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

[joswatson]

I was there last week with my son who is advanced open water, an instructor friend of mine as well as a local guide fron Dive Adventuras. Yes there are aspects where there is difficulty with visibility due to the mixture of the salt and fresh water, however there are clearly marked lines within the structure that you can guide yourself out of the cenote. As with any dive like this we held to the rule of thirds, 1/3 in, 1/3 out and 1/3 for emergencys. I am always troubled when a diver loses their life, however it is my opinion that the location is well marked the guidelines are very clear. Despite this news of a loss of life during this dive I would not hesitate to do this dive again, and I would have no problem bringing my children with me on the dive. If the guidelines are followed, this is a safe destination.

 

[tstormdiver]

What amazes me, is how the guides only need to be Full Cave certified to lead OW divers on these types of dives, personally, I feel it should be only cave instructors leading these dives, as they are trained to handle just about anything that may arise. Being certified Full Cave (and even an AOWSI), I am trained to solve many problems that can occur in a cave environment to get myself & my buddy (of equal or higher level than myself) out of a cave alive. We are equally aware of the risks we are taking. I realize that I am in no way qualified to handle a possibly panicked diver in that environment to bring them (& myself) out safely. When things go wrong, it is rarely only 1 thing, it is usually a cascading series of events that leads to a fatal event. Think of this scenario (I am in no way saying that this was what happened): Guided diver suddenly panics (remember when panic sets in, the diver most likely can only function in a survival mode, all higher functions are out the window) & tries to bolt in any direction, including up. They then spit their regulator out & put a fin in the silt. Now vis has gone from air clear to 0 in seconds. Where's the line? Now the nasty Halocline in that system isn't helping finding that line. Where is the other diver(s) being lead? Can I (as the guide) get them to the line & safely out? I can easily see where someone who isn't a cave instructor can quickly get overwhelmed by the situation.

Don't get me wrong,... I am sure there are excellent guides who are not cave instructors & have exemplary safety records, but is there a program there to teach these guides to handle those situations? Just putting in an observation.

 

[Tigerman]

Any ideas what happened for him to be in that condition?

My thought exactly..

AND YES! THE PICTURE IS BAD, SO DONT CLICK THE LINK TO IT UNLESS YOU CAN STOMACH IT!

 

[WSOPFAN]

Now after the fact, the Civil Protection Drector says the Cenotes are being exploited and he is considering sanctions against the service provider.

Google Translate

Gustavo Escalante / SIPSEPLAYA DEL CARMEN, Q. Roo. - Theexploitation of underground cavesand cenotes of the Riviera Maya is out of control: there is no register of these sites are used for recreation, acknowledged yesterday the CEO of the Institute of Protection Civil Solidarity, Genaro Alamilla Can.


Last Friday, three foreign divers were killed inside the cenote known as "Chac Mool", located 500 meters from Puerto Aventuras.


Civil Protection Director announced that the process of determining a sanction Economic aa those who exploit the site is ongoing, but did not specify the amount, because they still are under investigations.


He said he did not have a pattern of sinkholes that are exploited throughout the mapping of Solidarity, however, announced that next week begin the task of enumeration.


According to Regulation Aquatic Rescue and Salvage Solidarity, Article 4 states that it is for Civil Protection and Fire Municipal Public Security to prevent, maintain and preserve order, security, search and rescue.

Article 14 states that all facilities providing tourism services program must show their waters closed, open or confined for review and approval where appropriate.


It also explains why particular safety programs, rescue and water rescue shall as a minimum, recommendations and regulations for the use of the pool, beach, cenotes and lagoons, signs of deep pools, duty lifeguard tower installation, description of operational protocols, description of blogs, the media of their program to their customers and coordination with emergency medical services and municipal bodies.


Article 41 says that the violation of the provisions is punishable by fines in the case of aquatic tourism service providers from 500 to a thousand days of general minimum wage in the geographic area and arrest up to 36 hours, suspension temporary or cancellation of certification or closure, depending on the severity of the case.​

He said he did not have a pattern of sinkholes that are exploited throughout the mapping of Solidarity, however, announced that next week begin the task of enumeration.

So it looks like some tours are given in unapproved Cenotes and this was one of them. I see a huge sanction coming.
​

 

[Ayisha]

Do you think Chac Mool is an unapproved cenote? It's one of the most common cenotes for guided diving besides Taj Mahal and Dos Ojos. I did Chac Mool for the first time close to 10 years ago and have never heard that it is not approved. From the article you provided, I wondered if they were going to try to crack down on the cenotes that are unapproved to prevent further accidents and evaluate the whole situation.

This accident, however, does not appear to be due to cenote diving, but entering a cave without all participants trained, experienced and equipped to do a cave dive.

 

[ianr33]

Any ideas what happened for him to be in that condition?

Fortunately no expert but would imagine that's the way bodies look after ,
A) Being in warm water for 6 hours
B)Having water (possibly salt water) in the lungs, and
C)Remaining air in lungs and ears expands when brought to the surface during recovery.

 

[GROBIOG]

What gear is generally used in these type dives, guide is in full cave gear(doubles) and tourists in single tank?

I would think that is correct but they were all out of air and very close to each other.

 

[DandyDon]

What gear is generally used in these type dives, guide is in full cave gear(doubles) and tourists in single tank?

I would think that is correct but they were all out of air and very close to each other.

It was the third dive of the day for the trio and I imagine the guide used the same doubles for all of his, while I can only guess whether the tourists started with fresh tanks? We may actually get facts from the investigation on this one - later.

 

[rongoodman]

What gear is generally used in these type dives, guide is in full cave gear(doubles) and tourists in single tank?

I would think that is correct but they were all out of air and very close to each other.

The standard is for the guide to be in full cave gear. The clients probably started with fresh tanks, but it is unknown how much gas the guide had to start--on other forums it was mentioned that he had done at least one dive previously that day on the same tanks.

 

[Quero]

I saw a photo of the three bodies before they were pulled out of the water. All three were wearing single 12-liter tanks. In the photo a man is squatting at the edge of the cenote holding the second stage hoses of two of the divers. I think these two are the Brazilian tourists. The third body is too far in the background to see if he had a long hose configuration.