Cave diving course in California?

[Pullnglide]

Nothing wrong with diving solo and it's a shame you've had a bad experience with PADI as a lot of people do, a lot of people have great experience with them also. A lot of what you say is true but a lot of people enjoy taking those classes and collecting the cards, that's just how it is, nothing wrong with it. Keep in mind, I don't know what sea caves/caverns your diving and if they are swim throughs or something else so take everything I say with a grain of salt. Now this is just my opinion but use your money wisely and put it towards cave training (if that is what you wish to do). There may be some sub-par cave instructors out there but I've never heard of anyone complain about any of the training they've received from a FL full cave instructor of any agency (thats not to say there aren't many out there, I've just never heard it personally). If your diving caverns (daylight as your light source) then just take a cavern course. Find a good reputable instructor and you will have a great time in the class and maybe come out with a little knowledge you don't already have and not waste money which I understand your concern. If you wish to venture past the daylight zone then cave courses are money well spent!! There are a lot of awesome caves that require a cert card i.e. Jackson Blue, Madison Blue, Peacock Springs etc... There are also a lot of awesome caves that can be accessed without a cert card and have claimed many lives along with the ones I've mentioned. IMO cave training is not throwing away a bunch of money on useless classes, it can and has saved many lives. When a person dives a cave without training, if I get a chance to speak with them I always go back to the skill, your in zero vis, you've lost the line, what do you do? Do you have the proper gear and what is the procedure to find it?!? I've never heard an accurate answer.

 

[Imbodie]

WM,
The take away from rescue should have been 50% first aid/cpr and 50% recognizing emotional states in yourself and others. HATE that you only felt like the class was about first aid/cpr. Don't do any more resort courses, find a local instructor that spreads their classes out over more than a weekend.... PnG said it way better than I ever could... you don't know what you don't know until its too late.

there are 3 kinds of divers... vacation divers, rich divers and broke divers....... I'm pretty much in the broke divers category... so I relate to not wanting to spend money on a class that really doesn't have a high ROI....

 

[Wilderness Medic]

Pullnglide- Excellent post and video! Thank you.

And thank you both for understanding the money issue. I am not cheap when it comes to good safe training. Is that "resort training" that I fear due to past experiences. If there was a well reviewed accredited school with good reviews I'd be all about it. I was just getting ready to move to Florida for CDA for $30k and then started reading horrible reviews and called it off. It sounds like I'll be looking into somewhere with more well known good schools for recreational diving classes.



I almost want to take rescue over again. I've got topside medical down. But I kind of feel like other than that it was just recognizing a diver in distress and how to get them up safely (hold reg in protecting airway, approaching panicked diver from behind/below). The physical aspect of how was cool and I enjoyed practicing it. But a lot of that did seem like common sense stuff. Maybe I'm just expecting too much.

 

[Imbodie]

I was just getting ready to move to Florida for CDA for $30k and then started reading horrible reviews

As with any school, you get out what you put into it... My son was thinking about CDA, we took a tour and they have an impressive campus. But it is REALLY geared to people right out of high school... Commercial diving companies don't want you if your over 30.... I agree their pricing is a bit ridiculous... but you do come out with a couple of world wide recognition and I guess that is worth something. You do get to dive at 40 fathom grotto... not sure thats worth the price tag though. Might be worth it if you could do select courses....like hyperbaric chamber tech/ dive medic because there are always HBOT positions and not a lot of people certified..

On the rescue class, if you took it close to home you could always ask to sit in on some classes....

I highly support moving to Florida.... but have a job lined up first... I moved there for an IT job... full time, real employee... it lasted 6 months and then I spent the next 5 1/2 years looking for a perm job... got an offer with an ex-employer and took it never looking back at Florida... it was a bit of a pit to get out of. I did do more diving than I ever expected and ended up an instructor (also never expected)....

 

[Imbodie]

On the CDA subject... some other reviews you might not have seen...

CDA Technical Institute in Jacksonville , FL
Diver Exploits: CDA Technical Institute's Preparation & Flaws

 

[Wilderness Medic]

I'm in the fortunate position of not needing To worry about employment down there. In fact if I could find a place that takes the GI Bill it would be free and is get paid.

I've read a bunch of reviews as well as worked with a guy that went there. The guy on the phone got my all hyped up to come become an awesome dive medic etc. reason reviews from dozens of past students, this is typical. Hype you up, overcharge, then if you're lucky spend 3 years after being a dive tender for $10/hour. Many students were angry they were in debt for a school/field they couldn't get work in after and eventually moved on to other fields. Even the ones that said the school was good(including my friend who went there) said if they could do it again they would never pay the outrageous cost and would go to one of the other good ones for a fraction of the cost. Just go read their Facebook reviews alone....market is flooded. Occasional good review from someone's family or someone who doesn't seem to have found out the bad news yet.

 

[Imbodie]

Hey... several colleges in South Florida have dive oriented degree programs...
Browse Programs at OceanCareers.com

 

[Wilderness Medic]

Hey... several colleges in South Florida have dive oriented degree programs...
Browse Programs at OceanCareers.com

That's awesome, thanks. Wish I would have seen this before using most of my GI Bill.

 

[Imbodie]

That's awesome, thanks. Wish I would have seen this before using most of my GI Bill.

combine your GI with the Pell Grant, finish with minimal student loans... Move to south Florida and get an associates in the dive industry and finish with a bachelors in business....