Canyons are fun

[Reck Diver]

As a rule I never make any kind of penetration dive on scuba. That includes wrecks, caves, caverns and even swim throughs.

Don't know if you have been on any of the artificial reefs in South Florida, but many are designed for easy daytime penetration and exit by even less than experienced recreational divers.

 

[TSandM]

You can do a cavern class on Cozumel. My friend HBDiveGirl and kevrumbo did it with German Yanez. I went on to do my cavern and Intro with German, although we did it on the mainland. He is an extremely nice and kind man, and loves the caves.

I warn you, though -- the cave bug lives in those spaces, and once you are bitten, you are lost. A local (Seattle) instructor just led a group down to Playa del Carmen, and they did some cenote tours. She's got that lost look in her eyes, and is talking about a five year plan to relocate down there.

 

[IanBrit]

The reefs off Utila have some great swim throughs and canyons, some directly from shore entry, some requiring a boat for easy access. Based on your equalizing post however, I'd recommend you get that issue fixed and get really comfortable in the water before even considering another course or going overhead.

 

[RickyF]

Matt,
I agree with some of the others that you really need to get your bouyancy and equalizing probles resolved before taking on too much. Dive some different places and get a lot more experience with different types of dives. You have gome from zero to rescue pretty quickly and I think you need time to just enjoy diving. Just my .02.

 

[DukeAMO]

Yeah, if I were just starting out (oh wait, I am ), I would stick to canyons and caverns that are not overhead environments for quite a long time.

Our checkout dives were in the Florida Springs. If you have the discipline to stay out of the overhead areas, they're enough to entertain you for a day or two. We went to Devil's Den (pretty, completely underground, and very little overhead) and Blue Grotto (also pretty, although the cave below is too tempting for some who aren't ready). Crystal River in the same area looks cool from the videos. They're not nearly as spectacular as the ocean, but if you just want a low-key weekend, especially in the winter, it's nice. The entire area is very scenic, with grand horse farms dripping in Spanish moss.

Edited to add - if you go at the right time, you can also snorkel with the manatees.

 

[spectrum]

Does my OW/AOW/RD certification qualify me to go into a cavern?

Matt qualified is a funky word here, in some respects so is cavern.

Essentially the inability to make a direct ascent and the availability of some surface light denotes a cavern if we're talking about a flooded hole in a body of water. You can find many quarries that have culverts placed on the bottom that are narrower and longer than the swim through you describe and they are there for any diver to get their kicks. Or how about air frames and school buses? With that said, flagging some of these guided resort swim throughs with skull and crossbones seems a little absurd.

Of course as you know one way of conquering fears or becoming comfortable with a situation is to gradually increase exposure. That being said these benign swim throughs can be the beginning of a slippery slope if you let things escalate without the right training.

Secondly there is no scuba police. The primary gate where a 3rd party is involved is the owner or outfitter. There are some definite deep overhead caverns in places like Florida that are yours to dive for the price of admission and your AOW card. Blue Grotto in the horseshoe and Paradise Spring are 2 that come to mind. In an emergency you are most definitely in a compromised position. If you are only trained to AOW and don't feel your body of experience and that of your buddy are beyond that then you are taking some significant risks.

Any dive is easy and safe when nothing goes wrong. I agree that you seem to be a place where more dives at your current level and making them with a spirit of continuous improvement will serve you well. Along the way rubbing shoulders with more seasoned divers you will discover whatever next step make sense for you.

Pete

 

[Rich Keller]

Don't know if you have been on any of the artificial reefs in South Florida, but many are designed for easy daytime penetration and exit by even less than experienced recreational divers.

I do not choose to add an element of risk to a dive, like making a penetration into anything without a good reason. No I have not had the chance to dive those reefs yet. Where are they located?

 

[Reck Diver]

I really don't see a significant risk here. The wrecks that come to mind are the Sea Emporer, Noula Express and the United Carribean (all three easily done on a single tank (if your Capt. Drops you correctly), some others are the Ancient Mariner, the Ghost Tug (that's like a kiddie ride). These are in the Boca Deerfield area. Up in Boynton is the Bud Bar, Capt. Tony and a little deeper the Castor.

The GPS numbers for these are easily obtained with a google search.

 

[Quero]

I love dives with interesting topography. And I recall my own Cayman dives as being the most interesting in the entire Caribbean, topographically. The only other diving I've done that I've found as stunning in that respect is the Similan Islands in Thailand where the north and west side sites are mounded boulders, some as big as houses, with swimthroughs and canyons. Almost as interesting, but definitely more challenging, are the dives off the southern end of the Kona side of the big island of Hawaii, particularly Au-Au.

 

[Hawkwood]

Yeah, swimming in areas where spurs and grooves are located is nice. The variable topography makes for interesting diving.

Swim-throughs can be fun...depending. My wife will not do swim-throughs with a group. Invariably she gets stuck behind someone who has poor control or finning technique and truly hates it when things get backed up and she is "stopped" in the tunnel. We usually end up swimming over and meeting up with the group on the other side.

We did Chikin Ha when we were in Playa last year. I had a ball....predictably she did not. To this day I'm not even sure why she tried, knowing her dislike for overheads.

Bill