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I had a similar experiance with battery and charger in '97. I got into Mexico okay, but got stopped leaving Cancun and had to put it in with checked baggage. A comment about Vaca Ha: a picture of Vaca Ha in the Spring issue of NACD Journal shows a ladder in the "open cenote". IMHO the land owner has destroyed the uniqueness of the site. It was total disbelief when we arrived on scene, there was no water except for a cow trough. Then we climbed in and went diving. From: mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co* (Michael Blitch) >To: cavers@cavers.com >Subject: Mexico caving >Date: Tue, 26 Oct 1999 22:20:44 GMT >Reply-To: mblitch1@ta*.rr*.co* >X-Mailer: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 > >I've had several responses from my last post asking about the trip. I thought it >would be easier to simply post this short blurb in case anyone else was >interested. A buddy and I joined Connie (from Ginnie Springs) on one of her cave >trips to Akumal from Oct 16 - 23. We were planning on flying out of Miami at >about 9 in the morning on Saturday, but the hurricane chased out all the >American Airlines planes from Florida, so everything down the board was >canceled. We got another flight on Mexicana, but it wasn't until 5 o'clock. The >flight got delayed until 7 and even a bit later while the plane sat waiting for >crew to show up. I don't know if anyone else has ever had a problem, but I got >stopped at security with my battery and light pack and was refused passage due >to the battery. I tried to explain for 20 minutes the difference between wet >(not allowed) and dry celled (allowed by the FAA) batteries and even plugged >the light, but to no avail. I have flown Mexicana before with my battery, and >never had a problem. The airline customer service basically said there was >nothing that they could do, so I had to leave the battery in baggage check at >the airport. We finally got in fairly late. (Others whom were on the flight did >not have any problems with batteries on checked baggage). >The rest of the week was spent diving. We got in two dives a day at various >sites. The best sites, IMHO, included Temple of Doom, Vacha Ha, and a particular >jump at Pon DeRosa. All of the other sites (Taj Mahal, Grand Cenote, Mayan Blue, >Le Tortuga) were impressive as well. Everything was mostly shallow (max 40 feet) >except for one or two sites that dipped into the mid-70s. Even on air, I didn't >have any more than 20 minutes of deco all week. The bottom time ranged between >50 and 115 minutes for myself. All of the dives are guided, but you aren't just >taken through the big, well traveled stuff. Experience is necessary since some >areas are really fragile and have low ceilings. The temperature was usually >78-80F with only a wetsuit and hood needed at most. Breakfast was served each >morning by Connie, with the lunches and dinners made by the resort staff. It is >kind of nice to have real Mexican food as I may never eat at Taco Bell again. >The resort is right on the beach, so you can take advantage of the lunch time >break and take a kayak trip. The staff was very helpful and there were not any >complaints. Connie always went out of her way to make sure that everybody was >taken care of and satisfied. Her efforts made the difference between having a >good time and failure of the vacation. I would certainly recommend the trip to >anyone. The only thing that I heard that anyone wanted changed was that a phone >line be added so computers could be used. There are still many cenotes being >discovered, so caving in Mexico offers a lot of opportunities. I certainly >enjoyed myself and had a wonderful time. >"Four boxes keep us free: soap, jury, ballot, cartridge." >
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