Mexico Cenote Diving or sth else in Latin America/Cavern Diving

[Lorenzoid]

I don't think anyone has posted a link to this sticky thread in the Mexico forum:

A word to the wise on cenote diving

 

[scubadiver888]

Thank you @Lorenzoid. That is a perfect summary of the information I figured out when I researched doing cenote diving. @repat you DEFINITELY want to read the link Lorenzoid just provided.

Darrell

 

[Alexandros]

Hi,

I visited Yucatan about a year ago and took 4 dives on different Cenotes. At that point I had about 60 dives and had also completed cavern training at home. I really enjoyed the dives and I trully appreciated my training and smallish experience in overhead environment.

I do think that bringing open water divers with no previous experience in overhead environment to the Cenotes is something at least irresponsible and dangerous. The fact that diving is a heavy industry in Yucatan plays its role of course.

So, @repat my advice:

- go get some cavern or intro to cave training either at home or in Yucatan
- then go and enjoy cavern dives in the cenotes

Stay safe

 

[kensuf]

I also wonder, how many people who died on a cavern dive in Mexico never heard of this board, never educated themselves beyond what one shop taught them. I'd be surprised to find out someone read the warnings from people here and still did something stupid enough to get themselves killed.

"Trust me, I'm a guide, I know what I'm doing, you're in good hands" -- those words can lead many into a false sense of safety.

 

[rongoodman]

But you agree there are several fatalities a year during these "safe" cenote tours?

I think you'll need to provide some citations to support a claim of "several fatalities a year" on the guided cavern tours. There was a triple fatality in Chac Mool in 2012 due to the guide violating multiple guidelines and I remember hearing of one in which a tourist became separated from his group. Beyond that, nothing recent jumps out. There have been other fatalities in the cenotes since then involving cave divers or snorklers.

 

[kensuf]

First hit off google links to scubaboard about the triple fatality on a guided dive a couple of years back.

Three divers lose their lives at Chac Mool in Riviera Maya. 2 Brazillian, 1 Spaniard

I believe earlier up in this thread someone mentioned that the Mexican news and PoPo do a good job of not fully investigating (reporting) these things because of the impact to the economy.

I'm sure google can dig up more. There was one in August even.

 

[rongoodman]

I'm well aware of the triple fatality. My cave instructor was one of the guys who hauled them out. As for the claim of there being several deaths on guided cavern dives yearly, Google away.

 

[kafkaland]

I think you'll need to provide some citations to support a claim of "several fatalities a year" on the guided cavern tours. There was a triple fatality in Chac Mool in 2012 due to the guide violating multiple guidelines and I remember hearing of one in which a tourist became separated from his group. Beyond that, nothing recent jumps out. There have been other fatalities in the cenotes since then involving cave divers or snorklers.

There was one other in Calavera a year or two ago, I think. Again, a guide blatantly violating the rules by taking a shortcut through the cave zone, and then panicking when she lost a diver there. My best guess is that these tours average one fatality per year, out of what I would estimate 100,000 such dives annually. That rate is not out of line with what happens in diving generally. For comparison, if I look at Great Lakes wreck diving, I think we have fewer such dives each year, but similar numbers of fatalities. And no one is arguing that the diving practices in the Great Lakes need to drastically change.

 

[rongoodman]

I believe the two in Calevera were snorkeling.

 

[Dan]

Just be sure you take a body bag.

Even better, don't go there. Just sit in front of TV & enjoy the show. It's already too many people going there any way. They just jacked up the entrance fee to $20 in some areas like the Dreamgate to control the flow. Dang!