Punta Sur/Devil's Throat

[cvchief]

I've done Devils Throat quite a few times and in IMO it's a bucket list dive.

Exactly. A t-shirt dive. I did it only once I think. Took my nephews. I road drag to keep an eye on them. They kicked up sand of course and I lost sight of the diver 2 up from me. I figured well they can probably see the one in front of them.

Tee shirt wasn't that great....

 

[Charred]

Why do people that have done this dive have to poo-poo the dive?

He asked how to do it, help him out instead of throwing shade at the dive because you like other sites.

 

[boulderjohn]

If you are going to do it, I would check with Aldora Divers. One of your better chances for getting on a boat with other experienced divers willing to do that dive and you can get a 100 or 120 CF tank, which would be a nice thing to have for such a deep dive.

These short dives you all experience, I wonder if it's because the dive ops just don't do it much and don't understand how to stretch it...... Sherif at Aldora has done Punta Sur, the whole thing in 120 minutes - it's very common for 80-90 minute dives there with them - they have big tanks, do it a lot and have a great plan. We often do 60-70 minutes on Aluminum 80's there - it's the plan or going with someone that has a plan in how to stretch the dive....

As some have suggested, it is a very different dive with nitrox and steel 120's. The first couple times I did the dive, it was with an AL 80 and air--we went through the Devil's throat and headed for the surface. Meh. When I did it with Aldora with 120's and nitrox, it was a seriously long dive winding through the other coral tunnels in the area. I assume some other operators will do the same.

Yes, you will go briefly to a depth below the standard 1.4 PPO2, but you will be within the 1.6 contingency range. If you stay near the top of the very large exit hole, you will be just a little below 1.4 for a few seconds before ascending.

 

[Dan G]

I should have checked my log book earlier. We dove DT on 32% and had a max depth of 127'. My PO2 max was 1.55. My apologies.

 

[kelemvor]

I am headed to Cozumel this August and would like to dive in the Punta Sur area and specifically Devil's Throat. I dove in Cozumel this past February and dove with Scuba Life and Dive House. I have reached out to them and Dive with Tony but have had a difficult time making arrangements. It seems like my only option is to pay for a private tour. Unfortunately it is just me on this dive as my wife doesn't want to go. Does anybody know of a dive operator that makes regular trips down to Punta Sur?

I did it in 2015 with Rainbow Reef. I don't know if they do it regularly or not. We were a very large group and easily filled the boat even though this was an "add-on" dive. Although shorter than many Cozumel dives, it was a good dive and definitely worth it. Wish I'd had doubles in order to stay down longer at that site.

Knowing what I do today, I'd prefer to go with Aldora as they're known for bigger tanks in Coz. Also they have an excellent reputation.

 

[fly2dive]

I guess I have a different opinion .... It's always been a fun dive (especially at night). The overall complex has quite a number on entries and exits and since I've been to Coz many times since the 80's I've had the opportunity to dive many of them. I like the combo of doing cathedrals and the transitioning to DT complex. Most of the times (since 1995) we were diving with Aldora and using HP 100's (just like I dive at home) and HP 120's for those in the group that needed a bit more gas. I agree with others that even at at a slightly higher MOD that at 32% that the duration and fact that it's not a "working" dive that it's a moot point. As others have mentioned, most OPS want to have seen you dive a time or two to assess your skills and gas consumption. Enjoy your rtrip and let us know your opinion when you return!

 

[mcpowell]

My 20 year old son had a little different perspective. He really enjoyed this dive because it is not a long dive. He gets a little bored (maybe too strong of a word) with the 60-70 minute dives for a week. So diving Devil’s Throat was a lot of fun for him…a cool entry, dramatic swim-through, and an even more dramatic exit on the wall, and due to the depth you’re back on the boat in 40 minutes or so, counting your safety stop. We dove it with Blue Xt Sea, before the pandemic and it was just the divemaster, my son, and me. We did pay a fuel surcharge.

Here’s my dive log graphic, just for fun:

 

[kelemvor]

Wow, I envy your low low SAC.

 

[Curious_George]

@mcpowell interesting that your tank started at exactly 3000psi. What’s the chances of that happening twice in a row? Do you intentionally have the sampling rate turned way down or is that just the way the Teric is?

Here’s mine for comparison. As you can see I didn’t want to go below MOD for very long. My buoyancy does need work, but also jumping around a lot more because of the higher sampling rate. Never figured out how to make subsurface show the correct HP120 and I’m at 146 dives now.

 

[dirkhh]

@mcpowell interesting that your tank started at exactly 3000psi. What’s the chances of that happening twice in a row? Do you intentionally have the sampling rate turned way down or is that just the way the Teric is?

The plot in @mcpowell 's post clearly is not from an air integrated sensor but instead manually entered data.

@mcpowell
Here’s mine for comparison. As you can see I didn’t want to go below MOD for very long. My buoyancy does need work, but also jumping around a lot more because of the higher sampling rate. Never figured out how to make subsurface show the correct HP120 and I’m at 146 dives now.

Can you elaborate about your problem entering the "correct HP120"? I don't recall anyone reaching out to us about that being broken, but I maybe I missed your post...