Good point, and well made. Indeed, what are the point of guides? Well, for one, a proper guide with experience of the area would not have lost two people as what happened the other day. Remember, they didn't have bad air(?), or a heart attack. They got lost. Two experienced guys get lost. This is the very thing we train not to do. We train to not get lost, to always find our way out. These two experienced divers got lost (this was a truely bad day for cave diving, and everyone who participates). This should explain something to you about the caves in Mexico. They are very different to those in Florida, and to those unfamiliar, a guide is essential. Guides can also provide a huge array of local knowledge if they are enthusiastic about their job, knowledge you won't get from someone who does not live here. The guide can make an assessment of peoples abilities, and plan their dives better on the surface. For example, did this guide explain the snap and gap jump that exists there? Would have encouraged them to use it, or to spool the jump instead? Were they familiar with snap and gap jumps? But as you say, in many cases a guide replaces one problem with another.
The thing is, whenever I go somewhere to dive, I seek local knowledge. Do I read the magazines, do I listen to what the local media promtes. Absolutely not. To many, if not most, cave diving is money, and I don't trust articles that promote self promoters (Harsh, but it comes from observation). Instead, I have a small network of people I have dived with personally, and trust their opinion. Unfortunately, this takes time. We help each other on these issues, and it always seems that the individuals most likely to look after us and dive with myself as a team are the ones not advertising themselves as local GURUS of diving. They are the ones diving everyday, quietly getting on with their explorations and surveys, and committing their time to more knowledge, not more business.
I can only recommend that you avoid the large outfits, and seek a guide that actually LIVES and DIVES in Mexico not just for a living, but for a life. Local experience is everything. Whilst I understand that people can be experienced in diving, the definition is not clear in many areas. Working for a law company or a Fortune 500 company is an amazing achievement, but it surely must take up all of your time. Cave diving under such responsibilities makes the sport a hobby. Many will call themselves experienced, and nobody challenges it. But have they dived everyday (rest permitting) for a couple of years or more non stop, and approached diving projects as a task to be perfected, or just a cave to be dived. Have they dived 75%+ days in the last two months. If someone had a weekend interest in dentistry, I would not use them. I may certainly think that they know alot, but I wouldn't let them touch my teeth. My issue here is how different cultures have different meanings for "experienced", and some use it all too readily.
Cave diving teams always operate better in small units, and the same goes for their business dealings. If they are too big, then they will not care for your well being as much as a smaller outfit with tighter control of their operation. If the person you are paying money to is not the guide, then in my opinion, someone is being a middle man for the cash, and therefore should not be part of the equation. It is the person you pay the money to who will really give you the best there is. That is my opinion.
And egos. If you smell an ego, avoid it. There are people who have come down here to "explore", and talk about their experiences as an explorer in the Yucatan. When you actually dig deeper, you find that they were here for three weeks only. How experienced is that? Really, to some it may be, but to me, it raises all sorts of questions. And why would people want to explore when they possess neither the skills, or experience? Because people who want their money let them. Commercial exploration, to me, is both dangerous and environmentally unsound (even though this was not a commercial exploration, it was a small but well dived cave system. But it does answer your question). I would much rather dive with someone who knows their local caves really well (we have hundreds), than someone who knows little and just wants to talk about exploring. It is an ego thing, and should be avoided in guides. Down here, there are only a handful of genuine explorers (its a huge committment thing, and non paying) who collect data for the scientific community. But you wouldn't really know it, because they don't really talk about it. They are professional, and know that modesty is the key.
So, are the guides protecting the systems or just collecting a fee for access? Are they promoting safe dive plans and providing an extra level of safety or just the opposite?, as you asked.
Yes, and quite a few. And they execise excellent decision making in choosing where to dive. They know the areas really well so they can do this. But they just might not be the local divers that are often talked about. You need to be here to make your decision, and ask around. Hidden amoung the Yucatan are some genuine high quality world class divers. They dive alot for their own pleasure, and work just enough to keep that alive. What they can offer as a result of this committment to caves in this area is a quality and rewarding experience, and their approach is based on professionalism and enthusiasm. Canadian, European as well as a few Mexican and American. They build teams, and safety is everything. Egos don't work with them. If anyone in your team hasn't seen the line before, then it is as good as exploration, and should be treated as such. There is so much cave here, that you can experience it all without putting yourself at any un-necessary risk over and above the one already assumed, or threatening the fragile cave environment. They are busy divers, who keep 50% of the diary free for diving for themselves. It is a pleasure diving with someone who you know dives the caves here all the time just for their own enjoyment, many days of the month, without paying customers. They have given up another, possibly good paying life, full of security just to to live and dive the cenotes. Just listening to what they have to say about diving here is worth paying for in itself.
Do they expect to look after you like a nanny on the dive? Get real. Do they want clients to do trust me dives? Forget it. Will they show you the best of professional cave diving in the worlds most beautiful underwater caving area? Absolutely. Don’t knock the guides here. The ones who live here and dive here that is. They know what they can’t do, but also know perfectly what they can do, and what they can do is prevent tragic dive plans like this from happening in the first place, as well as giving a first class service to their customers. They are not the people who drive the truck, and pay the fees. They are the ones who not only inform you about getting yourself in and out of an unfamiliar cave safely. but make that cave come alive for you. They are the ones who aren't after your money to get rich, but to enable themselves to continue diving here for just for the pleasure, and to pass that pleasure on to other generstions in the same state in which they found it. Please, think on that, and think on it long and hard.
Apart from that, I can't help you choose. In these things, it is usually local knowledge, and experienced caution.
Hasta Luego, D
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Originally Posted by D
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