Cave dive if uncertified

[FIXXERVI6]

Hey,

I'm from VA but I want to go to Florida for underwater cave diving. If I am not certified in scuba diving. Is there any place I can go to have a guided tour and have them provide me with equipment in either VA or FL?

Thanks!!

The world between uncertified --> cave diving is vast

To even start to get the basics of SCUBA down and down well and safe, including comfort and skills such as bouancy takes time. It takes "conditioning" humans were not meant to breath under water so constant repeated exposure will help re-train the basics of the brain, for example, evolution has taught the brain to hold your breath and bolt for sun shine and sea gulls if there is a problem under water, this has to be un-taught through conditioning.

It takes a while to get this down, some are faster than others, and there is the thing called father experience. I have whitness really good divers with not much experience, while they were good divers the lack of experience will show, with that said I'm not grandfather to diving, point here is diving takes time, you can teach the brain quickly with books etc but the meat and potatoes takes a long time in the water, try as you might you can speed that up with mentors but you can only go so fast.

Any diver that begins to thing about cavern/cave diving should have a minimum comfort level and skill level with perfect bouancy and really good kick style, this takes some time to get to.

A lot of divers look at cave divers as a-holes with elitest attitudes etc, while some are, not all are, the caves are not some "secret handshake club" they are there for anyone who is willing to put in the work to access them safely. I've seen OW divers get snippy about cave divers attitudes and caves, I don't get it, if you want to check out caves go take the training, anyone can take the training.

I would NOT even think about a "tour" or "guide" I've watched them and almost had to hold my regulator in my mouth as I watched, I couldnt' beleive what I was seeing.

I'm full cave certified, and I will not / have not ever gone into any overheads on a single tank or even exceeded 100 feet of depth on a single tank. Others do, thats fine, I would just rather maximise my odds of being able to do it again, which means proper gear and in some cases training. I listen to OW divers do devils throat in Cozumel, thats insane, I have cave card in my wallet and I won't do it - people die needlessly.

If your wanting to cave dive, please take the time and do it right, access has been threatened at locations due to fatalities so if not for yourself at least do it for the community.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Or....you could just go cave diving on your X-BOB.

Who needs training? Just head out and fire up the ole' BOB.

Its just like driving through the caves in a Buick!

X-Bob Underwater Adventure Dive in the British Virgin Islands

YouTube - BOB Exploration in Saint Thomas, Part 4

YouTube - alex bilclough B.O.B diving

(Just make sure you buy the X-BOB model that comes with headlights)

And bring a pony tank, too. Or maybe a couple.




(Sorry, Lynne, couldn't help myself...)

 

[fisherdvm]

Apparently it does exist :11: or at least did 10-15 years ago. My boss told me she went to Andros Island in the Bahamas some time in mid-90's, and the resort took her (a complete novice) and a bunch of other people into a cave. She said she freaked out and instructor had to take her out even though she never lost the sight of the entrance. Other people according to her got as far as 40-50 meters into the cave -- although I suspect that's an exaggeration.

I suppose this counts as "cavern diving" as opposed to "cave diving", but still I was amazed to hear that anyone would take an uncertified novice even into a cavern.

I have mixed feeling on this, as it does happen everyday in Cancun/Playa del Carmen. I enjoyed the "cavern" diving, which from what I understand, really stretches the limit of the term cavern, as some passages were relative narrow, some areas had no visible light (unless you turned all the lanterns off), and not all dark areas had air pocket above it. I am sure at no time we were more than 30 ft from the entrance, but it sure appear that we were deep in a cave.

I can see where a newly certified OW diver might panic. But one who has done a number of night dives, swim throughs, and have good buoyancy control - it was a very pleasant experience. An elderly (almost 70) newly certified couple who did lots of diving within 1 year (about 50 dives) did amazing well and enjoyed also very much. But less experienced divers are also allowed, and I can see where panic might set in. The fault I see is that the instructors told everyone to shed their weight belt by ONE HALF. A little drastic I'd think, if one were underweighted and sucked their tank too fast. I really want to know how they scrape someone off the ceiling of the cave if they had 200 psi and now floating and stuck on the chandelliers?

 

[TSandM]

Well, if you posit the standard 70 kg male, and assume the gear weighs in the neighborhood of 20 kg, and that the diver is likely, since this is warm water, to be wearing 5 kg of weight or less, then the 2.5% reduction in weight for fresh water IS going to be close to half what's on the weight belt. It sounds drastic, but it's probably mathematically pretty close.

The dives are designed to get a lot of people back with about 2/3 of the gas still in their tank, too.

 

[Bob Vincent]

Cave diving is way above normal realm of recreational diving ... just think of it like this dive without instruction - dead. Dive a cave without the training - dead. Both together?

Make your will out now ... go on a spending spree ... max your credit cards out and borrow all your worth and have fun! Because it's over if you try and do that ... ever think about parachuting ... Ah that might be a better ticket at least you'll survive!

Welcome to Scubaboard ... I don't want to sound like a smart butt but what I said is very true ... get certified you'll never do anything so awesome in your life. Talk to any diver and stick around here on the board and you'll see this is a great thing ... plus diving is safer than crossing a street if you have the training ... So I hope one day we will be able to congratulate you on joining our ranks!

 

[Tomeck]

Even with the very good visibility and warm water such the Cenotes in Mexico, is it not a good ideal for the discover scuba?

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I listen to OW divers do devils throat in Cozumel, thats insane, I have cave card in my wallet and I won't do it - people die needlessly.

How many people die? When did they die? How did they die? Just wondering

 

[FIXXERVI6]

How many people die? When did they die? How did they die? Just wondering

How many I don't know but the last one I read about was posted on one of the boards, a mans wife died, they managed to bring her back on the boat with CPR etc and the only advice he had for other people was "bring a light".

I just don't like the odds, overhead + depth, so I won't do it.

 

[Papa_Bear]

Devil's Throat is more Cavern than Cave and has many bailout windows and openings! I have done it a number of times and it is pretty benign! Here is a video of the dive!
Two Tanked Productions HD & SD Underwater Productions and video services

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

I listen to OW divers do devils throat in Cozumel, thats insane, I have cave card in my wallet and I won't do it - people die needlessly.

How many people die? When did they die? How did they die? Where did they die? Just wondering

How many I don't know but the last one I read about was posted on one of the boards, a mans wife died, they managed to bring her back on the boat with CPR etc and the only advice he had for other people was "bring a light".

I just don't like the odds, overhead + depth, so I won't do it.

So it does not sound like she died? "managed to bring her back on the boat with CPR"

I am not questioning your decisions not to do specific dives, I am questioning your unsupported statement linking devil's throat to needless deaths. If there is support for that statement, by all means bring it up and make a valid point!

All I see is a bunch of fear-mongering. Just saying you will die if you dive without training and you will die in a cave without cave training is not going to sway many people; they will just ignore stupid statements like that, especially if they have heard of people doing those things without problems!

If one gives examples of the possible problems, with documentation of deaths or accidents, a valid case can be made for proper training. If one shows the advantages of proper training and the wonders awaiting the properly trained, the op might actually consider getting trained first.

Just Say No works about as well in diving as it does with drugs or sex!