Burntimes

Deep inside a cave is not exactly the best place to find out your gear is not delivering as promised on paper. Which is why I did another burn test, in order to check out the two light setups I plan on using in Mexico, i.e. HID 35 with TT 3 and LED 1000 with Flexi II battery. To my surprise both actually performed a lot better than expected!

	Flexi II	TT 3
HID 35	90'	200'
LED 1000	195'

With more than 3 hours of juice, I should be able to do two decent 90' cave dives in a day without need to recharge in between, or do some extended exploration diving without worries of ending up in the dark.

Luggage allowance

26/12/2007, LTU's online ticket reservation system not having informed me as to how much luggage I'm allowed to travel with, I called their service desk and got told I could check-in one anorexic bag of maximum 20kg. With a Top Bonus Service Card, costing only 40€/year, I would however be allowed a meager 10kg extra.

31/12/2007, My flight ticket seems to say I'm allowed 30kg, and that without having applied for the Top Bonus Service Card?

14/01/2008, A second call confirms that I can indeed check-in 30kg and have up to 8kg of hand-luggage, because I'll be gone more than 29 days. While that's good news, it's still not quite good enough yet. Technical diving gear weighs a lot, e.g. I had 43kg last time and want to bring even more this time!

Internet research indicating I could get a special allowance for dive gear, I sent two emails to LTU's service desk, requesting precise information regarding resp. check-in allowance and packing rules for dive lights. Hoping to get clear written answers to two simple questions, ten days later I got a rather confusing reply about my gear having been registered, together with a new but unchanged bill?

28/01/2008, Another call, another answer. This time I'm told I can check-in a healthy 30kg of normal luggage and an additional 30kg of dive equipment, besides 6kg of hand-luggage. Now we're talking :o) Heavy dive lights however must now be carried disassembled in the hand-luggage. Not only that, they must be declared before hand, separately from the dive gear. I even had to say how much they weigh and how big they are. So now my problem is that I've got more than 6kg of hand-luggage (2 lights @ 2kg/pc + 2 cameras @ 0.5kg/pc + 1 laptop @ 2.5kg). But if I read the rules correctly I think it should be possible to board with 8kg of hand-luggage when carrying a laptop, not counting small stuff like a photo bag?

— LTU luggage allowance

Every passenger has a baggage allowance of 20 kg (or even 30 kg for journeys exceeding 29 days) together with one piece of hand luggage (EU-rules) (max. 55x40x20 cm) weighing up to 6 kg (8 kg for Laptop) which is not included in the baggage allowance, as well as small items needed during the flight (photo bags, something to read, etc.). All other baggage is subject to the excess baggage rates. ...

— LTU special luggage allowance

... Scuba diving equipment up to 30 kg, belt w/o weights, tanks emptied. Please pack diving equipment separately. Light sources need to be disassembled and transported in hand luggage. ...

Dive computer

After switching on my Suunto Vyper dive computer to check its battery status, I got the long expected "low bat" warning. Not so surprisingly after 252 hours of computing under pressure during 259 dives, down to a maximum depth of 69.7m, since its purchase in April 2003. Not that I keep that tight of a record, it does that all by itself :o)


I've actually been keeping a spare battery kit (10€) since February 2006, not knowing when exactly it would demand more power. Replacing the 3V lithium CR2450 doesn't require any special tools or expertise, just a small screw driver and a bit of Fingerspitzengefühl.

boot 2008: TillyTec

Seeking illumination, I once more turned to TillyTec, maker of lights for divers venturing into darkness. The master himself wasn't there this year, but he did have a couple of shiny new insights to help his craving faithful to the next level of enlightenment.


Presented at boot were three new LEDs and one new HID. So instead of requesting a quote for a now seemingly dim old LED 500 & TT 3 set, I asked one for a bright new LED 1000 & TT 3 super set. And got a deal I just couldn't say no to (including: umbilical cable, diffuser lens, flexible video arm, attachment bag & strap, charger & plug, storage bag and a brand new LED W30 back-up light).

The LED 1000 has an halogen equivalent output of about 100W and should burn approximately 160' on my Flexi II battery. Whereas my HID 35 should last 180' on the TT 3, still TillyTec's most enduring battery pack. That makes both set-ups quite similar in output, color temperature and burntime.

Note that mixing light types is frowned upon by professional videographers, for whom similar just ain't good enough. For me however, this dual set-up is already a lot better than I'd thought possible given my budgetary restrictions and practical concerns.

boot 2008: UW-Fotopartner

One of my main reasons for attending boot this year was to get a look at various underwater video housings from different manufacturers, a handful of whom were present themselves besides being represented by several dealers eager to sell.

To name but the ones I had a quick look at: BS Kinetics, Light & Motion, Sealux, Silverfish, Subal and Top Dawg. Indeed, a quick look at their price tags, ranging from 1000 something to 3000 plus Euro, was usually enough to get me moving on without much of a second thought, nor much regret considering their rather bulky sizes and general tendency for being slightly overweight, e.g. from 3 to more than 4kg and that without camcorder. Still, there was some pretty cool engineering to be seen there.

Having casually blinked off each of the major-league contenders on my list, it didn't take long before I once more focused onto my one and only minor-league candidate: Epoque's EHS-1000HD. Its presence here at boot an unexpected surprise, as much so as the unexplained absence of its core companion, Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000.

UW-Fotopartner's staff being rather clueless regarding photography in general as well as about their own products and their prices, I would have looked elsewhere but for the fact that nobody else already had this brand new Epoque housing on offer. So, after waiting several hours for Sanyo's supposedly-on-its-way Xacti and never getting a fair quote for the whole package, I just purchased the wanted EHS-1000HD. Together with a WAL of course. But without a VPC-HD1000.

Meaning I'm now the happy owner of an ultra-compact palm-sized light-weight affordably-priced video housing (76x124x143mm, 660g, 319€), without possessing the actual camcorder that fits into it yet. Actually, I haven't even tried, let alone seen, Sanyo's new Xacti! But then, it being that one or no one... and me absolutely wanting to make a movie... I had to play or get off the stage.

boot 2008: DAN

My diver insurance having expired, I renewed it on the spot at DAN's rather uninteresting boot stand: 68€ for a year's basic coverage and peace of mind. Because, well, you never know.

Insurances make a lot of money out of peoples insecurities & worries, but at least DAN puts part of its membership fees into dive research.

Battery test

For a quick verdict I connected my TillyTec HID 35 via umbilical cable to my Green Force Flexi II, turned it on, dumped it into a bucket of water and got 70' of bright white light out of it.

Considering the battery had been lying around for some time since I last recharged it, I guess that's not too bad. To be sure, I'll do another test later on, to check whether when freshly loaded it can still deliver its specified burntime of about 90'.

UPDATE: My HID 35 burned exactly 90' on a fully charged Flexi II.

Videoaktiv

The internet is an abundant source of information, but sometimes it's just nice to sit back and read a good article printed on old fashioned paper. So when I saw that Videoaktiv, in their December/January edition, was reviewing several camcorders I was interested in, I didn't hesitate too long before dropping the 7.5€ for the German magazine.


Better yet, in their latest February/March edition, still wet from the press, they're reviewing five camcorder underwater housings!

Video editors

Apple computers come with iLife, a multi-media suite of inter-related applications, one of which is iMovie, a user-friendly video editor that just might do the trick for me - especially in conjunction with its predecessor, which offers some more functionality.

QuickTime, Apple's free multi-media player can be upgraded to a Pro version (30€) for some added functionality like audio & video capture, editing, conversion, etc.

For more advanced editing, Apple offers ambitious amateurs Final Cut Express (199€) and professional filmmakers Final Cut Studio (1149€). FC Studio is definitely beyond my means and abilities, but FC Express might be an option for me as wannabe moviemaker.

Adobe's Premiere Elements (94€) is supposed to be a pretty good entry level video editing tool, but unfortunately there's no Apple compatible version, as there is for Photoshop Elements (88€). Premiere Pro CS3 (919€), just as FC Studio, is way too expensive for me. Note that professional grade video editing also requires some serious processing power beyond your average consumer desktop.

→ Video software for Macintosh

1080i viewing/editing issue

Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000 being my number one candidate, I've cross-Googled it again and again to get as much elusive data about it as possible, finding out some rather disturbing facts along the way.

For example, it does not seem possible to view, let alone edit, Full-HD 1080i content taken with this camcorder on a Mac. At least not without some hacks and/or additional codecs (see: Steve's Digicams Sanyo forum or e.g. this Apple discussion forum).

I wrote Sanyo Germany an email asking them about this issue, but they just gave me a non-answer and forwarded me to Apple:

Sehr geehrter Herr, Wir danken für Ihre Anfrage und können Ihnen diesbezüglich folgendes mitteilen. Da die im Lieferumfang der Sanyo VPC-HD1000 Digitalfilm Kamera enthaltene Software, mit der Ausnahme von QuickTime, ausschliesslich für die Betriebssysteme von Microsoft ausgelegt sind, können wir Ihnen leider nicht die gewünschten Informationen bieten. Vielleicht kann Ihnen Apple, in dieser Sache, Näheres sagen.
Mit freundlichen Grüssen, Ihr Sanyo Support Team

Apple? Surely they must be kidding, Apple support basically consists of redirecting any problematic customers to its self-help group-therapy discussion forums.

On Sanyo's other Xacti VPC-HD1000 site, it does mention in small print that "1080i movie playback is not guaranteed" on the included QuickTime 7.1 movie player from Apple. So much for Sanyo Germany not knowing anything about this issue. (note that QuickTime is freeware and that the included version is not the latest)

So, I sure hope I can get my hands on a VPC-HD1000 soon, in order to take some sample material for further private investigation.

UPDATE: As mentioned in Steve's Digicams Sanyo forum, downloading and installing avc1decoder partially fixes this problem. That is, it enables viewing of 1080i clips with QuickTime and editing with iMovie '08, though the latter is not as smooth as with 720p clips.

Gear maintenance

Yearly pilgrimage to the nearest trustworthy diveshop in order to personally hand over my three Scubapro regulators for revision & maintenance, so as to be able to dive with a clear conscience later on.

When venturing deep into Yucatan's underworld, fresh air left far behind, it's not the time to doubt your life support gear and lose faith.

Google's search oracle pointed me to Munich, so that's where I went and found Tauchsport Manta, a small diveshop run by an elderly man, in whose hands I laid my trust. (DB Bayern day ticket: 19€)

Whereas most open water recreational divers already have a mouthful with just one set, as soon as you get technical, two sets are the basic minimum to get started. Add to that as many stages as required for the mission. In my case, at most one stage should probably do.

---

UPDATE: Having lost all trust in Tauchsport Manta after several regulator related incidents, this year I went to Gerda's Dive shop.

Here's what Gerda's technician wrote in the maintenance bill:

Bemerkung zur Reparatur: Letzte Wartung wurde Fehlerhaft ausgeführt. Es wurden O-Ringe vertauscht und O-Ringe eingesetzt wo eigentlich Teflonscheiben hin gehören. Teilweise fehlten die O-Ringe und Teflonscheiben ganz. Sitzhalter 1. Stufe beschädigt durch falsches Werkzeug. Schraubverbindungen teilweise Lose.

In short, he confirmed my worst suspicions: Whoever checked my regulators last time can not possibly have been a professional. And that's phrasing it nicely, considering the supposed internal state of things: unfitting replacements, missing parts and damage due to the use of inappropriate tools... Luckily, I can still blog about it.

Underwater housing?

Unless I get offered an irresistable Canon deal at Boot, nicely wrapped in a tight fitting underwater housing I haven't heard of yet, Sanyo's Xacti VPC-HD1000 camcorder, in combination with Epoque's EHS-1000HD underwater housing, is the only candidate fitting my bill.

However, Epoque's housing is not quite just there yet. Actually, it's not even on their website, though it was presented at DEMA two months ago. The good news is that online dealers are already offering it on their websites. Two of whom mention the end of January as expected availability date (see: ScubaCam & CamerasUnderwater).

UPDATE: Epoque Japan now has the EHS-1000HD on its website.

Voucher for boot

This morning I received a free voucher (worth 14€) for boot, courtesy from Andreas Voeltz of Top Dawg Germany, with whom I've been in email contact regarding camcorder underwater housings.

Lighting

Even good recreational diving lights, typically handheld and meant for open water night dives, rarely last much more than an hour, after which they need the rest of the night to recharge. Alkaline battery torches may last a couple of hours but usually lack the power to light up much of one's surroundings.

Cave dives in Yucatan's shallow underworld easily last 90', with 120' excursions not uncommon, especially when an extra stage tank is carried along. Meaning any light brought into that world of stone and utter darkness, better be extremely durable, robust and powerful. As you can imagine these little underwater stars don't come cheap.

Which is why I originally chose for one of Green Force's relatively affordable modular & expandable solutions: a TriStar Diamond (triple LED head) connected via an umbilical cable to a Flexi II rechargeable battery, thus allowing the heavy battery to be attached to one's harness belt, the light head small enough to be held in one hand together with a reel if necessary.

LEDs don't mind being bumped around a bit and burn seemingly forever, as in more than 9h on one charge for the above system. However, though pleasantly soft for recreational purposes, it didn't quite shine up to its promised minimal 30W output.

Two years later, at boot 2006, I got to talk with Tilly, maker of lights compatible with Green Force's. Being very disappointed by Green Force's misinformation, lack of improved models and having some reservations about their HID lights, Tilly had no trouble convincing me to try out one of his new power lights: a shock resistant TillyTec HID 35, with the halogen equivalent output of about 125W.

Combined with Green Force's Flexi II battery, TillyTec's HID 35 burns brightly at 5500°K for about 90'. Just enough for standard cave dives, but not for extended exploration dives.

So now I'm thinking of getting a TillyTec TT 3 battery pack, a 375€ investment, that should return enough juice for at least 180' per charge, i.e. twice as much as my Flexi II.

This would then free up my Flexi II for a new 321€ TillyTec LED 500. A secondary set-up able to provide an estimated 65W of halogen equivalent output for up to 300' per charge.

Fitted with flood reflectors and diffusers, I'd sure hope these 190W of combined power would provide enough illumination for some decent shootings deep inside the crystal clear water caves around Tulum.

Camcorder accessories

Even more than cameras, camcorders can be outfitted with all kinds of optional accessories depending on one's needs & wishes. In my case that list is long indeed, though reasonably kept in check here...

Camcorder

memory cards (min. 8GB, pref. SDHC class 6)

rechargeable batteries

battery charger

UV filter

polarizing filter

wide angle lens

video tripod

external microphone

headset (with microphone)

protective bag

Underwater housing

wide angle lens

red filter for blue water

magenta filter for green water

UW video lights (incl. tray, flex arms, reflectors, diffusers, etc)

Equipment scouting

Booked myself an overnight DB train to Düsseldorf (148€ return, in a 6 persons sleeper compartment) in order to attend boot 2008.

As far as I know, it's one of the biggest annual watersports fairs in Europe, and the ideal ground to get a look at existing & upcoming offerings from various manufacturers and dealers.

Of special interest to me this year are of course any affordable camcorder & housing solutions, compact & lightweight enough for underwater overhead environment exploration, not to mention extremely restrictive air travel.

Who knows, with a bit of luck I may find myself a good deal. Actually, this project kind of depends on me getting any deal there at all.

How to write a script?

Having decided I wanted to make a movie, or rather an amateur documentary about cave diving, I started to write down some scenes I'd like to shoot. And before I knew it, I found myself wondering about screenwriting terminology and format.

So once again, I got Google to spew out a heap of links. One of which led me to Celtx, a basic but nevertheless very practical tool for managing and organizing a movie project.

Celtx for example auto-formats my script while I write it; allows me to keep track of tasks & events in an incorporated calendar; lets me describe locations, specify cameras, scribble notes, bookmark relevant websites, etc. Everything I guess which has anything to do with producing a movie. And all that totally free for download!

Online flight booking

Booked myself a direct LTU flight from Munich to Cancun! (1228€ return, incl. the train ride from Sonthofen to Munich and back)

The online reservation was click easy & straightforward, but failed to inform me as to how much luggage I'm allowed to bring with me.

Flights towards America usually are surprisingly generous in this respect compared to ones bound for Asia. But, taking nothing for granted, I called LTU's hotline to check. To my dismay I was politely told I could check-in up to 20kg.

Twenty kilo only? My cave diving gear weighs more than that just by itself! In 2004 I was allowed 2x32kg, in 2006 2x20kg, and that with stingy dutch Martinair. And now only 1x20kg?

With a Top Bonus Service Card, costing only 40€/year, I could however get a meager 10kg more. Either that, or risk 10€/kg/way for any overweight upon check-in. Considering I had 37kg last time I flew to Mexico, not counting 6kg carry-on, that's not really an option. And I was actually already planning on bringing more gear along...

Storage media

Currently there are basically four storage media to choose from: MiniDV, DVD, HDD & FLASH. Each with its pros & contras. Whichever medium is chosen, a back-up plan is of course highly recommended.

MiniDV :: Mini tapes are the oldest but still very popular medium, especially among prosumers, thanks to their mature technology and ability to record high quality images, each frame containing the full picture, as opposed to AVCHD's interlacing or progressive fields.
+ best standard-definition image quality
+ mature technology
+ relative ease of editing
+ cheap (tapes only cost about 2€)
+ after transfer, the tape can be kept as stand-alone archive
− moving parts
− sequential
− outdated

DVD :: Why anybody would go for this medium is beyond me?
+ ease of use: recordings can be viewed instantly on any DVD player
+ cheap (DVDs only cost about 1€)
+ after transfer, the DVD can be kept as stand-alone back-up
− rotating disks are prone to head crashes
− capacity limited to 4.7GB (8.5GB with DL)
− multiple DVD formats

HDD :: If you need loads of storage space, this is currently your only option. That is, until affordable Solid-State-Drives start rolling in.
+ enormous storage capacity (from 30 to 100GB and more)
+ random access
− sudden movements may interrupt recording (an automatic safety precaution to prevent head crashes)
− built-in medium (any damage is fatal)
− no auto back-up solution
− relatively expensive

FLASH :: With flash memory capacities of 4GB and more getting cheaper each day, I'm sure this medium will eventually wipe out all the others. Be it in the form of replaceable memory cards or SSD.
+ capacity (up to 16GB and increasing)
+ random access
+ robust (no moving parts that can crash)
− affordable but not cheap yet
− no auto back-up solution (after transfer cards are usually reformatted for re-use)

Conclusion... While MiniDV still offers the best image quality, as Einsteiger I’d personally rather not get started with tape. It’s the past. It reminds me of film rolls and I sure never had fun with those. I know it’s not quite the same, but that’s how I feel about it.

DVD and HDD are out of the question for me: rotating disks, moving write heads and handheld shooting just don’t go together.

Meaning flash memory is my only remaining candidate. SSD however isn’t quite there yet, but it’s coming, as announced e.g. by Canon. Needing a camcorder right now though, I’ve decided to go for SDHC, the most standard flash memory card solution. As a bonus, that would also allow me to reuse my current camera’s 1GB SD cards, at least above water where I can easily swap them. For underwater an 8GB SDHC card, with about as much capacity as a tape, would be super.

Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000

Can a wannabe videographer expect to be taken seriously with a Xacti from underdog Sanyo? Well, probably not by any Canon or Sony boy. But that's not really my problem is it. Thing is, Sanyo's Xacti, at least on paper, fulfills most of my requirements. Something I can't quite say about its big name brothers. And that for half the price.


+ at 649€ it's the most affordable HD camcorder of the bunch, but what really makes it the best package deal is the custom-built Epoque EHS-1000HD UW housing for only 299€, fitting the Xacti like a glove!
+ camcorder (55x90x113mm, 311g) & housing (195x124x186mm, 720g) both are super compact and together weigh just about 1kg!
+ the Xacti can record in Full-HD on standard SD/SDHC cards of up to 8GB, good for 1h25' of 1920x1080i/60fps video
+ decent low light performance judging from Videoaktiv's test shots, thanks to a relatively large 1/2.5" CMOS sensor
+ 4MP photos (more with interpolation, less while filming)
+ 1cm macro!
+ EIS*, while not as good as OIS*, it's better than nothing
+ 285° rotatable 2.7" widescreen TFT LCD
+ microphone & headset mini-jacks (resp. 2.5 & 3.5mm)
+ accessory-shoe
+ pop-up flash for photography
+ IR remote control
+ decent battery life of up to 120' of video or about 340 photos
+ the housing allows full control of the camcorder's settings and clear viewing of the camcorder's LCD!

Of course, everything just ain't peachy and sweet...

− MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression, while very space efficient, can not quite match the image quality of HDV, nor its relative ease of editing
− editing actually may pose some serious problems: besides requiring a lot more processing power, not all video players, let alone editing tools, support all the possible compression methods
− the 10x zoom reportedly isn't very smooth
− narrow lens equivalent to a 38mm objective for photos and 50mm objective for videos, but at least x0.4 & x0.7 wide angle conversion lenses are available, besides a x1.6 tele, and more importantly, a x0.56 UW WAL for the housing
− no OIS*
− no video light


− the housing is only rated to -45m, which, though it should be enough, won't let me do any deep dives with it

JVC Everio GZ-HD7

Fujinon 10x zoom with OIS. Three 570KB 1/5" CCD sensors. 60GB HDD good for 5h of Full-HD recording in MPEG-2 format, plus SDHC card slot should more be needed. 2.8" widescreen LCD. 750g for 1099€.


There are currently two housings to choose from for this camcorder: Ikelite's #6015.7, rated to -60m, for about 1100€ and BS Kinetics' 2.2kg Sonoran, rated to -80m, for 1499€ (shown below).


→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by Camcorderinfo
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by Tech.co.uk (Best buy: 5/5)
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 review by TrustedReviews (8/10)
→ JVC Everio GZ-HD7 test shots by Videoaktiv (72/100)

Sony HDR-SR8

Carl Zeiss 10x zoom objective with Super SteadyShot OIS. One 3.2MB 1/2.9" CMOS sensor recording HD videos to a 100GB HDD and photos to a proprietary Memory Stick Duo. AVCHD (HD) and MPEG2 (SD) support. Super NightShot Infrared System. Tele Macro. A pretty impressive feature array indeed, but definitely not cheap at 1299€. For only 1149€ though, you can get the HDR-SR7, with a smaller 60GB HDD.


UW housing wise, Top Dawg Germany seems to offer the best deals for this Sony camcorder, be it the Top Dawg II or Mini at 899€ (shown below) or the brand new Top Dawg III at 949€ (without monitor!). Not cheap either, but then, these housings can be used with various Sony camcorder models, supposedly also future ones...


→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by PC PRO (Recommended: 5/6)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by Tech.co.uk (Best buy: 5/5)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 review by TrustedReviews (Recommended: 8/10)
→ Sony HDR-SR8 test shots by Videoaktiv (71/100)

NOTE: Sony also has a purely flash memory based camcorder, the HDR-CX7, which records to Sony's like-no-other Memory Stick PRO Duo. This proprietary approach, also seen in Sony's non-standard AIS*, while not bad per se, is enough reason for me to look elsewhere.

Sony HDR-HC7

Used by Andreas Voeltz of Top Dawg Germany, this supposedly popular HDV camcorder alas stores to soon-to-be-forgotten mini tapes. Worse, its low-light performance apparently ain't too bright. At 899€ I'd expect better from Sony's contender against Canon's HV20 in the last days of the MiniDV battle.


On the other hand, there're plenty of UW housings to choose from for this one: Amphibico, BS Kinetics, Ikelight, Light & Motion, Sealux, silverfish, Top Dawg, etc all have one or more models to suit almost any budget from 350 to 3000€. The cheap one's a no go though.

Shown here is a typical polycarbonate UW housing from Ikelite, #6039.07 for about 1000€. An hinged external mirror on the left side of the housing allows viewing of the camcorder's LCD.


→ Sony HDR-HC7 review by Camcorderinfo
→ Sony HDR-HC7 review by SimplyDV (4/5)
→ Sony HDR-HC7 test shots by Videoaktiv (71/100)

UPDATE: The HC9, Sony's new player in the HDV game, is on its way.

Panasonic HDC-SD5

Leica 10x zoom objective with OIS. Three 520KB 1/6" CCD sensors recording Full-HD videos of 1920x1080 pixel directly to SD/SDHC flash memory cards. All that and some for only 699€.


However, without an UW housing there's not much to consider.

→ Panasonic HDC-SD5 review by SimplyDV (5/5)
→ Panasonic HDC-SD5 review by Tech.co.uk (Recommended: 4/5)
→ Panasonic HDC-SD5 review by TrustedReviews (8/10)
→ Panasonic HDC-SD5 test shots by Videoaktiv (66/100)

UPDATE: Sealux has a fairly compact universal housing for all Panasonic camcorders that are equipped with a chinch, plug switch or 10polar monitor exit. SRP 1880€ plus accessories.

Canon HG10

Canon's first AVCHD 40GB HDD camcorder compares favorably to the HV20, its HDV cousin, besting it even in build & handling, but, digital compression having its price, it can't quite match it in image quality. Price tag: 949€.


Alas, as good as this one looks & sounds, there's no UW housing yet.

→ Canon HG10 review by Camcorderinfo
→ Canon HG10 review by SimplyDV (5/5)
→ Canon HG10 review by TrustedReviews (Recommended: 9/10)
→ Canon HG10 test shots by Videoaktiv (72/100)

UPDATE: Even better, Canon has announced its first two AVCHD flash memory camcorders, the HF10 (RSP 1299€) with 16GB internal flash memory as well as a SDHC slot, and the HF100 (RSP 1099€) with SDHC slot only. Both are expected to be available from April 2008.

Canon HV20

Probably one of the best HDV consumer camcorders to be had at the moment and very competively priced at 799€. Unfortunately it records to mini tapes, which though cheap & fairly reliable, I'd really rather not start with, as it's a medium of the past at the end of its lifecycle.


The only UW housing I know of is Ikelite's #6071. At nearly 1000€, not really cheap for a polycarbonate housing, even though rated to -60m. Nor what I'd call a travel light solution at around 4kg including camcorder, but without any of the inevitable accessories.

→ Canon HV20 review by Camcorderinfo
→ Canon HV20 review by SimplyDV (5/5)
→ Canon HV20 review by TrustedReviews (Recommended: 9/10)
→ Canon HV20 test shots by Videoaktiv (71/100)
→ Canon HV20 report by Wofgang Winne (in German)

UPDATE: Canon has announced its next HDV model, the HV30.

Camcorder quest

Having a wish is one thing. Finding the right gear to realize it another. Thanks to Google however, I quickly gathered way more suggestions and contradicting opinions than I could process, but eventually also a short list of candidates for the job at hand.

My requirements, as usual, are pretty basic:

Camcorder
• affordable
• compact & lightweight
• robust recording medium, e.g. SSD* or SD|SDHC memory cards
• high resolution video, i.e. good enough for full screen viewing
• decent low-light performance
• easily editable video format
• decent simultaneous photo capabilities (min. 3MB, preferably 5MB)
• wide angle objective with powerful zoom (min. 10x)
• macro setting
• OIS*
• large LCD monitor
• microphone & headset jack
• hot-shoe
• long battery life

Underwater housing
• affordable
• compact, lightweight & robust
• full control of the camcorder's settings
• clear viewing of the camcorder's LCD
• depth rating of -60m

Camera specs: Sea&Sea DX8000G

☆ RICOH CAPLIO GX8 digital compact camera

Sensor

• 1/1.8" 8MP CCD

• photo: 3264 x 2448 pixel (4:3) • video: 320 x 240 pixel (30fps, 4:3)

• ISO: auto or manual from 64 up to 1600

• WB: auto, daylight, overcast, tungsten, fluorescent, manual

Lens

• 3x optical zoom • equivalent to 28-85mm

• aperture: F2.5 (wide) - F4.3 (tele)

• focus: from 30cm to infinite (wide) & down to 1cm (macro)

• shutter: 30-1/2000s (photo), 1/30-1/2000 (video)

Storage

• 26MB built-in memory

• MMC or SD memory card up to 1GB

Formats

• photo: JPEG or TIFF

• video: AVI

• audio: WAV

Features

• 1.8" TFT LCD (130'000 pixels)

• built-in microphone

• built-in flash

• hot shoe

• easy connectivity via USB cable

Size & Weight

• W:114 x D:29 x H:58mm

• 261g (incl. 2xAA batteries & SD card)

☆ SEA&SEA DX8000G underwater housing

Features

• access to all the camera's functions & settings

• clear view of the camera's LCD

• rated to -55m

Size & Weight

• polycarbonate

• W:150 x D:103 x H:95mm

• 450g (dry)

Recording memories

Two years ago I got to try out my Sea&Sea DX8000G digital compact camera (shown below) fitted with 0.6x WAL in Yucatan's cenotes, using only the light of my TillyTec HID 35 with flood reflector.


Not surprisingly, whereas 125W (halogen equivalent) is pretty bright for the human eye, it's barely sufficient for snapshot photography in the absolute darkness of an underwater cave. Still, I managed to take a few halfway decent photos, good enough for my travel journal.

Photography being hardly feasible, I switched to shooting videoclips in stead, a less demanding more forgiving art when it comes to lighting.

These 320x240 30fps low-res clips made me conscious of videography's power to record not just a nicely framed two dimensional moment in time, but a more realistic experience, potentially giving captivated viewers the sensation of being there themselves.

Which is exactly what I'd like to do this time around: To record high resolution live memories of cave diving in Yucatan.

Planning

After having sent out several inquiries into cyberspace, today I already got the first replies from Villa Matisse and Xibalba dive center. I know both from my last stay in Tulum and they're each my first choice for respectively homelike accomodation and professional dive support.

Whereas February is already fully booked, the good news is that Señora Lourdes still has a studio available for me in March & April, at 150$/week - almost twice as much as 2 years ago, but still a lot cheaper than staying at the beach or elsewhere in town.

Robbie's wife Aneke also sent me a relatively good deal price-wise regarding cave diving: 20 cave dives at 75$/dive, in stead of the listed 120$/dive. That's excluding cenote entrance fees at about 10$/dive, 15$/stage and 7$/tank for nitrox 32.

Let's go diving!

I don't remember exactly when I decided to go diving again... except that it occured shortly after my voluntary, though therefor not less traumatic separation from my newly acquired iMac?

South-East Asia, as much as I like it there, just wouldn't do this time. South Africa, always again a possible candidate for its big animal encounters, for some reason never quite makes it to my final selection. Antarctica, without a doubt the most extreme destination on my wishing list, already got scrapped several months ago due to lack of space for crazy divers onboard the Russian ice-breaker.

After some target hunting, my attention quickly focused & zoomed upon Central America. Action packed diving with sharks or some more adventurous cave diving? Tough choice. In the Bahamas however, both are possible. And, while researching the cave diving scene there, I got within just a few clicks of booking a caged diving & snorkeling with dolphins trip with Shark Diver. Almost.

The Bahamas are gringo land (read: big dollar), so any stay there would have to be kept as short as possible due to the unfavorable dive vs living cost ratio. However, that's kind of hard to accomplish due to the logistics involved with cave diving on two different islands*. So, just as with cave diving in Brazil, this one got classified as an option to be remembered for some future trip.

Besides, who wants to be confined behind bars when there are uncaged alternatives? Or even more thrilling great encounters...

Anyways, the Bahamas temporarily postponed, my choice once more fell upon Yucatan's amazing underwater caves. This time with a special project in mind! That is, if I can get the gear together.

* Cave diving in the Bahamas can be organised by Cristina Zenato from UNEXSO in Freeport on Grand Bahama or Brian Kakuk from Bahamas Underground in Marsh Harbour on Abaco.

Tulum pueblo

Cave(rn) dive in Dream Gate

Dreams don't come cheap. There's a steep 250 Pesos entrance fee, to be paid at Hidden World. And we're only allowed to dive this cenote because Che used to work for them.

Dream Gate is located north of Tulum, on the jungle ranch bordering Dos Ojos. It's a collapsed roof cenote, with an iron ladder leading down to a wooden platform.


We're the only ones here. With another dark cenote close by and several air pockets, it's being sold as a cavern dive. Though that depends on your definition.

The left cavern loop is very nice, with lots of decorations. Unfortunately the water is a bit blurry today, due to a higher-than-usual halocline. It doesn't prevent me from shooting a six minutes video-clip sequence though!


Mid-way the right cavern loop Che closes the gap to a cave line which we follow for a short while before turning around.

Back in the cenote we circle it and do the left cavern loop once again in the other direction. Besides a cave fish I also spotted some pretty big cenote shrimps.

Cave dive in Bob Zoot

Bob Zoot is Maya and means "swimming bat". Can bats swim? Well, actually they can, as witnessed by yours truly. Sometimes when they drop from the ceiling, they take a plunge into the water. Not because they want to, but because they did not manage to take flight in time. They then quickly flap over the water's surface to the nearest wall. Believe it or not.


Bob Zoot is the bat shit cenote I mentioned yesterday that Che is exploring. A privilege really to be one of the first five or so to dive it. The bat shit is not as bad as told. We only have to wade through 25cm of the smelly substance for about 10m before being able to submerge in deeper and clearer water.

The soil is very black. As soon as we're on our way, after a quick underwater bubble check, I get to see something quite unusual: there are at least half a dozen cave fish in the dark anteroom, besides other cave dwelling species. Whow! Unfortunately, the cenote fish are there too, using our lights to hunt by without mercy.


Another sign that the cave has only been dived a few times, is the percolation caused by our bubbles. At some point the ceiling even seems to puff out white smoke. Weird.

It's a very shallow dive and the ceiling's often pretty low. Speleothems are brownish. We pass several T's, each marked by Che so as not to get confused on the way out. We come across a small earthen jar, besides a heap of debris. Way into the cave... Strange. But I guess it got washed up here at some point? Though there's barely any current now.

Che calls the dive after 39' as there's a major restriction ahead requiring side-mounts. Though he says I could probably wriggle through it.

Dip dive in Angelita

Angelita's a 60m deep sink hole. There's nobody at the gate yet to collect the 125 Pesos entrance fee, so I can take a quick dip for free.


It's smaller and more overgrown than I remembered. And it feels kind of strange and a bit scary to step in, knowing there's no immediate bottom.

Slowly I let out the air from my wings, hugging the wall so as to keep a visual reference.

Big rough stalactites loom out of the darkness. Around 18m, my eyes adjusted to the twilight, branches appear in the middle of the sink hole, followed by the island in the mist.


I stabilize at 30m, just above the sulphurous cloud, circling the island for some quick snapshots. It's a bit too early still for the sun to shine all the way down. But hey, I got to take a look.

Time to ascend again. Che is waiting in the car for a real cave dive.

Cave dive in Chan Hol

We're heading south again this morning. A good way past cenote Cristal but before cenote Angelita, there're a couple of cenotes located not far off the road. Che is exploring one of them.

In order to get in you have to plough yourself through half a meter of bat shit. Small price to pay to go where nobody else has gone before :o) However, we're not diving that smelly cenote today, but walk off to Chan Hol in stead. A short march from the parking spot along highway 307.


Just a couple of meters into the jungle is yet another crack hole in the earth's crust. No entrance fee. It's a rather tight squeeze through to get in, but the cave immediately opens up in a black soil room, where we go left at the T and again left at another T 5' later. A short-cut according to Che.


At first we dive through a tunnel like passage, which later on widens out in vast decorated rooms with some pretty tick columns here and there. A real dungeon cave. Where you get a bit of everything.

I call the dive after 46', as I've pretty much reached 1/3 of my air and 1/2 of my light's burntime.


Back in the entrance room, Che shows me two clay jars. Who knows how long they've been lying there...

A very enjoyable 84' dive. And as usual there're plenty of side jumps for more.

Cave dive in Dos Ojos

While I've guided open water divers in Dos Ojos (entrance: 80 Pesos) quite a few times in the past for cavern tours, I can't remember ever having dived the cave system here...

But today I get the chance to do just that, with Che, who knows the system pretty well as he used to work as a guide for Hidden Worlds.

Dos Ojos has turned into a real tourist circus, with people crawling and splashing everywhere. What a contrast with yesterday!


Luckily we're off to a rarely dived downstream passage off the Green room and soon leave all the daylight bound recreational divers behind.


It's a shallow dive following a string of various cenotes, some partially open to the sky, some with just a small chimney through which sunlight shafts pour in, and several dark air chambers.

We surface in one of the cenotes for a quick peek around. A monkey is making wooping sounds somewhere. Bats flap around. We submerge again in silence. The bottom is dark with decomposing leaves and branches. Easily stirred up by our fin kicks.


We pass rooms full of tree roots hanging from the ceiling, giving the whole dive a wild & primitive feeling. The stalactites look ancient, but then, considering their age, that's not very surprising I guess.

I spotted quite a few small (2cm) and large (6cm) cenote shrimps scurrying around or dropping from stalactites, and two kinds of cavern fish that I haven't seen in other cenotes. Nice dive.

Deco cave dive in Cenote of the Sun

It's just Nadia and me this morning, as Olli just didn't show up. Nights can be rough around here... After stowing our gear in the Dodge, we head out south to systema Naharon, where we enter the gate for cenote Escondido, but we keep driving further into the jungle until a small clearance on the left, just big enough to park one car.


Nadia steps out and almost disappears in the jungle along an imaginary path. When I catch up with her, she proudly presents me the Cenote of the Sun. Whoever named this cenote must have had a peculiar sense of humor - cause the sun can't really be said to illuminate this little crack. But do we love this kind of entrances! Super cool indeed.


The rocks are slippery and it takes some careful maneuvering to slip into the water with 40+kg of gear on our back. Bloodthursty mosquitoes are buzzing around our heads, eager to collect their entrance fee, so we don't loose too much time and quickly let ourselves sink down before running out of blood money.


Soon after descending we meet a T and go right, towards cenote Jailhouse. As expected, the passages are mostly dark here, brownish-black from tannic acid. Speleothems seem to be huddling together in a few places, but otherwise the main attraction here is the halocline located between 15-17m. Especially where the tunnel widens up in spacious rooms, the sight is quite something, like flying just over or below a lake's surface.

46' into the dive we turn around, about 25' away from cenote Jailhouse. It would be possible to do a traverse dive, but that's not our plan, so back we go. The return is against the current, and I can notice it. I only used 50bar on the way in (as planned), but I need 70bar to get out - even though the return trip is actually 5' shorter.

3m away from the surface I pause for a short 7' deco stop. Max depth 20m. Bottom time 92'.

Cave dive in Nohoch Nah Chich

I finally got to dive Nohoch Nah Chich! The name means "Giant bird cage" in Maya. It used to be an off-limits system for Aktun dive center and others not belonging to a certain cave clan. However, things have changed, and whoever is willing to pay 150 Pesos is now allowed to enter this vast underground system.

We left a bit late this morning, but Nohoch is only a short 10' ride up north from Tulum (the entrance road is marked with a sign for cenote Caracol and the Labna Ha exploration), followed by a bumpy 6' of dirt road into the jungle. The cenote's entrance is, just like Grand cenote, a collapsed roof. Wooden stairs lead to the water.

Though there's actually not so much daylight seeping in, the cavern's snorkel area is quite big, and many tourists are brought in by truck loads. A real money making machine for whoever owns this piece of land.

Fully geared up, I stumble over the rocky path towards the stairs, located on the far side of the cenote's opening, and as usual, I'm really happy to splash into the cool water. Bubble check over, Nadia leads the way in, towards the permanent cave line that starts way into the cavern zone. I'm second, followed by Olli.

15' into the dive we jump off to the left. Now we're truly in the cave, away from the cavern zone's busy commotion. Nohoch truly has some wonderfull passages. The ceiling's low, but the tunnels are very wide. Full of slender columns. Sometimes there're so many of them it looks like a fantastic rain forest. After 28', we encounter our first T and go right.

Some of the formations seem to be taken out of fairy tales. Our planned dive time being 2 hours, I had to take my less powerfull but long burning light with me and unfortunatly I can't take pictures with that one :o( Too bad too sad. We pass a big petrified waterfall. After 43' we pass yet another T and go left till the end of the line. Nadia closes the gap and goes left, but not for long as Olli calls the dive shortly after.

I've barely used 50bar, thanks to Nohoch's average depth of only 5m! Still, we're one hour from the entrance. Slowly and carefully we swim back. Most of the formations are extremely fragile and damage by less cautious divers is alas clearly visible in some passages. Total bottom time 117'.

Cave dive in Grand cenote

It being my first dive with Nadia, a freelance cave guide recruted by Xibalba, and Olli, a German cave diver, we keep it simple: Grand cenote's main line. And beyond. Cool with me, as I haven't actually dived Grand cenote's vast cave system yet on this trip.

After checking our gear and doing an S-drill, we head for the main tunnel. About 25' later we pass cenote Ho-tul and reach the end of the main line where Nadia closes the gap to the Cuzan Ha loop. Shortly after we pass another unnamed cenote. Though I remember some of the passages, there's places that seem totally new to me. Sac Aktun is truly a great system, with some wonderful formations.

Olli calls the dive, less than 10' from closing the loop. Being the last one in, I'm now leading the dive out. And of course everything's different when seeing it coming from the other direction. Nice and easy 80' dive, with plenty of air left, thanks to a maximum depth of only 13m.

Xibalba dive center

I moved my dive gear down the road from Aktun to Xibalba dive center. This new cave diving school is run by Robbie, ex Aktun instructor and active explorer of the region's many underwater cave systems.


Robbie set up his own dive center about two years ago and recently equiped it with a pretty impressive brand new and almost silent compressor.

From what I can see they're quite busy - unlike the other dive centers in town. Robbie employs several enthusiastic freelance cave explorers who know a lot of cenotes I don't, so I plan on doing some guided dives in caves I haven't seen yet.

Cavern tour in Grand cenote

Another photo dive, this time in Grand cenote. With all its white limestone decorations it's a great place to try out some shots, even though the sun's hiding behind some clouds this morning.

Cavern tour in Carwash

After drying out for three days I badly needed to get wet. Attila having a day off, I'm taking Petra, a German woman, for a photo dive in cenote Carwash.

Getting there however turns out to be a bit harder than anticipated. Halfway between Grand cenote and Carwash, Aktun's monster truck starts coughing and then just stops in the middle of the road...

Out of gas I guess? The gas gauge doesn't work so it's hard to tell. There being only jungle in front and behind us, I start walking back. It's almost noon and the sun is blazing.

But I'm lucky, the second car passing by actually stops at my hand signal and drives me to Aktun dive center. Where I'm lucky again as there's a half-full jerry-can with about 10l of gas waiting for me. I then quickly jump into a taxi for the short ride back to the waiting truck.

An empty Gatorade bottle and my dive knife come in handy to make an improvised trough to feed the thirsty monster. It's not that easyly satisfied however and it just refuses to start. Probably the greedy monster is hoping for more gas...


Opening the hood turns out to be impossible without some secret knowledge. So I can't try to pour a bit of gas directly into the carburator, as suggested by the taxi driver before he left in a hurry, fearing I guess to be asked to give it a friendly push. (Optimistically assuming I would have been able to tell which weird piece of the engine is the carburator.)

After several unsuccessful tries to get the monster to roar, Petra gently pushes it back and forth, and yes, the monster is actually lulled into a better mood and finally starts up!


When we finally arrive at Carwash I'm pretty hot and in desperate need to submerge into the cool water, for a soothing hour in the cenote's dark embrace.

Hard work...

...decompressing at the beach, trying to avoid getting: sunburned, dehydrated, hit by wild coconuts and over-stressed by another day-off's many tasks.

Deco cave dive in Muchachos

It's late afternoon when Hannes, Attila and me decide to head out for an easy -let's check out that cave- dive. Located on the Santa Cruz ranch, just before Carwash, is the systema Camilo (entrance: 80 Pesos), currently consisting of 6 cenotes, 3 of whom are reachable from the dirt track: Calavera (another one than Temple of Doom), Mud (guess where that name comes from!) and Muchachos.

After gearing up in the middle of a jungle clearing, we head for the latter, a small pool barely big enough to accomodate all three of us. But a soon as we submerge, the tunnel opens up wide and large, into a huge dark tunnel decorated here and there with big old stalactites, stalagmites and columns. Quite a sight.

We follow the main line for about 18' before jumpimg off to the left towards the Black Forest. The tunnel here is lower, but still wide, with lots of dark decorations. We continue till the end of this side line, close a gap and go right. The path gets more restrictive, and with a depth of around 18m, this is no longer a short easy dive. We'll get into deco for sure. I check my gauge again and call the dive, 45' away from day light and free air.

When we finally reach the small entrance hole again, I've got a 35' deco penalty at 3m... That's a very very long stop when you can't move around, there's nothing to do or see and you're tired from two long dives in one day. But, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime!

As the sun sets, day light slowly fades away. When Attila and Hannes exit, thanks to less restrictive dive computers, mine still tells me to wait 20'! Every now and then my body shivers with cold tremors. Time barely seems to pass. It's a question now of controlling the mind's endless spinning. There's only my respiration and the noise of my bubbles rolling along the ceiling, escaping the cenote's hold as I can not yet. Catfish start to check out my face and hands as I lay still and wait. And wait. Till suddenly my time's up and I'm allowed to re-surface as a free man. Mañana descanso!

Staged cave dive in Carwash

Hannes small rental car packed full with cave diving gear we head out to Aktun Ha (entrance: 100 Pesos) for an extended -one stage- cave dive. The objective being some video shooting in one of the more remote passages.

At the cenote we meet Steve Gerrard, Yucatan's cave guru, busy teaching two students in the art of cave diving. We take our time gearing up, as there's no point in getting overheated, splash in, do a final gear check and slowly submerge. I lead the way in, laying the primary line to the cave's main guide line, which starts way back beyond the cavern zone, in order to avoid tempting inexperienced divers into the cave's total darkness.

About 22' later, shortly after passing Luke's Hope, we each drop our stage tank, then jump off the main line through a short restriction, emerging in the Crystal Palace's lower section. Continuing past the Room of Tears, into a narrow tunnel, where we get to practice our maneuvering skills. Shortly after we reach a T, mark our incoming path, go left a few meters then immediately jump off again upwards.

At some point we find ourselves so shallow that the water turns greenish-brown from tannic acid. Formations here are colored brown too. And there're lots of them, whole armies of ancient stalactites drooping down. Guarding the gates to Dreamland. 55' into the dive we reach the end of the line. After having passed another T and probably a couple of other jumps.

We're about 800m into the cave. Time to turn around. When we finally surface it's two hours later in the world of humans. But for us, the experience was timeless.

Deco cave dive in Temple of Doom

Cave dive with Hannes for some more video shooting. And we're lucky, for we're the first ones in today, meaning visibility should be perfect. After carefully lowering the video camera into the water, we splash in ourselves, a 2m jump, do a quick gear check, then slowly descend into Calavera's dark water.

I lay the short line to the Madonna passage's main line, after which we slowly continue along, going right twice at the T's, thus performing a short circuit dive. Having plenty of air left we decide to check out another narrower tunnel too. And just as last time I also get to try out some video shooting. Hannes fully built his housing and lights himself, and the camera glides through the water almost by itself. Nice piece of workmanship indeed.

Bottom time 73', including a short 5' deco stop at 3m. That's two deco dives in a day, so tomorrow I'll be taking it a bit easier again :o) FYI: It's 30°C in the shade.

Deco cave dive in Cristal

Photo dive with Hannes leading the way in and doing the two planned jumps - twice to the left. The tunnel after the two jumps is quite nice and not as dark as the main tunnel. Most of the time we were diving right below the halocline. Pretty cool.


Average depth being 20m, with an actual bottom time of 80' (excl. deco), that means there's a relatively long deco stop of about 23' at 3m. Luckily the entrance pool is a really nice place to hang around and watch the many little fish dart about, constantly looking for some tasty morsel.


Cenote Cristal (entrance: 100 Pesos) is part of Systema Naharon, just like cenote Escondido.

Cavern tour in Grand cenote and Temple of Doom

Holidays? Not this morning. Attila didn't feel too well after a rough night out in Playa del Carmen and asked me if I could take two divers for a cavern tour in Grand cenote and Temple of Doom. So before I knew it I stepped into my old role as cavern guide, breefing an Australian with South-African roots and an American with Asian roots about diving in cenotes and leading them around in two of Yucatan's underwater wonders. Besides getting two free dives, I also got paid for the trouble :o)

Cave dive in Kalimba

It's late afternoon when we finally head out for a second dive. Hannes has some takes in mind he wants to try out. Attila, Aktun's current instructor & guide, and me join in as 'actors' and wannabe 'underwater movie makers'.

Again we stick to the main line to keep it simple. Hannes directs the dive in. Stopping us to position himself before signalling us to perform the scene. On the way back, first Attila then I get to handle Hannes video camera to try out some more takes. Quite a lot of fun actually. And for a first try the results are not too bad. At least Hannes got some footage with himself in it now. Stalagmites are great of course, but a diver in the picture always adds some perspective and a sense of dimensions.

Kalimba (entrance: 100 Pesos) is a low cave system with some tight vertical passages, ideal for photo and video shoots. But also a very fragile environment requiring a lot of caution and perfect buoyancy control. It's located along the road to Coba, and connected to Grand cenote. Bottom time 84'. After which I'm just wiped out. Two long task loaded cave dives in a day was a bit too much too soon for me. So tomorrow I'll be taking a day off...

Cave dive in Minotauro

After some driving back and forth along highway 307, about half an hour north of Tulum, being sent in opposite directions each time we ask somebody, we finally find the entrance to cenote Minotauro (entrance: 60 Pesos only).

It's in fact located right after the entrance to cenote Taj Mahal and before a new Pemex gas station. Just as with Taj Mahal the cenote lies in the middle of the jungle and an off-road car is recommended though not necessary.


Hannes and me are the only ones there. Surrounded by the jungle. Huge butterflies flying around. As there's no cavern zone to speak of, it's a cave divers only place. It being almost noon, the sun's bright and hot above us. And once suited up, we hurry to the cenote's cool water to avoid overheating.

Buddy check over we submerge and follow the main line in. There's quite a lot of jumps into other passages and one of them should allow for a circuit dive. But which one?


Minotauro is clearly related to Taj Mahal. Formations are similar, colored brown by tannic acid, some of them collapsed in big heaps. It's quite a nice cave actually, with a halocline around 12m, at some point in a narrow tunnel, giving the sensation of flying above a river.


This time I also have my camera with me. And it's indeed possible to take some snapshots using the light of my new HID with flood reflector, that is, if the subject is not too far off, meaning less than 2m away. Video-clips seem to be a bit easier to take than pictures. But I'll have to practice a bit more and check the results on a PC.

Bottom time 96', to the end of the main line and back. Not bad.

Cave dive in Escondido

I teamed up with Hannes, another PADI instructor and cave diver who'se here on holidays too, and Marco, a freelance cave guide, to go to cenote Escondido (a.k.a. Mayan blue, entrance: 100 Pesos), part of Systema Naharon. They want to do some video shooting and I follow them until they jump off the main line and I continue solo.

It's a relatively deep dive (20m) for the area, and results in some minor decompression penalty, which in my case disappears again on the slow way out. The halocline's at around 17-18m here. It only takes about 20' to do tunnel B's main line, but all together I'm submersed 70', spending some time too with the fish in the open water pool. I'm very ready now to try out my camera, so hopefully I'll be able to upload some snapshots soon...

Solo cave dive in Carwash

I borrowed one of Aktun's big van's and drove to Carwash (a.k.a. Aktun Ha) for a solo cave dive. As I know the old caretaker, I don't have to pay the 100 Pesos entrance fee. It being already late afternoon, two other groups are on their way out and so I pretty much have the place for myself.

The entrance pool is crystal clear this time of the year. I quickly gear up and jump into the cool 25°C refreshing water. After a short equipment check in the open water part I set out for the cave, a pretty good line laying exercise here as the main line only starts way back into the cave. I stick to the main line, passing another smaller cenote on the way and the jump to the Room of Tears, yoyoing up and down quite a lot having to follow the caves meandering tunnel. I'm lucky enough to see quite a few cave creatures: several tiny translucent ghost shrimps and even an elusive cavefish. About half an hour into the cave I turn around.

Switching off my light as soon as the first blue tint of day light appears at the end, in order to take in the whole cavern zone and enjoy the glory of day light seeping in. My HID light by the way gives off a pretty nice wide beam of even light with its flood reflector. So I'll try to use it like that with the camera, without the frosted glass diffuser, which, besides widening the beam even further would also dimininish the output.

Cavern dives in Grand cenote and Temple of Doom

Two short 45' dives without camera, to check out my primary gear and review some basic skills like line laying & retrieval, valve shut-off and equipment R&R.

The first dive was in Grand cenote (a.k.a. Sac Aktun, entrance: 100 Pesos), within the cavern zone. Plenty of sun light and speleothems, an ideal site for some photo trials later on. The water is slightly greenish but otherwise crystal clear.

Second dive in Temple of Doom (a.k.a. Calavera, entrance: 80 Pesos), a much darker cavern and the perfect place to evaluate my new TillyTec HID 35 light. Which indeed has a pretty powerful 125W (halogen equivalent) tightly focussed 10° beam. Tomorrow I hope to try it out with a 80° flood reflector for a wider more shooting-friendly beam. Here too the fresh water has a greenish tint, whereas the salt water, below 11m, is bluish. The tunnels are beautifully eroded, and again I wish I had my camera to try out some video shooting, but that will be for later.

Life in Tulum

After 4 days of acclimatization, I'm ready to get wet. I just set up my gear at Aktun dive center, where I got a good deal price-wise and tomorrow I hope to do a couple of check out dives.


Yesterday afternoon was spent at the beach, in the shade of a palmtree... just watching the turquoise sea and the blue sky. Other than that, I've just been hanging around town, taking it real easy, my only daily tasks being to find a nice place to eat for lunch and dinner.

As there's a kitchenette at Villa Matisse, it is possible to prepare your own breakfast there (e.g.: cafe con leche and pastry or bread from one of the various bakeries).

Aktun dive center

My old working place... Unfortunately it doesn't seem to go too well with Aktun dive center these days.

Gunni, my ex-boss, who set up the place, sold it and went looking for new adventures and challenges in sports & travel photography.

The new owner apparently didn't last long, so there's currently no dive center manager, just an hired instructor who doesn't really care about the center's future.


All that is missing is a 'FOR SALE' sign...

One of the compressors is out of order. The jeep gave up, a relic from Aktun's short exploration past, rusting away on the parking lot. One of the vans has no reverse and one of its tires is ready to give up anytime. The other van is slowly falling apart, its rear doors held together with nylon string.

But, they still have some decent doubles and one compressor to fill them. Having my own gear and knowing a handful of cenotes, that's all I need really, besides a ride. And I'm allowed to use one of the old vans (read: monster trucks) if I dare.

Back in Tulum

The journey from Copenhagen to Tulum took about 24 hours for my body. My mind however is still lagging behind somewhere over the Atlantic.


I'm staying at Villa Matisse, a 3 stories house with 6 rental rooms in Tulum pueblo. At 350 USD/month it's an economic and homey solution compared to the beach resorts. I've got a private bathroom with hot water and there's a common area with kitchenette.


Tulum hasn't changed much over the last two years. A new bus station, some new restaurants, but nothing drastic. The beach, just a short 35 Pesos taxi ride away, is vast and seemingly endless. And though windswept this time of the year, it's still a great place to hang out.


Today I plan on checking out some dive centers, as it won't take long before the need to submerge will just be irresistible.

Packed & ready to go...

Essential gear

First publication!

It sure took a while, 1½ years to be precise, but we finally got our article about cave diving in Mexico published in a special edition of DYK (Rejsespecial 2005-2006), Denmark's leading dive magazine.