http://www.blog.glocaltravel.net/2007/10/10/cenote-diving-in-tulum-mexico/ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:28:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://www.blog.glocaltravel.net/2007/10/10/cenote-diving-in-tulum-mexico/#comment-932 Tim Day Sat, 20 Oct 2007 16:00:49 +0000 http://www.blog.glocaltravel.net/2007/10/10/cenote-diving-in-tulum-mexico/#comment-932 Paul's blog about cavern diving was well written. As an owner of a dive shop in Tulum, <a href="http://www.mayadiving.com/" rel="nofollow">Maya Diving</a>, of course I had to see what he had to say. I couldn't agree with him more when he says "I feel more should be done to control who dives here, with recent dives being a must and preferably Advanced Open Water certified. Unfortunately, the dives are open to anyone who has done their Open Water, I wasn’t even asked to prove I was certified, and no one seems to care when you did your last dive.". We always ask the question when was your last dive and will not take anyone diving without showing a certification card. If someone hasn't been diving recently and/or has little experience, we take them for an orientation dive first in the ocean and assess the divers control and skill before taking them to the caverns. Unfortunately there are other less scrupulous operators in the area who don't bother with such niceties. I wouldn't want people to assume that operators here don't follow proper standards. There are proper standards and guidelines regarding safe cavern guiding but unfortunately they are difficult to enforce and we rely on shop owners and managers to enforce these rules. To some extent it is up to the individual diver to make an informed decision before choosing who to dive with. Regarding his concerns about damaging the environment, it is a valid one also. Part of the briefing should be a thorough discussion about this issue including the use of special finning techniques. There should also be a weighting check and finning practice before entering the overhead environment, again, this is part of the local standards. Cenote diving is one of the safest activities in diving because of the standards that have been applied (by most) and I hope that this will continue to be the case for years to come. If you are coming to Tulum, don't miss out on this awesome experience. Paul’s blog about cavern diving was well written. As an owner of a dive shop in Tulum, Maya Diving, of course I had to see what he had to say. I couldn’t agree with him more when he says “I feel more should be done to control who dives here, with recent dives being a must and preferably Advanced Open Water certified. Unfortunately, the dives are open to anyone who has done their Open Water, I wasn’t even asked to prove I was certified, and no one seems to care when you did your last dive.”.
We always ask the question when was your last dive and will not take anyone diving without showing a certification card. If someone hasn’t been diving recently and/or has little experience, we take them for an orientation dive first in the ocean and assess the divers control and skill before taking them to the caverns. Unfortunately there are other less scrupulous operators in the area who don’t bother with such niceties. I wouldn’t want people to assume that operators here don’t follow proper standards. There are proper standards and guidelines regarding safe cavern guiding but unfortunately they are difficult to enforce and we rely on shop owners and managers to enforce these rules. To some extent it is up to the individual diver to make an informed decision before choosing who to dive with.
Regarding his concerns about damaging the environment, it is a valid one also. Part of the briefing should be a thorough discussion about this issue including the use of special finning techniques. There should also be a weighting check and finning practice before entering the overhead environment, again, this is part of the local standards.
Cenote diving is one of the safest activities in diving because of the standards that have been applied (by most) and I hope that this will continue to be the case for years to come. If you are coming to Tulum, don’t miss out on this awesome experience.

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