two italians missing in laguna dudu

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mountainannie

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so sorry to read this. Cave diving is particularly dangerous. A VERY advanced form of diving. My nephew is a dive leader in Puerto Rico and when he visited me in SD he went out with this team http://cavediving.com.do/website/ which teaches very advanced diving techniques.

I worked with a diving operation in Haiti back in the late 70's - it attracted some of the most adventurous divers in the world (since the nearest hyperbaric chamber was in Cuba - do not know if the DR has one - but that was a long time ago and diving has come a long way - lots more people doing it - and lots more instruction - the odds of anyone getting "bent", getting "the bends" which can happen both on a deep dive and on a long dive -are much less now since everyone has the decompression tables attached to their equipment)

The DR probably has lots of dive sites that have not really even been "discovered" - it is not promoted as dive destination - which it probably could be. I met a group of divers down in Pedernales - Dominican divers from the Capital- who were taking a boat from there out to Isla Beata -- and wanted the "fisherman to stop fishing" because they were taking the fish from the reef.

It was always sad for me to see some of the gorgeous reef fish being sold for eating.

https://divezone.net/diving/dominican-republic

RIP
 
cobraboy

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mountainannie said:
so sorry to read this. Cave diving is particularly dangerous. A VERY advanced form of diving. My nephew is a dive leader in Puerto Rico and when he visited me in SD he went out with this team http://cavediving.com.do/website/ which teaches very advanced diving techniques.

I worked with a diving operation in Haiti back in the late 70's - it attracted some of the most adventurous divers in the world (since the nearest hyperbaric chamber was in Cuba - do not know if the DR has one - but that was a long time ago and diving has come a long way - lots more people doing it - and lots more instruction - the odds of anyone getting "bent", getting "the bends" which can happen both on a deep dive and on a long dive -are much less now since everyone has the decompression tables attached to their equipment)

The DR probably has lots of dive sites that have not really even been "discovered" - it is not promoted as dive destination - which it probably could be. I met a group of divers down in Pedernales - Dominican divers from the Capital- who were taking a boat from there out to Isla Beata -- and wanted the "fisherman to stop fishing" because they were taking the fish from the reef.

It was always sad for me to see some of the gorgeous reef fish being sold for eating.

https://divezone.net/diving/dominican-republic

RIP
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I agree, but it's hard to tell a man trying to feed his family that he needs them to starve for some future goal.

Cave diving is, indeed, challenging. I cut my diving teeth is the springs and caves of north central FL in my impetuous yout'...
 
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mountainannie

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cobraboy said:
I agree, but it's hard to tell a man trying to feed his family that he needs them to starve for some future goal.

Cave diving is, indeed, challenging. I cut my diving teeth is the springs and caves of north central FL in my impetuous yout'...
Click to expand...

I certainly agree on the fishermen! Thought that the Capitalenos were out of their minds.
 
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dv8

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one of the articles reported the italians went for a dive in the area marked as prohibited.
 
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alexw

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I hope theyre somewhere with some beautiful chicas forgetting the days. But we have to stop ignoring dangers as thrill rushes.
 
AlterEgo

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dv8 said:
one of the articles reported the italians went for a dive in the area marked as prohibited.
Click to expand...

Interesting....prohibited because of danger? So many things dangerous in DR, I’m wondering what caused an actual prohibition sign.
 
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Stampmybook

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Curious where in Florida? I'm from FL and dont have alot of experience with springs. As a child I've been to Devil springs and silver springs but I didn't do any diving.

cobraboy said:
I agree, but it's hard to tell a man trying to feed his family that he needs them to starve for some future goal.

Cave diving is, indeed, challenging. I cut my diving teeth is the springs and caves of north central FL in my impetuous yout'...
Click to expand...
 
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santa110xyz

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dv8 said:
one of the articles reported the italians went for a dive in the area marked as prohibited.
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And when in DR a certain cave is marked as prohibited to dive one should listen! They rarely put danger signs.... and if you see one.... it has a REASON
 
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mountainannie

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AlterEgo said:
Interesting....prohibited because of danger? So many things dangerous in DR, I’m wondering what caused an actual prohibition sign.
Click to expand...


the link that I posted- to the Green Arrow divers - those guys are very advanced divers - training technical divers - the ones who go down to very deep ... They list various sites for cave diving in the DR - I assume that they have scoped out various places and have decided which ones need to be marked as "too dangerous for tourists"
 
cobraboy

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Stampmybook said:
Curious where in Florida? I'm from FL and dont have alot of experience with springs. As a child I've been to Devil springs and silver springs but I didn't do any diving.
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The Live Oak/Lake City/Ft. White area is where we'd dive in springs like Blue Grotto and Ginnie Springs, as well as headwaters of the Suwanee River. There are many caves there.

But that was back when a single-hose 2-stage regulator was high tech.

I wrote a story on DR1 about of one diving adventures...but not about the diving: https://dr1.com/forums/showthread.p...ar-to-My-Eye?p=1126422&viewfull=1#post1126422
 
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dv8

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AlterEgo said:
Interesting....prohibited because of danger? So many things dangerous in DR, I’m wondering what caused an actual prohibition sign.
Click to expand...

it's been raining on the NC a bit over the last few days, maybe some areas were marked off limits due to decreased visibility?
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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mountainannie said:
the link that I posted- to the Green Arrow divers - those guys are very advanced divers - training technical divers - the ones who go down to very deep ... They list various sites for cave diving in the DR - I assume that they have scoped out various places and have decided which ones need to be marked as "too dangerous for tourists"
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The real issue is that entire area is nothing but an underground river. The springs, like DuDu and Lago Azul, are just where it's near the surface. There are many miles of caves there.

You hate to be hard on peoiple, but it is simply bad judgement to venture into a cave without knowing what you're getting yourself into...especially untrained. Pure Darwinism.

There are two "lakes" on DuDu with a cave/tunnel connecting them. Sounds like that is not where they went, because that one is fairly simple...and bodies would have been found.
 
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mountainannie

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dv8 said:
it's been raining on the NC a bit over the last few days, maybe some areas were marked off limits due to decreased visibility?
Click to expand...

Surface weather would not have much influence on a cave dive- I would think - except for a strong storm or hurricane. Most likely it is simply marked that way all the time to prevent the "average" divers from attempting to go down into the deeper caves. But someone who is nearby might check and get back to us. I don't think that there are any sort of "life guarding" folks away from the all-inclusives who would post any sort of notice due to weather.

Here in FL we have life guards seems like every 500 ft - and a full flurry of signs - "undertow" "dangerous sea life" - of course it is the full Atlantic - but then so is the North Coast of the DR. The waves & undertow at Coson beach off Las Terrenas were every bit as strong as here in Lake Worth Fl. But in LT itself- the swimming areas are protected by a coral reef - ditto Guyacanes in the South - which makes them so delightful for swimming... no big waves... no big sharks....

Caberte is a wind surfer's paradise and I suspect the greatest danger from swimming there is that you will be beheaded by a sailboarder going a zillion miles an hour...

It was certainly tricky even snorkeling off LT after the windsurfer's discovered it. Thought perhaps I ought to get one of those Diver's Flags to tie onto my snorkel.
 
AlterEgo

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Today’s DR1 News

Two divers go missing in Laguna Dudu
Two Italian divers, 57-year old Carlos Barbieri and 44-year old Carlos Basso, are missing after going for a cave dive on Saturday, 9 February 2019 in El Dudú in Cabrera, in northeastern María Trinidad Sánchez province. The Dominican Republic Speleological Society (DRSS) said that two of their experts, Phillip Lehman and Ángel Compres have joined the rescue team and are working in collaboration with Cabrera authorities and the owners of the Laguna El Dudú recreational area. The search, nevertheless, was suspended on Monday, 11 February 2019 due to reduced visibility in the lagoon waters.

Gerge Martínez, manager of El Dudú, explained that it appears that the Italians ignored the sign posted at the entrance to the cave that warns about the hazards of diving in the cave without adequate international cave diving certification. The society says that diving in a cave requires different training than what is needed to dive in the sea or open water. Likewise, different equipment is required for cave diving. Martínez said that the wife of one of the missing divers said they have dived at the site on many occasions in the past.

El Dudú has a maximum depth of 25 meters and has 800 meters extension.

https://listindiario.com/la-republic...-cueva-el-dudu
https://eldia.com.do/aguas-turbias-a...ueda-de-buzos/
 
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