Cave Diving…

It is almost embarrassing that after almost ten years of living in Mexico I had still not learned to cave dive. Well that all changed on the 19th February this year. Thanks to the miracle that is Air Miles and my generous hosts at Dream Cenotes (Margie and Ernesto) I finally embarked on my first cave course. The full cave course is really three smaller courses rolled into one; Cavern Diver, Intro to Cave and Full Cave. The eventual goal was for me to be able to plan and execute dives way beyond the light zone in Mexico´s magical holy wells called cenotes.

The classes started informally and I was informed by my hugely talented instructor and friend Gabriel (Marcia to those that know him, apparently he looks like a Martian) that I would not struggle because I was an experienced diver and an Advanced Nitrox Instructor. I was inclined to agree with him, but kept my mouth shut for fear of making a complete fool of myself.

I had not dived double tanks recently and had a couple of “wobbly” moments with my buoyancy at first, but after ten mins of valve shut downs and fin kicks, I was ready to penetrate in to the cavern.  I can honestly say that being a lover of all forms of diving, nothing quite prepares you for the interior of Mexico´s caves systems. Breath taking would be the best description, but maybe the breathlessness was nerves too.

I was a little preoccupied with how I would react in some of the restrictions and confined spaces offered up in the cave systems, but found that checking my bottom timer always helped. Well at least it provided me with the comforting thought that I was only at 8 meters. You learn very quickly  in cave diving  the complete necessity to be one hundred percent focused on your tasks and your team. Not too much of a problem for me being a technical dive instructor. I used the full arsenal of my buoyancy skills to cave dive and the experience was enlightening to say the least.

My only real problem came early on, dealing with the changing visibility of haloclines (where salt water meets fresh water) made me feel a little dizzy at first, but as the course progressed this actually became an enjoyable part of the diving.

I would recommend cave diving to anyone wanting to reach for the pinnacle of their dive skills. It demands a lot, but delivers an incredible experience. What no one tells you about diving caves is the splendor of the caverns and rock formations. Knowing that you are deep inside rock formations formed sixty five million years ago and visit by only a few divers is a fulfilling experience.

I am pleased to say I completed the cave course with no real problems and made some new friends along the way. I would like to thank Gabriel, Ernesto and Margie. Also Gerraldo and Anna for giving a Mexican Rugby Federation Cap, yes there is a Mexican Rugby federation. My new dive buddies, Stein, Franco, Licho, Steve, Fubio, Alberto (the only Italians I have ever met that don´t like football).

I also discovered evidence that a good Harley Davidson riding, cave diving guru friend of mine likes to ride little girl´s scooters with 50cc motors……….that deserves a complete new blog. Carnahan I am talking about you!!!!!