Two German divers drown at Gran Cenote Kalimba at Tulum

[almostDIR]

That's the scary part of cave diving. AFAIK, most accidents happened to experienced divers. They did not realize they were in danger until they were close to death.

if I understood the details correctly it seems to me that the problem was mainly about dropping the stage tank too far away (moving slower at first because filming at the start of the dive but still dropping the stage based on pressure so that when there was more swimming later on the stages were too far to be reached) due to the filming at the start of the dive which consumed thirds earlier in the dive meter/feet-wise than would have happened if advancing normally the whole time.

the way I understood it the drop point would have need to be marked on a pre dive (to test without filming how long the stage will last and mark that drop point) and when filming to shut down the stage at actual pressure and switch to main tanks but carry the stage to the marked drop point and leave it there so that it is placed for swimming only exit and is thus much further in the system. Then follow normal rules on main tanks for the rest of the dive. Please correct me if I totally misunderstood it, I am trying to learn this stuff the best I can

That is only how I understood it with my little knowledge (I have only read a little bit of cave diving books, never actually done anything like it nor gotten into a cavern course yet) but we'll be waiting the final report of course

 

[The Chairman]

AFAIK, most accidents happened to experienced divers.

Many OW instructors thought that they didn't need cave training and have died in caves.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

My understanding is they dropped their stages earlier than would have normally happened. That happened because they were filming and therefore traveling slower. This would create a more conservative return for the remaining stage gas to their exit. They dropped their stages and continued into the cave while continuing to video. There becomes an unanswered question if they missed a navigation point and found themselves somewhere they didn’t expect. Then made a decision to exit in a direction to another Cenote instead of returning to their stage tanks. What did I learn from this... that if a diver is planning to take pictures/video then the other diver must be navigation only.

 

[kafkaland]

My understanding is they dropped their stages earlier than would have normally happened. That happened because they were filming and therefore traveling slower. This would create a more conservative return for the remaining stage gas to their exit. They dropped their stages and continued into the cave while continuing to video. There becomes an unanswered question if they missed a navigation point and found themselves somewhere they didn’t expect. Then made a decision to exit in a direction to another Cenote instead of returning to their stage tanks. What did I learn from this... that if a diver is planning to take pictures/video then the other diver must be navigation only.

My read on this is a little different: a navigational error when they came back out of Much’s. After removing the jump line, they swam in the direction of the permanent arrow, not back to their stages, which was closer than the exit indicated by the arrow. Then possibly confusion at the jump that leads to Lithium Sunset that they may haben tried. And the ultra-long jump at Paso de Lagarto was the final problem. But I’m awaiting the final report that will hopefully shed more light on this.

 

[Tchau]

Many OW instructors thought that they didn't need cave training and have died in caves.

Let me clarify. From what I have seen, the majority of the accidents happened to experienced cave dive certified divers.

I am not even counting the group of untrained divers. Those were looking for trouble.

 

[BlueTrin]

Let me clarify. From what I have seen, the majority of the accidents happened to experienced cave dive certified divers.

I am not even counting the group of untrained divers. Those were looking for trouble.

Is it because in % most of dives in a cave are done by experienced cave certified divers ?

 

[Tchau]

Correct. That’s my point. Cave diving is too technical and dangerous for me. It can’t be relaxing.
I dove in Dos Ojos and really enjoyed it but that’s pretty much how far I go as far as cave diving is concerned.

 

[BlueTrin]

Correct. That’s my point. Cave diving is too technical and dangerous for me. It can’t be relaxing.
I dove in Dos Ojos and really enjoyed it but that’s pretty much how far I go as far as cave diving is concerned.

So I do not disagree with you but my previous point was that it could be that most of cave accidents happen to trained cave divers because they are doing almost all the cave dives in %.

For example, I imagine that most of scuba accidents happen to certified scuba divers because if you are doing scuba diving you are more likely to be certified.

I am interested in knowing:
- what is the number of fatalities in cave diving and broken down per certification
- total number of cave dives done in the year broken down per certification
Basically I would like to be able to answer this question: if I get certified and cave dive for the next 10 years, what's the likelihood I get out alive ?

 

[txaggie08]

you also have to think that the more experienced divers are likely doing the longer, riskier, and more difficult dives.

 

[The Chairman]

I am not even counting the group of untrained divers. Those were looking for trouble.

Perhaps you should.