DR Underwater Cave Discoveries Article

[sskasser]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...underwatercave

[Danseur]

..look like appropriate gear for cave diving to anyone?

Single tank, no H valve, standard open water hose config, clearly poor silt technique (is she standing in this photo?), um ...light? backup light?

Very cool article...um find, but scared silly at their diver.

At least I don't see a snorkel

[tflaris]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...underwatercave

Nice article thanks for posting. Did not see the pictures at first. This is a little scary.

[DaveP]

The Indiana Univ divers do not have cave training and do not use "cave gear". They say they stay in the cavern zone..... The entrance to Padre Nuestro is pretty small.....
They are making access to the caves harder for those of us that dive there.

[Danseur]

http://www.indiana.edu/~clacs/people...ername=cbeeker

I've been considering what to say, how to deliver it, and what to suggest. My sister and many other people close to me are Alumni, so I am entertaining how to best use that to influence some reconsideration as to how they are approaching this "research".

Somebody else want to have it, please use the link above!

The people IN DR may have the most sway..., but if you'd prefer, let me know what you want in the letter!

[DRSharky]

These caves are behind my backyard, well 10 minutes away. It would be too sad if they closed it for scuba diving, I used to go there for my Sunday fun dives

[phillip1]

I have seen dive schools in the area bring OW clients on penetration of over 300mtrs in El Chicho, this is of course is with no cave training of any sort and with OW dive gear, no line to open water etc....
Every single safety rule is totally disregarded by dive schools in every one of theses "guided" dives.
Once you get to the end of the mainline about 300mtrs in there is a big dry cave and there is a jump to the right with goes into a major restriction (as in there is absolutely no way to be side by side) this leads to a series of tunnels and goes in for another 300-400mtrs more or less.
Anyway I saw a group of 4 OW divers coming out of that restriction lead by a "guide"!!!
I spoke to one of the clients latter that day and he really had no idea that was he was doing was suicidal.
This is insane and it is happening in other DR caves, there is only 1 warning sign at the moment in El Dudu on the north coast and from experience this sign alone has helped save lives as no one without training goes beyond that point, the sign was a bit far in and after a restriction so we moved it further out and it is in an even safer place within the cavern zone.
The problem here (DR) is that I have never heard of any OW divers going beyond the cavern zone on dives by themselves it is to my knowledge always on "guided" dives lead by OW instructors who have no cave training at all, if they did they would NOT do this.
The Bayahibe area cave El Chico that is used for the "guided" dives is kind of like the gran cenote, a really nice large and inviting looking decorated white cave with very little to no silt, so instuctors think it's safe to dive and take unsuspecting customers waaaaay past the cavern zone on a regular basis (not sure now as the caves have restricted access)
I have seen OW divers way back in Cueva Taina too, again way past the cavern zone, no line to open water and this cave does silt out and it has a very pronounced hallocline too, I saw a "guided" dive with 4 clients and one instructor coming back from about 250 ft on the mainline (which starts way way past the cavern zone) one light each, you name it they did it.
I have tried to motivate people here to put warning signs in all the caves but it is really an uphill battle here and no one seems to care.
It is only a matter of time before someone dies in the DR and the tragic thing is it will be an unsuspecting OW diver who thought it was safe to go on a guided cave dive and they thought "guide" "knew" what he was doing.

On another note, from what I have heard the caves were not closed due to the archeological research going on but because of vandalism, people would go in and steal electrical cables, throw beer bottles and trash everywhere etc..

[skip]

You may want to contact the American Association for Underwater Science. They have protocols for science diving and have some pull with Universities doing research. They may be able to stop the diving altogether or at least pull in the reins a bit.

-skip

[DRSharky]

phillip1 I agree with you totally.
When I came to this coast and saw what you described, I couldn't believe my eyes. But unfortunatelly some dive shops care more about money then about safety. I know few certified cave divers in this country, instructors too. But majority of the divers here have no clue how dangerous it is to go to a cave without proper training and the equipment.
I dove at Dudu lake on the north coast too, and once I bumped into some divers in the cave. Actually they scared me a bit. Group of 4 divers, without a guide and WITOUTH a light!!! I don't even know how they got the tanks, because I haven't seen a dive shop that would rent tanks, like it's common in US and Canada.
I hope you are wrong about somebody dieing here.
I haven't heard about the vandalism, but it's possible. But I talked to the guard who was by the gate and he told me that was closed due to the research. That was in July, I haven't been there since, so I don't know if it's reopened yet.

[DaveP]

Vladi,

There are places to rent tanks on the island if your cave certified... why would a shop not rent tanks if someone has the correct training and experience.

Why does your shop not rent tanks to cave certified divers?

Dave