I walked from the hostel to the dive shop, contemplating getting back into the Cenotes again the entire stretch. After calling the first dive early due to sheer panic and making my way through the second dive yesterday, I still felt uneasy about getting back in the Cenotes. I have an enhanced respect and appreciation for all of the cave scuba divers and cave explorers in the world, as well as a deeper understanding and empathy for the people that level of exploring isn’t for. Still, this was my last day of Cenotes diving, and I wanted to make the most of it.
At the dive shop, I met Aaron and Tara, a couple traveling from Australia, and Joe, an American from Texas. Our group would be led by Willy, the same instructor I had the day before. We rode out about 45 minutes to get to the Cenotes dive shop, briefing the plan and sharing my story of what happened the day before. Joe was an experienced Cenotes diver, but the Aussie couple had less dives under their belts than I did and had never done a night dive. I was able to explain to them what to expect, since it was so recently I had my first cavern diving experience.
At Chikin Ha, Willy showed us the route on the map as we prepared our equipment. “This site is cool because there are many fallen rocks from cavern collapses on the bottom,” he said. “That’s reassuring, the cavern that has seen erosion and small collapses consistently, sounds safe,” I thought. We entered the water, descended, and made our way into the tunnels. Throughout this dive, I felt more comfortable with the surroundings, darkness, and narrowness. The most uncomfortable thing was looking above me and letting my imagination consider, “if this were to fall right now,” or “if this collapses here, would it be death by being crushed, drowning, or suffocating from running out of air?” My mind was starting to play tricks on me, considering what would happen in the worst case scenarios. I had be disciplined with my thinking and keep my emotions under control to avoid another panic situation. In other words, keep calm and scuba dive dark narrow underwater caves on. Once I was able to keep these thoughts at bay, I began to enjoy the scenery again and be fully present and appreciate the scenery. We did one route for the first dive, and then another route for the second dive.
Overall I’m happy with my decision to do the diving. The Cenotes offer a unique and amazingly beautiful experience, but also was slightly terrifying. I’m proud that I was able to stick with it after that initial panic on the first dive, and for overcoming fear on the remaining dives as well. Now that I know what they entail, I would do them again to continue to give myself opportunities to be courageous and push the limits of my comfort zone.
Following the dives, Aaron, Tara, Joe, and I ate at the same Mexican restaurant I was impressed with the day before. We shared travel stories and experiences over tacos and margaritas, before going our separate ways. I returned to the hostel to rest and relax for the remainder of the day.