REGULAR PACKAGE - $ 132 USD p/p (minimum 2 people)
Includes: hotel pick-up, two tank dive in the caverns, gear rental, boxlunch and non alcoholic drinks.
CAVERN DIVER SPECIALTY - $480 USD
Prerequisite certification: PADI Advanced or equivalent rating. Minimum of 20 open water dives documenting experience in night diving, deep diving & underwater navigation.
Minimum age: 18 years
Course overview: Develop the student´s practical knowledge of the cavern environment. To raise the student´s awareness of the need for conservation and positive landowner relations. To familiarize the student with the tree direct and two major contributing causes of cave and cavern diving fatalities (“accidents analysis”) and how they form the basis of the safety rules around which this course and all subsequent cavern dives revolve.
 Our Cavern Team specializes in guided cenote dives of the Riviera Maya. We provide personalized, professional service. Safety comes first and then the fun is there automatically. Our guides speak English and Spanish, they are fully cave certified and know their responsibilities very well. We are located in Cancun and ca pick you up right at the door of your hotel.
Cenotes are sinkholes. The whole Yucatan peninsula consists of limestone. During the ice ages the water level sank and the rain water permeated the porous stone, forming caves, passageways and huge domes. These cenotes are actually underground rivers and form the largest interconnected cave and cavern system in the world. Some parts of those caves collapsed and left the picturesque water filled sinkholes in the middle of the jungle. The Mayans called these sinkholes "Dzonot" (sacred well), thus the Spanish word cenote. They were used for religious ceremonies as well as for water supply.
The rules
Cavern diving is not a dangerous activity, but there are some special rules to follow. This requires not only responsable and disciplined guides but also divers.
Most of the technical diving agencies agree of the following rules for cavern diving:
-
within the area of natural daylight
-
max. linear distance from surface: 65m/200 ft
-
max. depth: 33m/100ft
-
no restrictions (defined as a passage where two divers can't go through side by side)
-
no planned decompression
-
minimum starting visibility 10m/30ft
-
minimum tank pressure 135 bar/2000 psi
-
continuous guideline to the surface
-
maximum of four divers per guide
Before every dive our guides will give you a full briefing including the dive plan, description of the dive site, air rules, finning techniques, light use, and signalling.
The finning technique for a cavern dive will change from the classic open water kick from the hip to the modified frog kick that is actually done from bent knees to avoid stirring up sediments. For air consumption you'll go by the rule of thirds, i.e. one third of your air to go in, one third to go out, one third reserve. Our most important rule is "safety first". No exceptions made.
|
