There were a handful of things that have been long in the making which are on their final prep to launch as of the last CREER meeting.
CREER is the Comité Regional de Espeleobuceo, Ecología y Regulación. Figure out the translation on your own. It's a new-ish organization moderated by a board of elected representatives for the interests of the cave community in Mexico.
A NEW WEBSITE is the obvious host platform for these changes, which you can read about below.
The most influential, everyday things:
- Local dive professionals will have a formal path to affiliate with CREER. With a uniform guide system across all guide-only sites we can streamline and curate sign-in procedures. This involves a painstakingly overhauled/rewritten local guid manual which clearly defines roles, responsibilities, and best practices. As opposed to what the usual order of business winds up being... which is "Anything Can Happen Day."
- Visiting divers will be asked to complete an application for a local Cave Pass, whether diving with a guide, or self-guiding. This can be done online, well before a visit, and generates a virtual card on your phone which will be recognized by each shop, fill station, and dive site in the area. With a single, uniform system there will be no need to fill out different paperwork with each organization. And, what's more, with strong legal protections writen on the behalf of the landowners, it may be possible to interface with those folks who have been reluctant to allow access... possibly even getting some "lost" caves reopened to the community.
Both of those ideas are the result of hours and days and weeks of debate. In the case of the cavern manual, it's actually years and years of work by dozens and dozens of people.
And it's wonderful to see. To participate.
We've all heard about "the bad old days" of cave diving. Both Mexico and Florida have had them (as presumably, has every other dive location in the world). Mexico, especially, seems to have a pretty storied history of breaking down into pathological tribalism.
You know... it doesn't really feel like that around here these days.
Sure, this one and that one might not be talking. Or these two think that other shop is full of dickheads. The Riviera Maya is not actually utopia.
But, by and large, people seem to be getting along pretty damned well. You hear the friendly banter among the guides/instructors in the parking lot, and it feels like a good work environment. It's almost like everyone there remembers that we're doing something we love for a living in a beautiful corner of the world. We remember that, just maybe, it's not all worth getting worked up and uptight about. That we should just enjoy it surrounded by like-minded, cool people.
And here's CREER. Working to be a productive voice for that community of misfits hanging around the parking lot. A board of a dozen people from all different shops, all different backgrounds, different teaching philosophies, different visions of the work that needs doing. Albeit mostly quietly, that work is getting done, though. We come together, make the best decisions and compromises we can, and we try to get **** done.
It feels a lot nicer than being at one another's throats. Which is, I understand, the right thing for a company to do. Capture market share. Put the other guy out of business. Grow. Expand. Get more money!!!!
But here's CREER. All-volunteer. Mostly cooperative. Hopefully productive. Doing the right thing for no other reason than because it's the right thing for the most people.
CREER is the Comité Regional de Espeleobuceo, Ecología y Regulación. Figure out the translation on your own. It's a new-ish organization moderated by a board of elected representatives for the interests of the cave community in Mexico.
A NEW WEBSITE is the obvious host platform for these changes, which you can read about below.
The most influential, everyday things:
- Local dive professionals will have a formal path to affiliate with CREER. With a uniform guide system across all guide-only sites we can streamline and curate sign-in procedures. This involves a painstakingly overhauled/rewritten local guid manual which clearly defines roles, responsibilities, and best practices. As opposed to what the usual order of business winds up being... which is "Anything Can Happen Day."
- Visiting divers will be asked to complete an application for a local Cave Pass, whether diving with a guide, or self-guiding. This can be done online, well before a visit, and generates a virtual card on your phone which will be recognized by each shop, fill station, and dive site in the area. With a single, uniform system there will be no need to fill out different paperwork with each organization. And, what's more, with strong legal protections writen on the behalf of the landowners, it may be possible to interface with those folks who have been reluctant to allow access... possibly even getting some "lost" caves reopened to the community.
Both of those ideas are the result of hours and days and weeks of debate. In the case of the cavern manual, it's actually years and years of work by dozens and dozens of people.
And it's wonderful to see. To participate.
We've all heard about "the bad old days" of cave diving. Both Mexico and Florida have had them (as presumably, has every other dive location in the world). Mexico, especially, seems to have a pretty storied history of breaking down into pathological tribalism.
You know... it doesn't really feel like that around here these days.
Sure, this one and that one might not be talking. Or these two think that other shop is full of dickheads. The Riviera Maya is not actually utopia.
But, by and large, people seem to be getting along pretty damned well. You hear the friendly banter among the guides/instructors in the parking lot, and it feels like a good work environment. It's almost like everyone there remembers that we're doing something we love for a living in a beautiful corner of the world. We remember that, just maybe, it's not all worth getting worked up and uptight about. That we should just enjoy it surrounded by like-minded, cool people.
And here's CREER. Working to be a productive voice for that community of misfits hanging around the parking lot. A board of a dozen people from all different shops, all different backgrounds, different teaching philosophies, different visions of the work that needs doing. Albeit mostly quietly, that work is getting done, though. We come together, make the best decisions and compromises we can, and we try to get **** done.
It feels a lot nicer than being at one another's throats. Which is, I understand, the right thing for a company to do. Capture market share. Put the other guy out of business. Grow. Expand. Get more money!!!!
But here's CREER. All-volunteer. Mostly cooperative. Hopefully productive. Doing the right thing for no other reason than because it's the right thing for the most people.
