Back from Cozumel (Cavern / Intro Cave)

[hydro12]

Expire? You were carded NACD Intro and CDS Basic? Unless something recently changed, these certs shouldn't expire. I was diving at the intro level for over a year before I went on. Now perhaps you got a NACD doubles waiver and perhaps that expires but the CDS recently changed their intro/basic cert to allow the use of doubles at the intro level without such a waiver. Didn't think there was a expiration on it. Don't think there would be any reason to rush to go to apprentice and full as long as you are happy with sixths (there's a lot of cave to see on sixths). Might want to double check on Deco Stop but AFAIK the only expiring certification is apprentice.

Yeah, I was certed basic/intro for both NACD and NSS. I just remember him telling me that they expired after 6 months, so I'd need to progress by that time. I might have misunderstood, so I'll look into that. I, too, was under the impression that your Apprentice only lasted for about a year before you had to jump to Full, but you could stay at Basic/Intro as long as you were cozy.

I'm perfectly content with sixthes right now and getting more dives under the belt (although if what Andrew says is true about Aerolito, I might need thirds to go back and see some of that cooler stuff he's talking about).

Btw, will your wife be joining you on a FL trip or was cavern not really her thing?

She had a bit of anxiety at first, especially b/c of the halocline and going down into an overhead, in unfamiliar territory, but once she was down there, she did pretty great. She enjoyed it, I just don't know how committed she is to the 13 hour drive like I would be just to get a few weekend dives in

 

[hydro12]

Chankanaab- has a direct cave entrance from the ocean however I am not sure if that is open for cave diving. It was shown in the deep sea detective’s episode.

Wow, that's a cool bit of info. C1 and C2 both have that entrance from the ocean? I saw on the website that Deep Sea Detectives has a new episode called "Secret Underwater Caves" coming up specifically about the caves in Cozumel. Airs on March 25th.

Aerolite does have some interesting formations but they are considerably deeper into the system.

On sixthes and only about 33 ft deep, the farthest I got into the main tunnel was about 600 ft. If it has some nifty formations deeper into it, I look forward to snagging Full one of these days and heading back to see the rest.

I had a great mess up’s- fouled the reel just inside the cavern at Peacock and then running the line caught the line in my fins straps while descending and trying to wrap the line- looked like a hooked bass. Exiting with the reel at Little River was a lot of fun too.

You guys are making me worlds better about my c**k-ups now. I was way more content to be the second person in and out, and just help with unlocking placements, etc., as opposed to being the reel man. Everytime I would make a tie-off or lock w/ the reel, I would get the line tangled around the lock nut and would have to untangle that before being able to make the lock or wrap.

Thanks again for all the congrats. It was a heckuva lot of fun.

 

[loosebits]

According to the NSS site, Basic cave isn't time limited, just apprentice. Maybe you accidently got your apprentice card instead

Btw, you got your cert list in your sig backwards... NACD Intro to Cave, NSS Basic cave

Well, for your next trip to Marianna (about as far into FL as you can get on a three day weekend) be sure to check out Twin Cave. It's a great little dive on intro as it's fairly shallow (55') and low flow so you should be able to get back to the T on sixths, about 1000'. In JB, you won't be able to get anywhere on sixths if the flow is at its usual level but it has a beautiful cavern and coming out with the flow is a very nice ride. Hole in the Wall is nice when the viz is good but the entrance might not be too much fun as it's a little snug for the first 15 or 20'. A great thing about Hole is it has an up and downstream section but I've never been able to tell them apart as there is almost zero flow.. I think they just picked a direction and said "ok, lets call that upstream" so both directions should be divable at intro - 2 caves in one.

Now the bulk of the caves (Peacock, Devil's system, Little River, etc) are a bit further in and you really need some more time to make it worth your while.

 

[hydro12]

According to the NSS site, Basic cave isn't time limited, just apprentice. Maybe you accidently got your apprentice card instead

Maybe he was thinking apprentice when he said that about the expiration - but I checked Intro/Basic cave boxes on all the paperwork for the cards. I guess only time will tell when I get my cards in the mail.

Btw, you got your cert list in your sig backwards... NACD Intro to Cave, NSS Basic cave

Fixed. Thanks for the heads up. I did that in my profile and my sig for some reason - even after I just read about them changing the name from Intro Cave to Basic for NSS.

Well, for your next trip to Marianna (about as far into FL as you can get on a three day weekend) be sure to check out Twin Cave. It's a great little dive on intro as it's fairly shallow (55') and low flow so you should be able to get back to the T on sixths, about 1000'.

That sounds like the most similar to what I've seen in Cozumel. Sounds like some fun - I'll definitely check it out.

In JB, you won't be able to get anywhere on sixths if the flow is at its usual level but it has a beautiful cavern and coming out with the flow is a very nice ride.

So I've always heard about the flow, but having never experienced it, is there a comparison? Like a 2 knot current? I've seen some vids from JB including some that you and Fixxer have made (I think) - it looks flippin awesome.

Hole in the Wall is nice when the viz is good but the entrance might not be too much fun as it's a little snug for the first 15 or 20'. A great thing about Hole is it has an up and downstream section but I've never been able to tell them apart as there is almost zero flow.. I think they just picked a direction and said "ok, lets call that upstream" so both directions should be divable at intro - 2 caves in one.

That sounds similar to Aerolito's entrance, except for the tight fit for the first 15-20'. How deep is the entrance to Hole in the wall and how tight a squeeze are we talking?

Now the bulk of the caves (Peacock, Devil's system, Little River, etc) are a bit further in and you really need some more time to make it worth your while.

I might try to do a 4 day weekend some time to get to these. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. I can't wait to hit up FL and try out "local" stuff. I can't believe with all the Karst area of Texas we don't have (read: haven't found any or don't know of any) diveable caves.

 

[Crazyduck]

Wrapping line around my hand- nope not me.
Me wrapped it around the entire spool-yep.

Best yet was me at little river 94ft in the chimney- no lights, no mask drill and Bruce points to me and smiles. So the trip out of little river was a little dark. The funny part was I was so cranked up I could not unclip my long hose from my right shoulder d-ring. I did not realize this until I have already given back my partners long hose. Times starts to slide by- at 60ft after trying to unclip my regulator for the third time- I just went to my backup around my neck.
And then we surfaced only to be meet by a dept sheriff asking if anyone else is in the cave. I am sure my eyes were like saucers.

Man, I miss cave training…

Andrew

 

[loosebits]

So I've always heard about the flow, but having never experienced it, is there a comparison? Like a 2 knot current? I've seen some vids from JB including some that you and Fixxer have made (I think) - it looks flippin awesome.

I don't really know what a 2 knot current feels like - haven't done much ocean diving. Normal flow at JB means you can swim against it in doubles but you're going to be working real hard and you're not going to be making much progress. Unfortunately once you drop down the chute down to 90', there isn't much to pull and pull on (the glide part of 'pull & glide' doesn't seem to happen there), just a gravel bottom.

I've seen some good JB videos but we've never taken a camera in there.

That sounds similar to Aerolito's entrance, except for the tight fit for the first 15-20'. How deep is the entrance to Hole in the wall and how tight a squeeze are we talking?

As I recall, it starts at about 25' deep and you go down at about a 30 deg angle or so where at quite a few places your belly is on the floor and your tanks are hitting the ceiling until it opens up at about 45 or 50'. The area is nice and wide so it's technically not a restriction, just restrictive. Usually it's mainly gravel so this viz isn't hurt too bad by heading in there but last time I was there, there was a lot of mung and other crud in the chute. We were having problems with leg cramps and had to turn the dive as soon as it opened up; had to pull the line out in zero viz.. ended up getting wedged into a spot for a few minutes because I couldn't see where the hell I was going and I just knew the damn crawfish were going to take advantage of the situation and start biting my fingers off. They were still pissed at me for screwing with them on a deco stop last time I was there.

Anyway, after the chute it opens up into a pit that drops to 65' or 70' I believe and the up and downstream section lines are right there. I think downstream is about 80, 85' deep; upstream about 65 - 70'.. or maybe I have that backwards, never can remember which is which.

 

[hydro12]

Cool, I appreciate all the info. It just gives me more stuff to mull over between now and the next time I get to go.