Exposure Suits for Cenotes and Cozumel? - Page 2

TSandM · August 8th, 2008, 02:02 AM

I did fine on the tours, with a 3 mil suit and 2 mil hooded vest. (That was the same setup I dove in the open ocean from Cozumel.) The tours are fairly brief, and you swim throughout, so you don't have to have a lot of exposure protection.

Joe Cool · August 8th, 2008, 05:28 PM

I am the same with TSandM, I dove the Cenotes with a 3mm full suit and 5mm boots. I use my 5mm boots for any dive I make whether it be in PNW or some tropical location. I could use thinner boots but I don't want to have a collection of boots. I dove there on a late Nov. and early Dec. time frame so the weather was cooler compared to the summer months.

Phil

DandyDon · August 9th, 2008, 12:21 AM

We have GOT to get auto reduction for photos on SB. The Sinkholes are cooler than the channels this time of year to be sure, unless you hit ocean water intrusion on one - which we did. Bring or rent a 3 mil more than in the channel, beanie - good, gloves - no. Have a blast!!

Bratface · August 9th, 2008, 12:50 AM

I dove the cenotes 2 weeks ago. The water temp was 75 degrees. I wore a 3mm suit with a long sleeved reef shirt under it. I was a little cold but not uncomfortable. If I had added a beanie and a vest, I would have been fine. I would have been excellent in a 5mm.

Ice9 · August 9th, 2008, 03:49 AM

I did the Taj Mahal cenote in July in a 3mm (no gloves or hood) and felt just fine. Of course I have some natural insulation :-)

DandyDon · August 18th, 2008, 11:53 AM

Well, correction here: I went over our Cenote pics last night and my bud was wearing his beanie. Always good to have one in your BC pocket at least, in case of unexpected chill. It was odd swimming thru the halo/thermoclines at where warm sea water had entered - making us feel like we all had foggy masks. I rinsed & cleared from habit.

Do use new batteries if you use your own lights, and check your lanyards. I had to switch lights on the second dive and dropped the good one when I slipped a broken lanyard over my wrist - and I thot I took pride in checking my gear.

The newbie picked it up for me, twice before I figured out what was wrong; thank goodness it didn't fall in a hole...!

The chemocline at The Pit was lovely, with the purple bacteria feeding on the sulfides reflecting the scant sunlight coming down, but damn if I could photograph it - or much else well. Here are the bones at 140 ft in The Pit, and a nice sunrays shot from El Eden...

mikerault · August 18th, 2008, 05:49 PM

Excellent! I want to do the tour into the one with the bones next time!

Mike

DandyDon · August 18th, 2008, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerault

Excellent! I want to do the tour into the one with the bones next time!

Mike

There is a good bit of info on the Dos Ojos Pit on google. I still wonder if the bones are Myan or planted cow bones, but it was a great dive.

From: Dos Ojos - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

Dos Ojos lies broadly parallel to and north of the now combined Nohoch Nah Chich/Sac Actun cave system and may one day be connected into it creating a combined length in excess of 213 km. Dos Ojos has remained in the top 10, if not the top 5 longest underwater cave systems in the world since its discovery in the 1980s. Dos Ojos contains the deepest known cave passage in Quintana Roo with 118 meters / 396 feet of depth located at The Pit cenote discovered in 1996 by cave explorers who came all the way from the main entrance some 1500 meters / 5000 feet away. The deep passages include the Wakulla Room, the Beyong Main Base (BMB) passage, Jills room and the next generation passage.

With more to be discovered, I'll bet. I'll post a more detailed report on the Mexico forum tomorrow...

buza831 · August 20th, 2008, 12:27 AM

You are accustomed to diving here in Los ANgeles and it's FREEZING. Just vcame back from Coz last week and wore a 3mm shorty. Water was 82 at 85 feet and about the same on the surface. You will be fine as I won't go in the water here as there isn't enough rubber in the world to keep me warm.

buza831 · August 25th, 2008, 02:43 PM

Two weeks ago when we were in Coz I dove in a shorty. Water was 82 at the bottom. I'm usually cold but it was fine. I also dive with FF's. Amazingly, people and staff acted like they've never seen them before and that I was some freak from the undersea world (of course they're PINK). Anyway, just to be safe, I took along a hood but didn't need it.