Deep Horizon Blog

A fantastic greeting from an Internet Cafe in Cuida de Carmen in the State of Campeche, Mexico! This oil town is on the island (key or Caye) of Carmen on the southwest corner of the Yucatan peninsula or the southeast corner of the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. This eight hour drive from Puerto Aventuras was yesterday departing at 12:30 p.m. I am here checking out a few leads for working on vessels serving the booming Mexican offshore oil drilling industry.

This past Sunday morning I performed a Puerto Aventuras WALL dive with a maximum depth of 220 feet. Of the 74 minute dive, I spent 50 minutes cruising the shallow reefs. Seven barracudas, 15 hogfish, countless tropical fish and several huge pairs of Blue Angel fish, but no turtles. I was surprised by that. In Jim’s McClure’s coral cave, the big GREEN MORAY eel was there as usual. At one location I ran into seven open water divers who were diving from one of the local dive store boats. The usual current on the wall was minimal today. The wall starts at 170 feet in front of Puerto land. I did not see any big fish, which was disappointing. The dive was great!

I returned HOME Friday, night, June 16th after three weeks in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida finishing my last three courses at the PROFESSIONAL MARITIME TRAINING INSTITUTE. The courses were – (1) SHIP STEERING, (2) CARGO HANDLING (3) ARPA – Automatic Radar Assessment Aids. This journey took nearly three years; however I did it as I completed the 18 required STCW & OICNW (Officer In Charge of Navigational Watch) courses towards my goal as an UNLIMITED THIRD MATE OFFICER LICENSE. I have five EXAMS to take with the United States Coast Guard. That will happen in 90 days, I hope.

I had a great visit on Friday evening, June 9th with Rodney Nairne and Suzie Dudas at their home in Jupiter, Florida. During my three hour visit, Rodney showed his 250 watt HID video light called the ¨Death Ray¨. Apparently, it was used during a night dive with sharks and every time a fish was visible from the light, it was immediately eaten by the sharks. We discussed the KISS rebreathers, towing techniques and other topics. It was a fun visit.

I will be teaching a SUBMERGE DPV Course beginning this Sunday, June 26th with Jeb Scneider of Houston, Texas. During July 1 – 3 I will be guiding Ryan DeSpain of Houston and Ken Astor of Louisville, Kentucky.

Have a GREAT day!

Maintain and be safe.

STEVE

stevegerrard@cavediver.com

www.steve-gerrard.com

La Costa Condominiums #103
Puerto Aventuras, Q. Roo
77750 MEXICO

MY USA & INTERNATIONAL CELL PHONE NUMBER:

941 – 830 – 1882

MY MEXICO CELL PHONE NUMBER:

(011-52) 044 9 84 127 1550

There are qualified, certified, safe cave divers constantly visiting the incredible cave systems of the Riviera Maya each year. For most, it is their first or second visit. Obviously, where exactly are the cenotes, how to dive them safely and efficiently along with trying to see as much as possible during their brief visit is always a challenge and, sometimes, can be stressful. For many, the opportunity to dive the beautiful caves with a qualified, competent buddy can be frustrating or not available. This is when considering a professional, qualified cave diving guide may become practical and useful to help solve this common problem.

I began guiding in 1986 as the first guide and I guarantee you places that will dazzle you. I realize many of the available guides in the RIVIERA MAYA are cave diving Instructors. This intimidates many people because they feel they will be critiqued, criticized or treated like a cave diving student. I can assure you I do NOT play that silly game. I treat everyone as a competent diving buddy, with respect and I make it fun with my great stories, stupid jokes and my sincere responsibilities to making your cave diving visit safe and enjoyable.

This is my PLEDGE to you when I cave dive with you.

1. I will NOT drive you around in a junky truck or van that is not fit to drive on the dangerous Highway 307. My vehicle is a 2006 4-door truck and fully insured.

2. I will NOT call a dive because my dry suit leaks, my primary light failing or I am too tired. All my equipment is in excellent condition and I keep myself in great shape.

3. I will NOT take you to same old dive sites that you have seen time again and again. I love sharing new places and superb cave diving sites.

4. I will NOT “match” you with an incompatible cave diver within our team because of inexperience or air/gas consumption.

5 I will NOT keep you at the same dive site ALL day so to save a few dollars (pesos) with dive site fees or to make my day shorter.

6. I will INSURE that you get your monies worth of seeing a much cave within a safe and comfortable dive plan.

Guided Cave Dives

Number of Divers Price Each

1 $65.00 per dive.
2 $35.00 per dive per diver.
3 – 4 $25.00 per dive per diver.

· Dive site fees are extra. They range from 50 pesos to 200 peso
depending on what cave system.

· Two sets of double tanks with EANx 32 are $30.00 for the day.

· Proof of cave certification is required such as NACD, NSS-CDS,
IANTD or TDI.

· HID primary lights are available to rent.

· Gas for my 2006 4 door truck will be charged to the individual or shared by
the team.