Cave diving
I took my first training in cave diving in Mexico 1994 when completing the cavern and intro to cave course. My Instructor was Dan Lins, back then working at the Akumal Dive Shop in Akumal located in-between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, Mexico what was back then called the Cancun - Tulum corridor. I completed my cave diving course with Dan Lins in Akumal in April 1995 and finally moved to Akumal, Mexico in December 1995 to dive the beautiful Cenotes more. In 1996 I moved to Playa del Carmen, Mexico and since then live in Playa del Carmen permanently.
In 1996 was invited into the Cedam Cave Diving Team organized and led by Mike Madden who organized cave diving expeditions into the Nohoch Nachich ( Giant Birdhouse in the Mayan language ) and surrounding cave systems. After joining the Cedam Cave Diving Team in 1996 I was able to participate in the Nohoch Nachich Cave Exploration Project in 1996, '97 and '98. During that time frame I was fortunate enough to be part of the 200,000 feet / 60 km landmark in total explored cave passages in the Nohoch Nachich cave system as well as to explore various cave systems including Nohoch Nachich, Nohoch Kiin and The Pit located in the Dos Ojos cave system.
As part of my involvement with the Cedam Cave Diving Team I started to work for the Cedam Dive Center and Mike Madden in 1997 as a technical and cave diving instructor joining Mike Madden, Dan Lins and Chuck Stevens.
In 1997 under the umbrella of the Cedam Cave Diving Team 1997 Nohoch Expedition I organized and conducted deep cave exploration dives in 'the Pit' area of the Dos Ojos cave system, Mexico with the discovery of the BMB passage.
In 1997 I was invited to participate in the Wakulla II cave exploration and mapping project involving Cis Lunar MK5P Closed Circuit Rebreathers introducing me to CCR cave diving techniques which was conducted in 1998 and 1999.
In 1998 when the Cedam Dive Center was going to be closed and I was not even near to end my cave diving career I established my own independent business Mayatech with the sole support, diving and training in technical diving as well as cave diving. Deep cave diving became one of my specialties.
As a personal goal I achived the final exploration of the Chak Mool cave system which was initially started by Kae and Garry Walton. The Chak Mool cave exploration project ended with the produciton of a printed cave map that is still available today through selected cave diving dive stores in the Riviera Maya.
During the Yucatan 2000 cave exploration project organized by me a base camp was established in the town of Mucuyche and three weeks of deep cave exploration where conducted. During the project a number of scientific experiements where conducted in the fields of cave biology, water chemistry, micro biology and geology. I started to formulate the idea of opening a dedicated advanced diver training facility in terms of advanced training and advanced diving technology.
When demand put a limit on what I could do personally I decided to open up a dive store and in 2001 I went on to open ProTec Advanced Training Facility in Playa del Carmen, Mexico which is still open to this day. Additionally to teaching technical diving and cave diving I added rebreather support, diving and training to our portfolio as well as Instructor developement, evaluation and training.
The 2001 Bacalar exploration project organized by me was the first one sponsored by the ProTec Advanced Training Facility. After one week of exploration in the area of the Bacalar lagoon, Chetumal the whole project moved into the Homun, central Yucatan area.
In 2002 I participated in the National Geographic sponsored - Ring Cenotes - cave exploration project conducted under the umbrella of INAH around the villages of Homun, Mucuyche and Dzilam Bravo.
In mid 2004 I participated in the film shoot of the adventure Hollywood movie - The Cave - on location in Romania and Mexico. During the underwater shooting a CCR Megalodon rebreather was used by safety personell behind the camera as well as the actors and doubles in front of the camera.
I am an active cave diving Instructor for IANTD, NSS-CDS, NACD and TDI and teach the following cave diver level training programs:
Cavern, Intro to cave, Full cave, Technical cave, Sidemount, Stage and multi stage, DPV, Recovery, CCR cave, Rebreather cave, Deep cave, Cartography and Survey.
I am an active IANTD Instructor Trainer developing and evaluating Instructors for the following Cave Instructor ratings:
Cavern, Intro to cave, Full cave, Advanced cave stage and multi stage, Sidemount, Dpv and Cartography, Technical cave, CCR cave Instructor.
CCR Cave diving in Cenote Grand Cenote, Mexico