Three divers lose their lives at Chac Mool in Riviera Maya. 2 Brazillian, 1 Spaniard

[t4e]

So sorry to hear about that as you never want to see that. I really took to this post as I'm going to Playa Del Carmen in 2 weeks. I'm definetly never going to go into a Cenote that is for sure. That is one limit that I know I cannot do. My hats off to all of you who do Cenote diving or penetrate wrecks. I'm probably the most conservative diver out there.

i'm sure there's lots of conservative divers out there, i know we are for sure
we recognize our limited experience so for now we dive what we feel comfortable with and we're still having fun

we will be in Akumal may 18 too, no plans to dive the cenotes, instead we might go snorkeling there though

 

[got2dive62]

Sad news indeed. My thoughts and prayers to the divers friends and family as well as all the guiding community..

 

[Gdog]

I havent seen anything that points to this being a "regular occurance".

 

[lamont]

I was thinking that at first as well lamont, but from what Ive seen in Chak Mool its not very deep and the distance from the ceiling to the floor isnt all that high?
Granted it is in the shallows you have the largest relative difference in pressure, it just seems a bit much for such an event?
Then again, water do tend to make it look "worse than it is" in lack of a better way of putting it (It couldnt be much worse for the diver in question ofc).

It gets down into the halocline, and there's enough of a ceiling that i'd find barotrauma entirely plausible. You can pop your lungs from just the pressure chance from 4 feet in a pool (12% pressure difference), and that's the same difference dropping from 41 feet to 50, and you'll find higher ceilings there.

 

[Quero]

All three victims had blood oozing from their head cavities. A pressure-gradient-related reason seems plausible for this. I've read that it's common for non-diving drowning victims who are brought up from depth to display oozing blood as well.

 

[scubafanatic]

It's interesting that some have commented that while the cave dive guide should be diving 'doubles', there is no actual requirement that the 'doubles' actually be full on EACH dive. (not placing blame on this dive guide as who knows if his tanks were full at the beginning of this ill-fated dive or not). Would it be a violation of standards to go with a partial fill ? I guess if I ever did another cenote dive I'd be checking the cave dive guide's SPG EACH dive! There's definitely a difference between LOOKING like you're bringing along 160 cu. ft of gas (twin AL80's being the the standard Mexico caver twinset) versus having substantially less than that amount in reality!

 

[DandyDon]

It's interesting that some have commented that while the cave dive guide should be diving 'doubles', there is no actual requirement that the 'doubles' actually be full on EACH dive. (not placing blame on this dive guide as who knows if his tanks were full at the beginning of this ill-fated dive or not). Would it be a violation of standards to go with a partial fill ? I guess if I ever did another cenote dive I'd be checking the cave dive guide's SPG EACH dive! There's definitely a difference between LOOKING like you're bringing along 160 cu. ft of gas (twin AL80's being the the standard Mexico caver twinset) versus having substantially less than that amount in reality!

In my limited experiences of two day trips, the guide uses the same double set for 2 dives each time. I believe it was stated that this group was doing their third dive of the day, but I cannot speak to the possibility of changing tanks that day?

 

[Scott L]

In the Florida cave diving community, what would be the repercussions involving an for hire dive guide taking cavern only certified divers (single cylinder) well into a cave system? If the practice occurs frequently enough, it will not be long before an official or an instructor of some gravitas to witnesses the act.

 

[Davemohio]

So sorry to hear about that as you never want to see that. I really took to this post as I'm going to Playa Del Carmen in 2 weeks. I'm definetly never going to go into a Cenote that is for sure. That is one limit that I know I cannot do. My hats off to all of you who do Cenote diving or penetrate wrecks. I'm probably the most conservative diver out there.

Scuba dan, I may be able to tie you as being the most conservative diver!

But, I have done a few cenote dives, including Chac Mool. My guides were beyond professional. They all had dual tanks and normal full cave gear. We were guided in single file. The grim reaper sign was pointed out to us by our guide..maybe more than once.(I have a video of the dive).

In MY cenote dives, safety was a big focus for my guide.

These are great dives, unless you are claustrophobic.

 

[WSOPFAN]

Here is what I mean by regular practice......The news stories and other divers have comments that would lead one to believe every single tour operated there ever was always safe and never violated any rules. Now we have someone state that he was told guides have been seen leading divers out of the caves, IMO that just changed from 0% to at least some of the time or regularly. Also if you read between the lines in the news stories, it seems that the rescue divers and public officials said everything but exactly that. They labeled it negligence but fell short of saying they know it goes on to save safe. Now they are all screaming about how they need to be regulated and how some cenotes are in fact exploited. As a matter of fact here is today's news....15 of 30 local cenotes exploited.......

Google Translate

This explains things better:
Google Translate

The shock of the community of divers and diving guides of the Mayan Riviera, for the deaths of three divers, the last week, has made one thing clear: it is urgent that the federal Secretariat of Tourism (Tourism Ministry) retake the certification project to guides, as stipulated in the Official Mexican Standard 09, in open water and groundwater.According to the president of the Association of Aquatic Service Providers (APSA), Alfonso Torres, the Tourism Ministry have this certification "to guides" in several categories, among which are open water and groundwater. Through APSA were taught certification courses, but the Tourism Ministry has made "a lot of open files", ie has not followed up and left without completing the process: it has stalled.
"There are lots of open cases pending Sectur are resolved, but bureaucracy failed to unlock. It is time that the authorities want to throw him and do something, because this certification would be more for a filter specialty divers and would support a highly certified and experienced guides, "said Torres.
Candy Lopez, diver and guide groundwater for six years, said there are only two cenotes (Chikinha and Garden of Eden) where caregivers or ask for site supervisors who intend to dive to show credentials that attest to such activity. In most of the cenotes of fate is not so.
The tragedy occurred last Thursday in the cenote Chac Mool, where a guide divers Spanish and two Brazilians were killed, has shocked the community of divers from this fate, and the world. The president of APSA, since it has been professionalized activity in the region had not had an "accident of this kind", so meetings will be held shortly to discuss what happened and reconsider the preventive measures and certification.
The president of the Business Coordinating Council of the Riviera Maya (CCERM), Gerardo Valadez Vitorio lamented the tragedy and called for "not crucify the industry (diving)."
However, he also admitted that almost five days of events has not held any formal meeting with the authorities, which has exposed the lack of "leadership tour" to deal with unfortunate events. The "stagnation" of the Municipal Tourism Advisory Council, installed in October 2011, "has been evident."
"Tragedies always reveal other problems and in this case we also see is that you have approached the authorities to analyze the situation, because ultimately these things affect the destiny," snapped Valadez.
However, the tragedy had to be put on the table regulations and industry standards in order to work on all models of prevention.

According to Alfonso Torres, the Spanish diver who lost his life was an experienced guide to what's important "to review more in detail the technical points of what could happen."