simonk999
Contributor
I was recently in Cozumel for the 2nd time. First time, got taken through a very short swimthrough, and my thoughts after that were "too bad about the environmental damage that these things take after gazillions of divers go through them, kicking up silt."
But after this 2nd trip, now have different thoughts, ones more about safety (but of course, still have the original thought). This is because during this trip, the group was taken through some pretty long and winding passages that might otherwise be called caves, except that they're not. Often, these are relatively narrow passageways, and most definitely overhead environments.
Now, like most divers, I enjoyed these swimthroughs, and they were well within my comfort level, but I do wonder about the potential for something nasty to happen, especially since the vast majority of divers going through are going through:
(a) on single tanks and normal recreational setups
(b) single file, essentially unbuddied and practically diving solo
with some going on limited experience.
If something goes wrong inside one of these passages, it could be deadly. I have reasonable, though not expert by any means, buoyancy control, and was occasionally hitting my tank and on one occasion, my reg hose snagged on something. Not enough to pull it from my mouth, esp as I was going quite slowly, but still a surprise, and for me, even if it had been pulled out, I would not (I like to think) have paniced, but it's certainly a far from theoretical possibility for that to happen. Or something else could happen.
The point is that if something were to happen, it could be quite difficult, if not impossible, for assistence to be rendered by a fellow diver, optimistically presuming the fellow diver actually noticed something was wrong. Certainly, the diver in front would likely not notice, so if you're the last in line, it could be sayonora. Meanwhile, the DM is hanging out at the exit of the thing, expecting everyone to come out.
I'm curious if any incidents have happened in these types of swimthroughs. My lessons learned were that one needs to realize the inherent risk in doing these things is substantial compared to simply drifting around a reef/wall, and that when I do these things, I shouldn't be the last one through, and ideally, the person in front and following should be set up with a long hose.
-Simon
But after this 2nd trip, now have different thoughts, ones more about safety (but of course, still have the original thought). This is because during this trip, the group was taken through some pretty long and winding passages that might otherwise be called caves, except that they're not. Often, these are relatively narrow passageways, and most definitely overhead environments.
Now, like most divers, I enjoyed these swimthroughs, and they were well within my comfort level, but I do wonder about the potential for something nasty to happen, especially since the vast majority of divers going through are going through:
(a) on single tanks and normal recreational setups
(b) single file, essentially unbuddied and practically diving solo
with some going on limited experience.
If something goes wrong inside one of these passages, it could be deadly. I have reasonable, though not expert by any means, buoyancy control, and was occasionally hitting my tank and on one occasion, my reg hose snagged on something. Not enough to pull it from my mouth, esp as I was going quite slowly, but still a surprise, and for me, even if it had been pulled out, I would not (I like to think) have paniced, but it's certainly a far from theoretical possibility for that to happen. Or something else could happen.
The point is that if something were to happen, it could be quite difficult, if not impossible, for assistence to be rendered by a fellow diver, optimistically presuming the fellow diver actually noticed something was wrong. Certainly, the diver in front would likely not notice, so if you're the last in line, it could be sayonora. Meanwhile, the DM is hanging out at the exit of the thing, expecting everyone to come out.
I'm curious if any incidents have happened in these types of swimthroughs. My lessons learned were that one needs to realize the inherent risk in doing these things is substantial compared to simply drifting around a reef/wall, and that when I do these things, I shouldn't be the last one through, and ideally, the person in front and following should be set up with a long hose.
-Simon
