Just back from Mexico

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Sabanist

Contributor
Messages
131
Reaction score
18
Location
Ft. Lauderdale
# of dives
25 - 49
Thought I would give a shout out for the LDS we dove with there.

We went with Aquanauts Divers in Puerto Aventuras, Maricio was our guide on a 2 tank cavern dive at Dos Ojos Cenote in Quintana Roo.

Definitely the coolest thing I've ever done. 200' of visibility, an underground light show, stalagtites and stalagmites. We swam through the....thermocline? Where the salt water and freshwater meet? I don't know if that's the name or not.

A word of caution if you go, you better have your bouyancy in check, if you ascend too far you'll damage the cavern (and yourself possibly), and if you are too negative you'll do the same. But it was AWESOME. I highly reccomend the place and the shop.
 
The saltwater-freshwater thing is called a halocline :) Cool you had a fun time on your trip!
 
It's halocline. I guess you don't have to be cavern certified to dive there? What's the water temp and the wetsuit recommendation?

Adam
 
It's halocline. I guess you don't have to be cavern certified to dive there? What's the water temp and the wetsuit recommendation?

Adam

Some sites in Mexico you can do guided Cavern dives if you are OW. Water temp is 25C/77F. I was fine with 3hrs+ in the water in a 3mm. YMMV.
 
It's halocline. I guess you don't have to be cavern certified to dive there? What's the water temp and the wetsuit recommendation?

Adam

They said it was about 75 degrees, we had on 3 mil suits, and boots, no hood, I was just starting to get cold by the end of the 2nd dive.

Yeah but for a guided dive, all you have to have is OW
 
The cenote/cavern dives there are limited to 4 divers per guide and they have an outstanding safety record.

Did you clear you mask when you hit the halocline? It's a common reaction. See Halocline - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some of the cenotes also have a layer of hydrocloric acid from organic debris and purplish bacteria so numerous that you see the cloud, like at The Pit, which is a deep hole on Dos Ojos property. It is not for new divers, requires a 30 ft drop, may dive to 130 ft deep to see the bones (I dipped to 140 to get the pic :eyebrow: ) and requires hauling gear out by rope hoist after the first two have climb out with the air of a rope.

Nearby Eden is a cool newbie dive and I saw some purplish layering there too I think.
 
You would only try to clear your mask if you disturbed the halocline layer. If you encounter a cavern with undisturbed halocline, i looks completely different. I had a guide with a HID and a 250 watt bulb and when he set the torch to wide focus and full brightness on a full cavern with halocline, I could have sworn that the sea level dropped to below me and I was floating over it.
 
You would only try to clear your mask if you disturbed the halocline layer. If you encounter a cavern with undisturbed halocline, i looks completely different. I had a guide with a HID and a 250 watt bulb and when he set the torch to wide focus and full brightness on a full cavern with halocline, I could have sworn that the sea level dropped to below me and I was floating over it.

Beautiful Halocline | Flickr - Photo Sharing! I took a video of one I saw inside Minotauro. Video doesn't do it justice by any stretch but maybe others can get the gist of what a halocline looks like.

This one was the clearest I saw, and it felt like I was ascending into air when I went through the layers.
 

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