Preparing for Devil's Throat

[ZombieZombie]

I know that wanting to dive Devil's Throat is a sign of moral deficiency for many of the Cozumel old salts, but I thought I'd risk asking the question anyway.

My wife & I are AOW certified with about 40 dives each. However, we have not been deeper than 95 feet and I was wondering if we would be best to get a 'simple' dive to 130' to check out how we respond i.e. any sign of narcosis and to generally just get comfortable at that depth.
We have done some cenote diving (Dos Ojos) and are happy in enclosed environments, but just thought that having judgement issues or worse in the middle of a tunnel with a line of people behind us might not be a good idea.

Apologies if this is FAQ but I did search and didn't find anything addressing this.

 

[TSandM]

Before you do, sit down and figure out how much gas it will take to get you and your wife to the surface from 130 feet while sharing gas. Then think about how much it will take if you have to exit an overhead environment AND get to the surface. Then decide if you think the dive is a good idea.

 

[ggunn]

I know that wanting to dive Devil's Throat is a sign of moral deficiency for many of the Cozumel old salts, but I thought I'd risk asking the question anyway.

My wife & I are AOW certified with about 40 dives each. However, we have not been deeper than 95 feet and I was wondering if we would be best to get a 'simple' dive to 130' to check out how we respond i.e. any sign of narcosis and to generally just get comfortable at that depth.
We have done some cenote diving (Dos Ojos) and are happy in enclosed environments, but just thought that having judgement issues or worse in the middle of a tunnel with a line of people behind us might not be a good idea.

Apologies if this is FAQ but I did search and didn't find anything addressing this.

Forgive me for saying so, but considering your experience level and your obvious misgivings, I would give the Throat a pass this time.

 

[Kevrumbo]

--Devils Throat in Cozumel -a three person team, minimum AL100 single tanks each with standard 7'long hose, trim & slim hogarthian configuration: plan your gas consumption as Lynne (TS&M) recommends above, but consider that a swimthrough from top entrance to bottom exit at 39 meters max depth should be done quickly and smartly especially on single tank. Push on through any momentary silt-outs to the exit, and don't get stuck! A doable dive, but risky with no wiggle room for any major contingencies within the overhead . . .also be aware of potential downcurrents at the exit ledge/wall.

 

[MMM]

Here is how I would start, if you are determined to do this. First, you will have to find an op to take you that is comfortable with your skills (buoyancy control, air usage). They will make that determination after they have seen the two of you diving. I'd request they take you to some deeper sites (pretty much anything in Palancar or Columbia will be deep enough) to deeper levels than they might normally go. I would say most won't take you much deeper than about 100 feet, but that is probably enough to give you an idea. Have them take you through some swim throughs to see how you are in confined spaces, manage your bouyancy, not silt things up for the persons behind you. I would also suggest you book with an op that has steel 120s for some added safety margin for air and get used to using those. I have dived Devils Throat using an AL 80 but am far more comfortable doing it with a larger tank. You will almost certainly go into deco during the ascent. Are you comfortable doing so, and managing yourself accordingly? If not, give yourself some time to grab more experience. Trust me, you aren't missing anything you can't live without doing.

 

[Mike]

I'm not sure how you're going to almost certainly go into deco on the throat, but without anybody here really having a clue as to how competent of divers you are...

... the best advice I can give you is if you want to do the throat, book with Aldora for at least 5 days of consecutive diving, which will get you steel 120s which will put you at an instant advantage, tell them you want to dive the throat on this trip if possible.

They will be evaluating your diving during the week and if they consider you competent, you'll most likely end up at the throat. If you don't end up at the throat before then end of your week of diving with them, they probably are doing you a favor.

In addition prior to getting to the throat, tell your dive master that you've never been deeper than 95 feet and would like to go deeper if possible on at least one of your dives earlier in the week. You'll most likely be able to arrange a point on a dive that you can get the thumbs up sign to push deeper on an already deeper dive and at least know the dm is watching you both as you push beyond your current 95 ft mark.
-
Doing what I've said here will get you a few things -

You'll be diving with a very good dive op
You'll be diving with a dive op who will get you bigger tanks than you'll get with the vast majority of dive ops on the island
You'll have a chance to see how you guys do at more than 95 ft first before adding the confinement of the throat to the depth
You'll be diving with a dive op who will self- limit you and take the guess work out of whether you've got the experience to do it or not.

 

[ZombieZombie]

Many thanks to everyone. What a fantastic response to my first thread on here.

I'm glad that I asked as the fact that I am learning from the answers probably says that we aren't ready for this.

We do ok on buoyancy, but I am a bit of an air hog- usually requesting a steel 100 to match my wife's bottom time on an AL80.
It sounds like a steel 120 would be an absolute necessity.

I will talk with my dive op (we were considering trying a few different ops on this trip but spending time with Aldora might be a good idea).

I will adjust expectations and not make completing this dive on this trip a must do. No point in trying it if I don't make it back to brag about it!

Thanks again.

 

[Bob DBF]

However, we have not been deeper than 95 feet and I was wondering if we would be best to get a 'simple' dive to 130' to check out how we respond i.e. any sign of narcosis and to generally just get comfortable at that depth.

The sign of narcosis is when you have a change in the dive plan or emergency and find it hard to understand and respond to properly. You may have been narked at 95' but without an incedent and/or a mentor or instructor to point it out you will easily miss it. One reason deep divers go OOA or into deco is they loose track of time and forget to check 'till it is too late, narcosis changes your thinking.

I recently had a project I wanted to do on air at 130'+ and spent a dozen or so dives getting re-acclimated to the narcosis enough so I would percieve and respond properly to problems. As far as I'm concerned, there is no "simple" dive to 130', and I'm pretty liberal on the limits of a recreational diver.

Oh yeah, Never get comfortable at that depth!!!



Bob
--------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

Devil's Throat is pretty lousy dive unless your thing is going through silted up tunnels at depth. There are many better dives in Cozumel. At the very least since you are a self acknowledged air hog you should know how much gas you and your wife need to get back to the surface if one of you loses your gas supply. Once you know this you can plan accordingly. Of course your should practice out of gas ascents as well.

The Coz dive ops will say that hardly anyone ever dies there which seems like less than a ringing endorsement.

 

[redacted]

The best description I can give of Devil's Throat is disappointing.