deanme
01-26-2010, 08:25 AM
Trip report for January 2010 to Tulum
Another wonderful trip to Tulum Mexico for some cave diving and exploring.
The weather in January is pleasantly cool, with temperatures around 65 in the early morning and highs for about 80 during the day. Mosquitoes were present but not overwhelming like they were in November. A bit more rain then November, but not unpleasantly so. Lots of wind. January is the month for wind, with strong gusts and sustained breezes.
Caves explored this trip:
Sunday: Taj Mahal upstream and downstream
Monday: Kolimba and Grand Cenote
Tuesday: Maya Blue and Chen Hol
Wednesday: Pet Cemetery
Thursday: Regina
Friday: Sac be Ha
All dives were solo except for Tuesday’s dives, where I had the pleasure of diving with Dan Anderson from Michigan. We had a lot of fun together and share a common perspective and thought process and would enjoy diving with Dan again anytime.
Sac be Ha was a bit of a challenge finding the house to get the permission slip, and then finding the dive site. I ended up hiring the grandson of the landowner, who not only got me through the gate, but carried the tanks 500 yards to the cenote and then down the 50 feet of stairs to the water. This was an interesting dive, that has obviously not been dove much and is in pristine condition. The cave characteristics are similar to Chen Hol, which is part of the same system as Sac be Ha. My only reservation about this dive is the cave seems to be a bit unstable, with lots of debris that has obviously fallen from the ceiling recently. But I’m not an expert on these things, so please don’t take too much stock in my opinion.
Regina was a pleasant surprise. The first part of the cave is about 40 to 50 feet, with dark walls. The halocline is at about 58 feet. Further in the cave with increased depth the walls are bleached white from the salt water. Some of the salt water rooms are very large and quite spectacular. The salt water room after the first T is especially nice with what looks to be a jump to the right at about 85 feet. I really enjoyed this dive and can’t wait to explore more of the cave on the next trip.
I had intended to take 4 aluminum 80’s into the Blue Abyss, but ended with just three, all filled with 32%. The 4th tank had 21% and was going to be used to drop down to 180 feet, but was just too tired from the previous 6 dives in 3 days to lug 4 tanks. on the next trip I’m going to take a 40 of 21% rather than an 80, which should lighten the load.
Some pictures from the trip are located at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/deanme9/Mexico10January#
dean
Another wonderful trip to Tulum Mexico for some cave diving and exploring.
The weather in January is pleasantly cool, with temperatures around 65 in the early morning and highs for about 80 during the day. Mosquitoes were present but not overwhelming like they were in November. A bit more rain then November, but not unpleasantly so. Lots of wind. January is the month for wind, with strong gusts and sustained breezes.
Caves explored this trip:
Sunday: Taj Mahal upstream and downstream
Monday: Kolimba and Grand Cenote
Tuesday: Maya Blue and Chen Hol
Wednesday: Pet Cemetery
Thursday: Regina
Friday: Sac be Ha
All dives were solo except for Tuesday’s dives, where I had the pleasure of diving with Dan Anderson from Michigan. We had a lot of fun together and share a common perspective and thought process and would enjoy diving with Dan again anytime.
Sac be Ha was a bit of a challenge finding the house to get the permission slip, and then finding the dive site. I ended up hiring the grandson of the landowner, who not only got me through the gate, but carried the tanks 500 yards to the cenote and then down the 50 feet of stairs to the water. This was an interesting dive, that has obviously not been dove much and is in pristine condition. The cave characteristics are similar to Chen Hol, which is part of the same system as Sac be Ha. My only reservation about this dive is the cave seems to be a bit unstable, with lots of debris that has obviously fallen from the ceiling recently. But I’m not an expert on these things, so please don’t take too much stock in my opinion.
Regina was a pleasant surprise. The first part of the cave is about 40 to 50 feet, with dark walls. The halocline is at about 58 feet. Further in the cave with increased depth the walls are bleached white from the salt water. Some of the salt water rooms are very large and quite spectacular. The salt water room after the first T is especially nice with what looks to be a jump to the right at about 85 feet. I really enjoyed this dive and can’t wait to explore more of the cave on the next trip.
I had intended to take 4 aluminum 80’s into the Blue Abyss, but ended with just three, all filled with 32%. The 4th tank had 21% and was going to be used to drop down to 180 feet, but was just too tired from the previous 6 dives in 3 days to lug 4 tanks. on the next trip I’m going to take a 40 of 21% rather than an 80, which should lighten the load.
Some pictures from the trip are located at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/deanme9/Mexico10January#
dean