Preparing for Devil's Throat

[Turk9]

"In 10 yrs of Cozumel diving, have dove the Throat one time. That single time was more than enough for me. Hated it, was a wasted dive in my opinion. But it does seem to be a right of passage dive."


You can say that again!


I had the same experience as Gdog, and once is enough, or is it? A few nice swim thru's getting to the throat, then a black hole that you drop into on the faith in your guide, that yes "there is an exit at the bottom end". I did it with Aldora, without a light, in total darkness. What a rush to see the blue light at the end of the tunnel. However, once your out, the only thing left to do is circle around and drop thru again. Yes, a two-for. Then a long blue water swim. Pretty boring for the most part.

 

[ggunn]

Scare tactics aside...
We dove it with Aldora and their HP120s. We dove the throat, came out, moved up and bit and headed over to the cathedral, then surfaced.

Isn't the Cathedral south (upcurrent under most conditions) from the Throat? When I dove the Cathedral last May (a much better dive than the Throat, IM0), the DM pointed out the entrance to the Throat to me as we were ascending at the end of the dive.

 

[halocline]

How many fatalities can be attributed to diving Devil's Throat compared to other dive sites?

My guess is that it's statistically insignificant. If people were dying on this dive regularly, there's no way they'd keep shoveling more recreational divers in there. Imagine the liability....

I'd be interested in accurate statistics about Cozumel dive accidents and fatalities as opposed to other dive destinations. I'd be very surprised if there was any statistical indication that diving in Cozumel is more dangerous than anywhere else for recreational divers, meaning, as usual, recreational diving is a safe activity, probably safer than swimming. The conditions are usually excellent and the dive op practices that I've seen are reasonably good. (I'm sure there are some whopper exceptions, I just haven't experienced those)

My understanding is that generally accepted recreational limits are 130 ft of depth with immediate access to the surface. I suppose one could reasonably stretch this to include overhead environments where there is no chance of getting lost, always visible entrance/exit, minimal entanglement hazard, AND with a combined horizontal/vertical distance to the surface of 130 ft or less. This is sort-of how cavern vs cave environments are determined; visible light for navigation combined with distance limits. Still, as I type it, I can hear the flames starting up.

Anyhow, even if one accepted that interpretation of recreational limits, the devil's throat doesn't fit. Yet every single day dozens of recreational divers go through it, maybe hundreds on a busy day. Soooo.....I guess there are two sides to the 'danger' argument about this site.

The question is, is it enjoyable? To me, no, definitely not. And I love cavern diving.

 

[boulderjohn]

H First, you will have to find an op to take you that is comfortable with your skills (buoyancy control, air usage).

Shouldn't be too hard. The first time I did it, I found out later that a couple who joined us for the dive had just gotten their OW certification.

First of all, it really doesn't make any difference what dive op you use, ....

It matters a great deal.

In this thread you have seen people talk about it as if it were a ho-hum nothing dive, and people talk about it as a really fun dive. I have experienced both, and the difference was the operator. The first time I did it, we went into it, came out of it, and went to the surface. It was a boring, ho-hum dive.

I have done it several times since, and on those dives we went through the Devil's Throat quickly as before, but on the ascent we wove through a series of very interesting tunnels before finally ascending. We were using steel 120s, and all the divers on the trips were more experienced and capable of doing the dives safely. Done like that, I really like the dive.

One should be careful in telling people what a dive site is like. Years ago I did Palancar Caves, a dive I had done many times before. The DM dropped us all at the outside of the wall, and then we all drifted along the outside of the wall the entire way, passing by all the interesting formations through which divers usually weave as if they were not there. It was the first time the rest of the group had done that dive, so they didn't know any better. Back on the boat, they talked about how disappointed they were in the site, because people had told them it was so good. I told them it was not the site that was the problem--it was the DM. Even though they had just dived Palancar caves, they really had no idea what the site was like.

 

[Dave Dillehay]

The Devil's Throat is a very boring and maybe unsafe with a marginal air supply like an aluminum 80. That should be obvious from previous posts.

With plenty of air it is among the best in Cozumel and quite safe.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

 

[nimoh]

The Devil's Throat is a very boring and maybe unsafe with a marginal air supply like an aluminum 80. That should be obvious from previous posts.

With plenty of air it is among the best in Cozumel and quite safe.


Dave Dillehay
Aldora Divers

why would it be boring with limited air, but among the best in Cozumel with plenty of air. The safety I get, but why would the quality of the dive be different?

 

[Mossman]

why would it be boring with limited air, but among the best in Cozumel with plenty of air. The safety I get, but why would the quality of the dive be different?

Because many, like me, feel the swimthrough part is rather boring. With limited air, that and the blue water ascent pretty much constitute the entire dive. With more air, you can travel down the reef a bit and actually see something.

 

[nimoh]

Because many, like me, feel the swimthrough part is rather boring. With limited air, that and the blue water ascent pretty much constitute the entire dive. With more air, you can travel down the reef a bit and actually see something.

thanks, that makes sense.

 

[fishi]

why would it be boring with limited air, but among the best in Cozumel with plenty of air. The safety I get, but why would the quality of the dive be different?

I think he forgot to mention the nitrox. With the added air time and the benefits of nitrox it makes it a knock your socks off dive. You can start at the very beginning of Punta Sur and still hit the throat at the end of Punta Sur.

 

[Himself]

I thought that 130 feet was beyond the safe limit for nitrox?