well. What none do any justice for is the sheer size and visual effects created by the light entering the cenote from the small opening. It's HUGE inside. The human remains are a neat objective and a nice taste of depth on the verge of recreational dive limits. The slow multilevel return is a nice way to really enjoy this dive. Coming back through the sulfur cloud was one of the main highlights. As you near 50' you get an awesome vista view back towards the entrance with mixed stalactites/stalagmites. My fiancé is pretty new to diving and it was a highlight of our trip (not very difficult). We were super fortunate to have a private trip (others canceled.. their loss.) Scorpio Divers out of Cancun really make this trip special. Gonzalo (their cave guide) is a real character with over 7K dives logged and massive cenote experience. It will be hard to dive another cenote as cool as "The Pit."

Chris Langehaug
SLC, UT

 

[DandyDon]

I tried to get a shot of the bones, but I was kinda narced....