Cave diving basics?

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*Floater*

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Just need some very basic info about cave diving. My first question is whether it's common for dive resorts require that customers have a cave cert of some sort before taking them inside a cave on a DM-lead dive?
 
Second question: What qualifies as a cave for cert purposes? For example, if I can swim through a particular cave in 5 minutes, then does it still qualify as a "cave" in terms of something dive resorts would require certs for?
 
*Floater*:
Second question: What qualifies as a cave for cert purposes? For example, if I can swim through a particular cave in 5 minutes, then does it still qualify as a "cave" in terms of something dive resorts would require certs for?

Wouldn't it be best to ask the resort?

What do you do if you are 2-1/2 minutes from the exit, an o-ring blows leaving you with a severe free-flow, and your buddy, along with the other resort divers who don't have cave certs, is silting the cave up?

Bill.
 
Is there a particular location and site you have in mind? If you say where, people might know more specifics about it.
 
Lightning Fish:
Wouldn't it be best to ask the resort?

What do you do if you are 2-1/2 minutes from the exit, an o-ring blows leaving you with a severe free-flow, and your buddy, along with the other resort divers who don't have cave certs, is silting the cave up?

Bill.

The problem is I don't have any particular resort in mind so I can't ask. However, if I happen to end up at region with caves (for example, I'm considering a trip to Mexico/Playa del Carmen this summer) then I'd want to enter them, so I'm trying to figure out now whether I should plan on acquiring some sort of certification for it and what level of certification would be necessary.

As to your question, it depends on what my options were at the time. I generally use doubles so I'd probably shut off the offending post and would use the available second stage.
 
*Floater*:
whether it's common for dive resorts require that customers have a cave cert of some sort before taking them inside a cave on a DM-lead dive?

generally, you can be guided on a tour one level about your certification.

for example, if you're OW, you can get a cavern tour

if you have a Cavern Cert, you can get an Cave 1 tour (single tank, no jumps, etc.)

if you have a Cave 1 card, you can do a Cave 2 tour... etc...

the guide has to be a certified instructor for whatever level dive he is
taking you into.
 
So if I want to do basic DM-lead dives in caves down to a max depth of 50 meters and lasting no longer than 90min (including deco when necessary), or something in that ball park, then what type of cave cert would I require assuming I already had the necessary tech certs?
 
*Floater*:
So if I want to do basic DM-lead dives in caves down to a max depth of 50 meters and lasting no longer than 90min (including deco when necessary), or something in that ball park, then what type of cave cert would I require assuming I already had the necessary tech certs?

Full Cave (sometimes called Cave 2) and some sort of trimix certification plus a lot of cave diving experience. Doing a "DM lead" dive of this caliber wouldn't be a very smart thing to do.

Where are you going where you want to do this type of thing? In Mexico, you can go on a guided cavern dive without anything more than an OW card.
 
*Floater*:
So if I want to do basic DM-lead dives in caves down to a max depth of 50 meters and lasting no longer than 90min (including deco when necessary), or something in that ball park, then what type of cave cert would I require assuming I already had the necessary tech certs?

Just because you have tech certs does not mean you are good to go into a cave, it doesn't work that way.

You could have all the certs in the world if you are not cave trained then you do not do cave dives. Don't blindly follow someone into asituation just because they are a DM/Instructor. Cave instructors do offer cavern tours but that would be the limit and even then it will be controlled rergardless of what other certs you may or may not have
 

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