Our website has been down for sometime now and my efforts to have a professional redo the site have not been successful, so I am doing the next best thing… A blog and a page on Facebook.
The 2010 – 2011 winter season was full of action, many returning clients and a few new ones. I visited many new sites explored by others and was able to sneak in a few days of new exploration myself. Going forward into the fall of 2011 I am hoping for a busy season, I have increased the amount of gear available for rent and am again stocking new equipment for retail. However the biggest and best move was to partner with Natalie Gibb. Many of you have met with Natalie when you visited us at Aquanauts and many have already enjoyed a dive or two with her while I was engaged with a previous booking. I hope that combining our experience and our schedules we will be able to better suit your needs.
By the way, you can read more about Natalie by checking out her scuba diving site at http://scuba.about.com/
I will be spending the summer in Canada and can be reached via email at dennis@diablodivers.com or on cell at 780-993-3468.
Natalie is in Mexico for most of the summer and can be reached via email at nat@diablodivers.com.
Until very recently The Pit was a magical destination that only a hand full of cave divers were ever able to experience, I will never forget my first trip to The Pit and how the hair on my arms stood straight up, my mouth dropped open and I froze in admiration of the most beautiful underwater vista I have ever encountered. That dive required 2 underwater scooters, 2 stage bottles and a total under water time of over 210 minutes to complete. I still love to retrace that route, but now I can make it to the pit and back in 155 minutes. Today, for the more experienced advanced open water or cavern diver The Pit is a destination not to be missed.
A diver on ascent
The Pit, part of the Dos Ojos system and the 3rd longest underwater cave in the world is located on the Ejido Jacinto Pat. If traveling from Tulum it is a short drive north on highway 307 of 14 km to the Ejido entrance where an access fee of around $20.00 usd is required to dive at The Pit. From the entrance a rough road is followed inland for 5.5 km, gradually the road becomes less of a road and more of a rocky track to a small pull off area where we leave the vehicle. Continuing on a rough and rocky path, we hike our dive gear – tanks, weights and all 300 m to the edge of the cenote. After assembling and lowering our scuba units into the water, we have a daring jump to the water of 3 m. However there are areas that are much higher – up to 6 m – that you could jump from!
After our pre-dive safety check we descend using the wall as a reference to our maximum depth of up to 40 m. Descending through the freshwater and into the salt water a mystical island ringed with a hydrogen sulfide layer materializes. Continuing our descent through this layer we still have ambient light from the entrance of the cavern, we make our way to the point of furthest penetration. From here we start our ascending and make our way towards the back of the cavern enjoying magnificent vistas across the pit while sun beams dance on the island that we explored. With giant stalactites hanging above our heads framing the cenote opening we have the perfect vantage point to enjoy perfect viability able to see the island 10 m below us, the surface and the trees standing tall ringing the edge of The Pit – it’s difficult, but we must now make our way to shallower water.
There are no toilets, no tables no steps, nor change facilities; exit from the water is difficult along a narrow ledge and does require the use of your arms for stability and forward and upward progress. The 300 m path is rocky and rough, there are bugs and it can be hot. If this hasn’t dissuaded you from diving The Pit and you have the experience required I would love to show you this amazing dive site.
A great combination is a dive at one of the following sites:
Such an amazing dive site, though for the more experienced cavern diver. Cenote Zapote is located within the Kin Ha Cenote park located approximately 35 km north and west of Puerto Morelos and getting there is an adventure in itself. The dive showcases amazing formations known as Sprinkler Heads or Hells Bells as the locals call them, a halocline at the 100′ depth and a maximum dive depth of 130′
There are no amenities at this site.
Entrance fee: $ 15.oo usd
Check out this video from our friends at Tri City Scuba:
The cave diver course is one of the most advanced certifications available today. It is taught in a minimum of four days with a minimum of eight dives. The emphasis of this course is equipment configuration, decompression problem solving, jumps, circuits, traverses, and surveying.Prerequisites: NACD Introduction to Cave or equivalent.
Minimum Equipment: All equipment for Introduction to Cave, minimum double 71.2 cu. ft. tanks with manifold, compass, primary light with minimum of 20 watts, two secondary reels and line arrows.
Although the NACD strongly supports and encourages the four-day Full Cave Diver course, it recognizes that some students may benefit from a program that provides for two separate two-day courses to attain the Full Cave Diver level. The Apprentice Cave Diver course is taught in a minimum of two days with a minimum of four dives in double cylinders. The emphasis of this course is an introduction to jump and gap procedures and continual improvement of the procedures, skills and emergency drills previously presented at the Cavern and Intro to Cave courses.The Apprentice Cave Diver is considered a training level only and shall result in the issuance of a time-limited temporary card. Such temporary card shall expire of its own force and effect one year from the date of issuance. Upon expiration, the diver will be required to repeat the Apprentice Cave Diver program in full to subsequently dive at that level.
Prerequisites: NACD Introduction to Cave or equivalent.
Minimum Equipment: All equipment for Full Cave, minimum volume 142 cu. ft. in double cylinders with manifold, primary light with minimum of 20 watts, two secondary reels and line arrows.
The Introduction to Cave Diving course is taught in a minimum of two days and includes and a minimum of four cave dives. This course is designed to help hone those skills previously learned in cavern. New skills and procedures are taught which are needed for limited cave penetration.Purpose: To develop a cave diving proficiency within limitations of 1/6 double tanks. The course develops and establishes minimum skills, knowledge, dive planning abilities, problem solving procedures and the basic abilities necessary to safely cave dive using double cylinders.Prerequisites: NACD cavern diver of equivalent and a minimum of 25 logged non-training dives.Minimum Equipment: All equipment required for cavern, 71.2 cu. ft. tank with dual orifice, primary reel with 400′ of guideline, 2 x safety reel, additional first stage with a minimum seven foot hose, 3 line markers, non directional markers and an additional light for a total of three.
Note: This intro to cave diving course taught with double cylinders has a 1 year expiration date, you must continue with your cave training in order to continue cave diving.
The cavern diving course is taught in a minimum of three days and includes classroom lectures, field exercises, open water line drills and a minimum of four cavern dives. This course emphasizes planning, procedures, environment, propulsion techniques, buoyancy skills, problem solving, equipment modification and the focuses on the specialized needs of the cavern diver.
Purpose: To teach the safe exploration of the cavern environment within specified limits. The course develops and establishes minimum skills, knowledge, dive planning abilities, problem solving procedures and the basic abilities to safely cavern dive.
Prerequisites: Advanced open water or equivalent or 15 logged non training open water dives with open water certification.
Minimum Equipment: Mask, fins, 60 cubic foot or greater single cylinder, single hose regulator with an octopus and submersible pressure gauge, exposure suit suitable for diving location, BC with power inflator, slate and tables, knife, timing device, appropriate weight, reel, two battery powered lights.
Prices listed above are for days of training and do not guarantee certification. If additional days of training are required they will be charged at the daily pro rata rate.
Course fees include instruction, tanks, weights, certification fees and cenote entrance fees.
Student manual and equipment rental are extra. Check out the student equipment requirements, click here and you can find the NACD student manual if you click here
Such an amazing dive site, though for the more experienced cavern diver. Cenote Zapote is located within the Kin Ha Cenote park located approximately 35 km north and west of Puerto Morelos and getting there is an adventure in itself. The dive showcases amazing formations known as Sprinkler Heads or Hells Bells as the locals call them, a halocline at the 100′ depth and a maximum dive depth of 130′
There are no amenities at this site.
Entrance fee: $ 15.oo usd
Check out this video from our friends at Tri City Scuba:
Cenote yearly water temperatures and recommended exposure protection.
This is can be a difficult question to help divers with since everyone’s comfort level is different. Personally for cavern tours, I wear a 5mm full length wetsuit between June and October and during the balance of the year I wear a 7mm full length suit. Weeks where I am in the water everyday, I will add a hood or just use my drysuit for a couple of days during the week to help with from becoming chilled. Keep in mind that I dive almost everyday, so even though the water temperatures look nice and comfortable, remember your open water training where we learnt how efficiently water conducts heat away from our body.
We rent out 3mm shorty wetsuits, they are more than adequate for the majority of divers though if you know you get cold, you may need a full length 3mm plus a 3mm shorty over top. A good tip to remember is that a large amount of heat lose is through your head – up to 75% – so if your cold, put on a hood ’cause it makes a big difference.
