Poor briefing and going off line in Cenotes...

[Augustus]

How many divers were there in your group? Also was the DM outfitted with doubles?

 

[Mike]

Hi all

I'm new to these forums and have only 18 dives to my name, so I'd be grateful for an opinion from you guys on this.

I was in Mexico last week and booked a Cenotes trip with the Cozumel dive operation I was doing my AOW with (very reputable).

There was a French guy in our little group and he got a briefing in French at the hotel we picked the gear up from because our guide didn't speak French. I could get at least the gist of most of it. We were promised the same briefing for the rest of us in English at the Cenote but what we got from our guide was very patchy compared with the French briefing - the guide didn't ask for our experience, just "who's following me?", didn't warn us not to go off the line, was unclear about the light signals to use, didn't mention the 2m/6ft spacing between divers or the frog kick technique to avoid stirring up the halocline. He was about to set off from the hotel with only one tank per person for a two-tank dive until his boss pointed that out to him, and he forgot to give us our flashlights until we asked for them while putting our gear on.

This was at the KuKulKan/Chac Mool Cenote, and not knowing the history (we weren't told the site in advance), I asked about the crosses at the entrances to Chac Mool. The guide gave me a long and clearly BS explanation about Mayan ceremonies and the crosses marking north, south, east and west (vertically??), "or maybe there was some accident here". It was only that evening when I googled that I found out about the tragedy at that cenote last year. To be honest, I would have preferred an upfront explanation hence me asking about them in the first place, although I can appreciate that's not easy to give.

Throughout, our guide (who none of us had met before) seemed jittery and on edge, particularly when my tank leaked while we were on the surface before the first dive. He wouldn't explain to me what he was doing to fix it and he looked visibly angry about it, complaining that the O-rings didn't get checked/replaced often enough by the dive operation.

As a newbie, and particularly (this bit is my fault) not appreciating how little access to the surface there would be before we saw the plan of the route on the way there, I was slightly freaked out by his attitude.

The bit that bothered me most was that towards the end of the Chac Mool Cenote, we went off the line. I thought we were just jumping to another line but the guide continued on and down, away from the surface and away from the line. After a couple of minutes of trying to talk myself out of feeling stressed by this, I signalled with my light, slowly up and down, and asked where the line was (drawing a line in the water with my fingers) - he then turned round and swam up to the surface. This was to get back to the Pequeno Hermano entrance, which we'd started from.

Now, I've no idea whether it's standard to reach the Pequeno Hermano entrance off the line, but I do know that I was pretty freaked out by being led off the line by a guide I already felt uncomfortable with, and I don't know whether he would have turned back to the surface at that point if I hadn't questioned us being off the line.

Having done it, it was an awesome experience that I'm glad to have had, but for much of the two dives I had no idea at all where the nearest surface was, other than following the line. In the worst of the halocline it would have been impossible to find the line anyway - all I could make out was the guide's light. I don't know what I would have been able to do if my equipment had failed - hence the guide getting angry about the leak in my tank, I guess.

All in all, I felt pretty out of my depth (no pun etc...) and not sure that it's a particularly safe dive for new divers with no overhead experience or training, even on the line.

If you've got this far, thanks for reading! All opinions welcome...

CB

Personally, your questions and actions demonstrate to me you're demonstrating the basics of what a good safe diver's foundation will be based on, which is questioning what makes you uncomfortable. If 18 dives isn't acceptable experience to be in a cenote, the blame lies on the guide and dive op who set the standards not on a diver who's only answer to the question of "am I experienced enough to dive a cenote with you"? is "Si, Si Senor! you have a credit card, yes?"

Kudos for you for questioning the experience.

 

[Tortuga68]

...twin tank equipment failure...

Sounds like they were using single tanks

 

[Jim Lapenta]

There was enough going on before they even hit the water to see a total CF and call the dive. I agree with Tammy. I also teach my students to question me and my actions. If it makes them uncomfortable they are required to tell me to go to hell unless I give them a good and valid explanation of why I want them to do something. And even then they have the option to refuse if their inner voice is not happy.
This attitude is developed in the OW class and emphasized on each subsequent course. I taught an SDI wreck class over the last two days with limited penetration. And every dive I tried to instill a level of awareness by the student of his own comfort level and to use that as a gauge.
This dive never should have happened.

 

[Augustus]

Sounds like they were using single tanks

I am sure the ow divers were using single tanks. But according to protocol for this type of dive the dm dives doubles and there are only 4 divers in the group if I remember correctly. just curious if this was done.

 

[BettyfromToronto]

Good video

 

[WhiteSands]

As a relatively new diver myself (50+ dives), a lot of things will go through my mind in situations like this.

E.g. when the DM went off the line, I may think, do I be assertive and say no? Am I being rude? Am I overreacting? I don't have enough experience to tell with certainty sometimes.

If I follow into the cave, I know its dangerous. If we lose him for some reason, e.g. the diver in front silting up the cave floor, the guy in front taking pictures and losing sight of the DM, we're in a lot of trouble.

If I turn back and swim to the entrance with my equally untrained buddy, what if an emergency happens? We can't surface. What if there's a branch, which do we follow? I don't know how to read the tags on the line. What if we get lost? Will it be safer to just follow the DM in?

Thus I think its safer not to put myself in situations like this and agree with my buddy to just not dive in any overhead environments until we're properly trained. And then only dive with experienced people we trust until we get some experience under our belt to be comfortable diving with people we don't know.

 

[TSandM]

The essence of the cavern dives is that you can always see the exit, even if it's a ways away. If the DM goes where you don't want to go, you refuse to follow him and YOU STAY ON THE LINE. But if the line is taking you away from the light, you turn around and go back towards it. If you swim to the light, you will always get out.

 

[CatBalou]

Thanks very much to everyone who replied to my post, for the benefit of your experience.

To the poster who asked, there were 3 of us plus the Guide, and he did have double tanks.

WhiteSands, this was exactly what went through my head:

E.g. when the DM went off the line, I may think, do I be assertive and say no? Am I being rude? Am I overreacting? I don't have enough experience to tell with certainty sometimes.

If I follow into the cave, I know its dangerous. If we lose him for some reason, e.g. the diver in front silting up the cave floor, the guy in front taking pictures and losing sight of the DM, we're in a lot of trouble.

If I turn back and swim to the entrance with my equally untrained buddy, what if an emergency happens? We can't surface. What if there's a branch, which do we follow? I don't know how to read the tags on the line. What if we get lost? Will it be safer to just follow the DM in?

A deceptively easy way to die - Cave Diving - YouTube

Special thanks for posting this - it amazes me that PADI will happily certify divers as OW/AOW without giving any of these warnings to new divers.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Not so! PADI does give those warnings. Perhaps your instructor neglected to tell you or you glossed it over in your memory of your instruction. Recommend you refresh yourself with a reread of your materials.