Cenote diving without an operator?

[driebel]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice about an upcoming spring break trip to Playa Del Carmen, to which I've never been. My GF and I want to explore several of the cenotes in the area (Dos Ojos, Car Wash, and Gran Cenote Island are at the top of the list). We're wondering about wisdom/practicality of just renting tanks and a car and heading off to these sites, rather than going on a guided trip.

We're both certified, experienced divers with over 100 dives. We both dive regularly, but we aren't stupid. We're not cave certified, and we know it. I'm looking for some ground truth about the conditions in the cenotes. Are these fully overhead environments that require a cave certified guide for a prudent diver, or are they easy environments with access to the surface that competent, conservative divers should feel comfortable doing on their own?

So, folks with local knowledge, what do you think about the idea of grabbing some tanks and weights from an LDS, tossing them in the car, and heading off to some cenotes? Dumb or awesome?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[Donnah]

Guided trip. These are caverns (overhead environments). Although you are always supposed to see natural light, visibility can go bad very quickly. Over 100 dives does not make you an "experienced" diver.

 

[Frax]

Me and the GF have just come back from Mexico and did 2 dives in the Cenote's just outside Playa. It is an awesome experience and you won't regret it, but I'd say go with a guide like we did. There were a lot of people there but I don't think anyone was without an experienced guide. Our guide had to sign in at a gate house before we got to the car park, so they might not just let you turn up and dive.

Good luck and I know you will love the experience.

Matt.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I would recommend you definitely hire a dive op to take you diving in the cenotes. The cenotes are overhead environments and are pitch black a lot of the time, even in the cavern zone. The natural light could be behind you and you don't see it or the way out. It is very easy to become lost in there. If your buoyancy isn't good or you don't use the proper fin kick, you can silt out the dive very quickly. You are only open water certified with a very few dives under your belt, so you would not know the dangers of diving in a cenote without being properly trained.

I always use Nicolas from CenoteXperience

 

[Donnah]

I think that any of the cenotes open to the public for diving require a guide certified in cave diving to lead the group. There are other cenotes, but on private land and not accessible.

 

[Bratface]

Get a guide. Ours was Mayan and was taught how to cave dive when he was 15 years old by his Grandmother! You DO NOT want to do this alone. You stated you have about 100 dives and are not cave certified. Don't risk getting lost and losing your life. You will really enjoy seeing the cave and having special things pointed out to you.

Take a hooded vest along with your wet suit and 1 or 2 good strong dive lights. It's dark in there and the average year round temperature is 73 degrees. The cenotes are sacred places to the Mayans. Plan your trip to get the most out of it.

 

[Beyond_Diving]

Hi Dave,
You WILL NEED a local guide. You will not be allowed to enter without one. If you want, shoot me an email to info@beyonddivingscuba.com and we can take you. Feel free to browse through our website on www.beyonddivingscuba.com

 

[kathydee]

Hi Dave,

That's a very good question, thanks for asking. You definitely want to hire an experienced and reputable guide. The caverns are mostly full overhead and the risks are not that apparent to an OW diver. Go seek proper training if you love the guided experience .

This video should do a good job of illustrating why not to dive caverns without proper training/guide:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVmqK5YZuxM

 

[TSandM]

As vryolakas says, all of the "tourist" cenotes (the ones with large caverns with permanent cavern lines) will want a guide or a cave/cavern cert card.

There are some cenotes with large open water basins where you can dive, like Casa Cenote or Mayan Blue, but those places don't have caverns. Since they aren't very big, either, I'm not sure it's worth the entry fee to dive them (although we managed to make a 45 minute dive out of the OW at Casa Cenote).

 

[Dive-aholic]

You can always spend the first couple of days taking a cavern class then you could go and dive some more cenotes on your own without a guide. The cenotes are definitely overhead environments and do require proper training. Even as an OW diver with a guide you are putting yourself at risk. What would you do if something happened to your guide? Would you be able to get out on your own? Would you know how to?