Cave Training - No Nearby Caves

[halocline]

Skills are the same once you have them.

I don't think this is accurate. Cave diving successfully depends on building and maintaining specific skills and habits, and these things take regular practice. It is possible to practice most of these skills, like precise buoyancy control, line work, gear related problem solving, in OW or even a pool, and reviewing knowledge is easy to do anywhere. But you're not going to take a cave course, learn a bunch of new things, go a year without practicing, and then be able to simply pick up where you left off. At least I couldn't do that and I've never met anyone who could.

But, answering the the OP's question, most of the people I cave dive with live several hours away by flight from the caves, including myself. If you really want to do something, you find a way. I can only afford to do 3 trips per year to Mexico (where I dive, usually 10-14 dives each trip) and I've found that this amount of frequency allows me to pretty well maintain my skills at the level I dive at and feel pretty comfortable. It might have helped me that I had over 1000 OW dives and DM experience before starting cave courses.

But there are many people who learn to cave dive and then don't continue because they are not able to maintain their skills and 'cave confidence' through regular practice.

 

[RTodd]

I suppose right after getting certified you need to get the dives in. GUE specifically covers this with the dive requirement between cave 1 and 2. Once you have the skills it is just diving. I took a 10 year break without using doubles or a dry suit Second cave dive back was a double stage scooter dive. It is like riding a bike.

 

[halocline]

It is like riding a bike.

Diving may be like riding a bike. Cave diving would be more like riding a bike on a very dangerous and complicated road where if you get lost or fall, you die. Mistakes really do kill people in caves. They generally don't in most dive environments.

 

[PfcAJ]

Diving may be like riding a bike. Cave diving would be more like riding a bike on a very dangerous and complicated road where if you get lost or fall, you die. Mistakes really do kill people in caves. They generally don't in most dive environments.

I went a year without cave diving when I lived abroad. Was bike like upon returning.

I think it likely depends on your aptitude for the activity. Everyone is different.

 

[tursiops]

aptitude

and experience

 

[halocline]

I went a year without cave diving when I lived abroad. Was bike like upon returning.

I think it likely depends on your aptitude for the activity. Everyone is different.

I think you're a cave instructor, and presumably when you took a year off it was after several years of regular cave diving, maybe even teaching. I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong.

But this thread was started by someone with no cave experience, seeking advice about learning to cave dive in a situation where he won't have access to caves to regularly practice. That's a big difference, don't you think?

 

[PfcAJ]

I think you're a cave instructor, and presumably when you took a year off it was after several years of regular cave diving, maybe even teaching. I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong.

But this thread was started by someone with no cave experience, seeking advice about learning to cave dive in a situation where he won't have access to caves to regularly practice. That's a big difference, don't you think?

Idk. There’s lots of folks who only come to Fl to cave dive a few times a year. They seem to do ok. Buoyancy, trim, propulsion, gas management, buddymanship, on every dive cave or not. Reel work can certainly be done outside of a cave, but I think you miss the added challenge of no ambient light. Nav is of course missing, but if one self limits on dives to mainline or simple nav I think it’s not unreasonable.

Know your ability, dive within that ability, make grownup decisions. It doesn’t seem to be vacation divers who get into trouble in Fl. At least not lately. Haven’t really studied the cases (tough do do that, *cough cough IUCRR cough), but that’s my impression at least.

Not an instructor btw. Just a regular dude.

 

[ofg-1]

I went a year without cave diving when I lived abroad. Was bike like upon returning.

Where did you put the handlebars?

 

[halocline]

Idk. There’s lots of folks who only come to Fl to cave dive a few times a year. They seem to do ok. Buoyancy, trim, propulsion, gas management, buddymanship, on every dive cave or not. Reel work can certainly be done outside of a cave, but I think you miss the added challenge of no ambient light. Nav is of course missing, but if one self limits on dives to mainline or simple nav I think it’s not unreasonable.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I can usually afford 3 trips to Mexico/year where I cave dive. (Hoping to come to FL one of these years, it's a long drive but doable) For me, that's enough to maintain my skills, and I agree that some skills can be practiced anywhere, even a pool.

But I personally would not advise someone to pursue cave diving if they could only go once per year. That's just an opinion.

Not an instructor btw. Just a regular dude.

But clearly a knowledgeable and experienced regular dude.

 

[rjack321]

But I personally would not advise someone to pursue cave diving if they could only go once per year. That's just an opinion.

based on what? FL caves are not killing tourists. There are three categories of divers there: locals who dive without training, poorly trained locals and visitors, and highly experience locals doing really aggressive diving. Vacationers are not on the fatality list (#s 1 and 3) although they may be in the poorly trained and damaging caves, but most of the tourist lines are already pretty beat up and it can be hard to tell at this point given the numbers & traffic places like Ginnie and Peacock get.

Holding up cave diving as some sort of exalted magical thing is not really that helpful. Its just diving, all the skills you use in cave diving are things good divers do on (nearly) every dive, trim, buoyancy, not kicking the wall or reef, buddy communication