Oside Jimc
Contributor
I thought I'd post a short trip report from my return to Tulum 12/11-12/16.
As background I went to Tulum in March and dove for a week with Bil Phillips @ Speleotech to earn my NSS-CDS Basic Cave cert. This was by far the most challenging (and rewarding) cert I have ever tried so I was eager to return to cave country to use my cert for some fun diving. Since I could not find any basic cave divers to join me (and no interest from full cave divers for obvious reasons) I decided to hire Bil for 4 days of guided diving at my level. since Bil's shop in Tulum also has 2 apartments upstairs I stayed right at the shop, really a perfect arrangement for my trip since it's easy walking distance to the middle of town and I didn't want the added expense of a rental car.
Day 1:
My first morning was a late start since I was a little tired from the trip so we loaded up and went to Cenote Car Wash to kick things off. In class Car Wash kicked my fanny since it is the site for drills like lost line and lost diver so I was a little uptight. I had also decided to use my drysuit on this trip since I pretty much froze last time in my 3/2 and my 7mm is a POS. Since I added the dry suit and hadn't been in a cave for 9 months we decided that a tune up session in the open water was in order. What a blast! I've been diving double HP100s religiously here at home since my class and boy did it show, moving to double AL80s was like having feathers on my back in the water, and the TLS350 with just the light stretch liner was perfect for the water temps. After an hour of drills we surfaced, talked it over and headed off on a dive to the spring cave with Bil running the line. We didn't get far since I had blown through a lot of air in the OW but it sure felt nice to be back in the cave. After changing tanks we went back to the spring side, but with me running the line this time. Very nice! We made it past Luke's Hope before I had to turn. For our last dive of the day we did the siphon side. A blast of a dive, now I really felt like it was all back. Back in the Cenote we used the rest of our air on more drills.
Day 2:
The second day was similar to the afternoon of the first. Back to Car Wash, a spring dive, a siphon dive, and time in the Cenote for drills, change tanks and repeat and today I ran the line every time. Since my goal is to return in the spring to take apprentice & full cave the drill time was a great opportunity to fine tune my skills for the more demanding training next year.
Day 3:
Time for something different, today was Cenote Naharon, with very dark rock it is a beautiful yet foreboding dive. Also it is a very long run from open water to the permanent cave line it is great reel practice. Reel work was my weakness in the class because I would get fixated on the reel and my situational awareness would diminish so I relished the opportunity to show the reel who's boss. We only did 3 dives, 2 on the main line, and the 3rd on the western tunnel. A very cool place but I have to admit that the way the dark rock eats up my light it gives me a bit of the willies (especially when you are coming out of the cave and the stalactites in the mouth of the cave makes it look like you are swimming out of the giant, fang encrusted mouth!).
Day 4:
Grand Cenote! Bil decided that my technique was more than adequate for penetration into a delicate cave. And what an amazing place it is. Bright, white rock, amazing formations and some very large rooms. Floating weightless through the big, bright rooms with unearthly formations everywhere you point your light was exactly the experience I imagined when I embarked on cave training. The 4 dives there made just the perfect ending for a perfect trip.
In the end the trip was exactly everything I wanted it to be. Bil pronounced my skills to be quite ready for the next steps. All I need to do is get some type of deco training at home before I go for full cave. My dry suit worked well, and the experience made me a much better dry suit diver! But in the end I will not bring it back, it did add an element of complication that was unneeded when a good 5mm suit is more than adequate. And since cave conservation is EVERYTHING the prospect to getting air in my feet and kicking the ceiling on accident is not something I want to risk when I don't need to. Plus I did find that my left wrist seal leaked pretty good when I was working the reel, at Naharon in particular things got a little damp!
My only complaint: Too short!
As background I went to Tulum in March and dove for a week with Bil Phillips @ Speleotech to earn my NSS-CDS Basic Cave cert. This was by far the most challenging (and rewarding) cert I have ever tried so I was eager to return to cave country to use my cert for some fun diving. Since I could not find any basic cave divers to join me (and no interest from full cave divers for obvious reasons) I decided to hire Bil for 4 days of guided diving at my level. since Bil's shop in Tulum also has 2 apartments upstairs I stayed right at the shop, really a perfect arrangement for my trip since it's easy walking distance to the middle of town and I didn't want the added expense of a rental car.
Day 1:
My first morning was a late start since I was a little tired from the trip so we loaded up and went to Cenote Car Wash to kick things off. In class Car Wash kicked my fanny since it is the site for drills like lost line and lost diver so I was a little uptight. I had also decided to use my drysuit on this trip since I pretty much froze last time in my 3/2 and my 7mm is a POS. Since I added the dry suit and hadn't been in a cave for 9 months we decided that a tune up session in the open water was in order. What a blast! I've been diving double HP100s religiously here at home since my class and boy did it show, moving to double AL80s was like having feathers on my back in the water, and the TLS350 with just the light stretch liner was perfect for the water temps. After an hour of drills we surfaced, talked it over and headed off on a dive to the spring cave with Bil running the line. We didn't get far since I had blown through a lot of air in the OW but it sure felt nice to be back in the cave. After changing tanks we went back to the spring side, but with me running the line this time. Very nice! We made it past Luke's Hope before I had to turn. For our last dive of the day we did the siphon side. A blast of a dive, now I really felt like it was all back. Back in the Cenote we used the rest of our air on more drills.
Day 2:
The second day was similar to the afternoon of the first. Back to Car Wash, a spring dive, a siphon dive, and time in the Cenote for drills, change tanks and repeat and today I ran the line every time. Since my goal is to return in the spring to take apprentice & full cave the drill time was a great opportunity to fine tune my skills for the more demanding training next year.
Day 3:
Time for something different, today was Cenote Naharon, with very dark rock it is a beautiful yet foreboding dive. Also it is a very long run from open water to the permanent cave line it is great reel practice. Reel work was my weakness in the class because I would get fixated on the reel and my situational awareness would diminish so I relished the opportunity to show the reel who's boss. We only did 3 dives, 2 on the main line, and the 3rd on the western tunnel. A very cool place but I have to admit that the way the dark rock eats up my light it gives me a bit of the willies (especially when you are coming out of the cave and the stalactites in the mouth of the cave makes it look like you are swimming out of the giant, fang encrusted mouth!).
Day 4:
Grand Cenote! Bil decided that my technique was more than adequate for penetration into a delicate cave. And what an amazing place it is. Bright, white rock, amazing formations and some very large rooms. Floating weightless through the big, bright rooms with unearthly formations everywhere you point your light was exactly the experience I imagined when I embarked on cave training. The 4 dives there made just the perfect ending for a perfect trip.
In the end the trip was exactly everything I wanted it to be. Bil pronounced my skills to be quite ready for the next steps. All I need to do is get some type of deco training at home before I go for full cave. My dry suit worked well, and the experience made me a much better dry suit diver! But in the end I will not bring it back, it did add an element of complication that was unneeded when a good 5mm suit is more than adequate. And since cave conservation is EVERYTHING the prospect to getting air in my feet and kicking the ceiling on accident is not something I want to risk when I don't need to. Plus I did find that my left wrist seal leaked pretty good when I was working the reel, at Naharon in particular things got a little damp!
My only complaint: Too short!
