Another accident in Tulum Cave Diving

[rddvet]

Condolences to her family & friends. May her soul RIP.

Who led the dive, the man with the camera or the deceased woman? If he was the guide & leading the dive, then she would have followed him & wouldn't be separated. Photographer tends to stop, focus on an object, snap pictures & move on. If she led the dive, then he may have gotten distracted with snapping pictures, didn't follow her, she was not aware of him lagging behind & ending up with a separation.

It is both of their faults regardless of who's first or second. The guy with the camera needs to pay attention to buddy separation regardless of if he's taking photos. The deceased also didn't have the buddy awareness to stay with her buddy.

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That isn't accurate as far as I remember. There is no jumpo where the Paso de Legarto is. The line simply turns left. I also don't remember what you have marked as jump 3. From my recollection you place a line in the cavern zone to the cave line (I tie into the cavern line as it turns and head straight to the cave line). Follow the cave line along past the left to paso de legarto and continue one until a gap that leads to the Cuzan Nah line. From there it seems correct. But I don't believe nav decision 2 and 3 are accurate unless things have changed.

It's possible your jump 3 is the gap I'm thinking of, but there's definitely no jump unless you go to paso de legarto.

 

[Bent Frederiksen]

Thank you to you all for your thoughts. She was a very dedicated diver and all her vacation time was always dedicated to diving. She was just shy of her 39th birthday and was a dedicated school teacher in the US. She will forever be missed by her students, her family and her friends. She have dived in the Tulum and Playa del Carmen many times in the past and we can only put to rest in our heart, she left us doing what she loved the most, diving. Her last FB post was diving with Bull Sharks in Playa del Carmen on November 21st.

 

[boulderjohn]

That isn't accurate as far as I remember. There is no jumpo where the Paso de Legarto is. The line simply turns left. I also don't remember what you have marked as jump 3. From my recollection you place a line in the cavern zone to the cave line (I tie into the cavern line as it turns and head straight to the cave line). Follow the cave line along past the left to paso de legarto and continue one until a gap that leads to the Cuzan Nah line. From there it seems correct. But I don't believe nav decision 2 and 3 are accurate unless things have changed..

It's not my map--I just found it and uploaded it. Nothing marked in it comes from me.

My memory of what is actually there matches yours precisely, which is what I said earlier in the thread. (I had a very hard time completing the Paso de Lagarto jump when I did it.) The map does pretty accurately show the locations of things in the incident..

 

[boulderjohn]

Her name has been released. She is Amy Arriaga of Bakersfield, CA. She was a very experienced and dedicated diver with a lot of experience in the area. She was definitely not a novice.

Please pass along condolences in her Passings thread.

 

[rddvet]

It's not my map--I just found it and uploaded it. Nothing marked in it comes from me.

My memory of what is actually there matches yours precisely, which is what I said earlier in the thread. (I had a very hard time completing the Paso de Lagarto jump when I did it.) The map does pretty accurately show the locations of things in the incident..

Oh. I misunderstood. I thought it was your drawing. First time I did paso de legato on my own (first time was with a guide) my spool was 5 ft short.

No name cenote isn't ho tul. It is very near it. Just before the end of line to cuzan nah the no name cenote can be seen way off to the left. I believe it's about 150ft before end of the line. My understanding is some people consider it part of ho tul but its actually separate. It's named no name specifically because some people were calling it ho tul and confusing people.

 

[Bent Frederiksen]

I need to talk to the dive team that saw her, when they came out. Please contact me.

 

[Adinasaurus]

My husband and I were diving at this Cenote when Amy was lost.

We are not experienced and this was our first experience cave diving. Our instructor assisted in the effort to find Amy - and many other divers in the nearby area (including the dive team that last saw her) grouped together to search for her in the moments and hours after.

We'd like to offer our deepest condolences to her family and friends.

 

[TJ Arriaga]

My husband and I were diving at this Cenote when Amy was lost.

We are not experienced and this was our first experience cave diving. Our instructor assisted in the effort to find Amy - and many other divers in the nearby area (including the dive team that last saw her) grouped together to search for her in the moments and hours after.

We'd like to offer our deepest condolences to her family and friends.

Amy was sister. Thank you for the condolences & for assisting in the in the effort to find her.
Our family is still in shock. I'm trying to find some answers as to what happened.
I know it was horrible accident. Amy was experienced, & confident in her diving, but she was always a careful person.
I heard that they might be restricting access to the cenote. Amy loved Tulum & diving was her passion. The last thing Amy would want is for the Cenote to be closed, & people not being able to experience a place of wonder in the world due to an unfortunate accident. She left this world doing the thing she loved most. Our family can take comfort in knowing that.

 

[Divin' Ivan]

I don't want to seem callous but attempting to attribute blame to another when the fatality results from a certified cave diver being oog in a cave doesn't cut it for me. We are trained to be self reliant even when we're diving with a buddy or a team. I am baffled by how this cave diver failed to manage her air so close to multiple exits. You don't run out of air suddenly. Separating from your buddies happens. In fact with certain buddies I've known you are guaranteed a solo dive. It doesn't call for staying in the cave looking for them until you run out of air. I am so sorry for this young life cut short, and for the pain of her family and friends. Learn from this tragedy people.

 

[shoredivr]

This showed up on Sidemount Diving FB page. It is supposed to be the accident report from the dive instructor who was on a "fun dive" with the deceased.
FB won't let my phone cut and paste.
**mods delete the following if you need to****
https://m.facebook.com/groups/399477463449300?view=permalink&id=1361547317242305