Two More Cenotes Fatalities This Week - Mexico

[DandyDon]

Cenote diving in the Playa del Carmen-Tulum area has generally been considered relatively safe, albeit trust-me diving. This tragedy seems to have taken the Instructor and a lone tourist. As well mapped, marked, and known as most of these popular cenotes are, I have to suspect Instructor error - taking the tourist into a restricted cave zone perhaps, but there are certainly several other possibilities...

In Spanish, Otros dos buceadores fallecen en un cenote de México
or
Google Translate

A night dive kills two other divers in a cenote in Mexico

The cenotes of Quintana Roo, Mexico again be sad news because of two new divers who lost their lives while performing a dive. In this case the event has happened in the cenote Chaak-Tun, on the outskirts of the village of Playa del Carmen.
If less than a week , the Spanish diver Mauricio Muller lost his life in the cenote Calavera of Tulum, this time has been in the cenote Chaak-Tun , during a night dive that made these two divers.

On this occasion, it has been a diving instructor and a tourist, of which only has released the partial identity of the latter. According to data provided by the authorities, the tourist was called Miguel Angel "N" but at the moment no official data the name of the instructor.

Both divers were killed about 21:30 pm yesterday, while a night dive were made in the Chaak-Tun sinkhole located just outside the town of Playa del Carmen, in the Mexican Caribbean.

For now, the causes of the complications that had these two divers to cause such a dramatic end, and the staff of the Public Security of Playa del Carmen are already working to clarify the causes of death are unknown.



Agents of the Ministerial Police of Mexico, accompanied by staff of the Public Ministry and the Forensic Medical Service (Semefo), took evidence and made the lifting of the bodies. It is expected that the autopsy performed by law as quickly as possible to clarify the facts as soon as possible.

Mexican cenotes are true natural jewels where divers enjoy greatly in their dives. We potentially concerned the causes of this sudden increase in tragic incidents in the cenotes of this country.

Remember that the cenote Calavera of Tulum where recently killed the Spanish Mauricio Muller , is located less than 60 kilometers from the cenote Chaak-Tun, the scene of this sad news occurred in Mexico.

 

[JohnnyC]

Just to point out, Chaak-Tun isn't a usual cave diving cenote. It's used as one of those adventure tour type places where you can do some running around in a cavern and snorkel (like XelHa or Xplor). As far as I can tell, it's just a giant open water cavern. They cater to cruise ship tours and the like, they do not cater to divers.

There's something fishy about this too, as that cenote closes early evening, like 5 or 6.

 

[Lily Solis]

Apparently the name of the tourist was Rachel Leight Slatter. Miguel Angel N was the instructor.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, 10 de marzo.- Una turista y un instructor de buceo fallecieron ahogados la tarde de ayer en un cenote de la avenida Prolongación Juárez; los cuerpos permanecen dentro de las instalaciones del Semefo para las trámites correspondientes.

De acuerdo con los datos proporcionados por la Procuraduría General de Justicia, a las 21:05 horas de ayer tuvieron el reporte de dos personas sin vida dentro del cenote Chaak Tun, ubicado en el kilómetro 4 de la avenida Prolongación Juárez; ahí el encargado del lugar, Luis Fernando Heredia Whitaker, comentó que la turista contrató los servicios de esnórquel de un guía que solamente ha sido identificado como Miguel Angel, ingresando al lugar a las 15:00 horas, con un horario estimado de salida a las 17:00 horas. Sin embargo, alrededor de las 20:00 horas se percataron de que no habían salido.
Un grupo de trabajadores del cenote revisó las entradas del cenote, encontrando los cuerpos flotando. Los cuerpos de emergencia llegaron al lugar y confirmaron que ya no contaban con signos vitales.
Los cuerpos fueron trasladados a las instalaciones del Semefo donde se les realizó la necropsia de Ley.
La turista fue identificada como Rachel Leight Slatter, de 26 años de edad, originaria de Wisconsin, Estados Unidos, por lo que se le dio aviso a las autoridades correspondientes para localizar a sus familiares o amigos en esta ciudad o en su ciudad natal.

 

[DandyDon]

Apparently the name of the tourist was Rachel Leight Slatter. Miguel Angel N was the instructor.

Ok, googling that name here in the US brings up several more news articles, all in Spanish. After google translation...

One said they enter at 15:00 or 3pm, for snorkeling? Google Translate

 

[emoreira]

It seems that they were snorkeling, not scuba diving. Sad anyway.

 

[Jack Hammer]

It seems that they were snorkeling, not scuba diving. Sad anyway.

That makes little sense, how do 2 snorkeless die together? Freediving? Odd

 

[emoreira]

That makes little sense, how do 2 snorkeless die together? Freediving? Odd

I've been snorkeling in several cenotes in my recent visit to the Riviera Maya, and if you venture too much inside the cenote, you could be trapped inside.

 

[dmaziuk]

I've been through a swimthrough or two that turned out to be a bit longer than they looked. An instructor would know you can't always tell how far it is in open water in broad daylight. To go breathholding into an overhead in the dark is paging Dr. Darwin.

 

[boulderjohn]

How do people die snorkeling in a cenote? How do people die snorkeling anywhere? We have no information about how the people died, and it is counterproductive to make wild theories without any sort of information.

When I first became a DM long ago, the dive shop where I worked scheduled me to teach a discover snorkel class in the pool for a couple about to go on a tropical vacation. My reaction to being assigned this task was "WTF? Who needs a snorkel class?" It was not far into the experience that I got my answer--THEY did. They could both swim to a reasonable degree, but they were for some reason apprehensive about the masks and snorkels.

I started them in the shallow end of the pool, and when they looked like they were doing OK, we swam over the deep end. Once he was looking down the full 11 feet of the pool depth, the husband freaked out--the most complete, full-blown panic I have ever seen anywhere. Fortunately, he was near a float we had in the water holding up an ascent line for a scuba class, and he clung to it screaming as I went to save him. I had to peel him off that ball. If he had not had that float next to him, I am sure he would have clung to his wife instead. If there had been no one to rescue them, they probably both would have drowned.

Notice I am not saying that is what happened. I have no idea what happened. I am just emphasizing that it really could have been just about anything.

 

[Jax]

[speculation]
The only way I can see an instructor dying is if he went after a foolish tourist, and they couldn't get back out.
[/speculation]