Cave Training This Winter?

[w ripley]

Winter is the perfect time to head south - to Florida or Mexico - and break into cavern or cave diving. Imagine diving in 72 degree F (or warmer) water this February or March, instead of shoveling snow!

Let's face it, cave diving doesn't appeal to everybody. But for those of you it does it can open the door to a whole new world that only a few people ever get to see.

Some of you are ready to expand your dive training, and picking up some cave-diving skills is one perfect way to do that. Look around and search the threads to answer questions you have on getting started. Why not mention that you're interested, when you introduce yourself, and see all of the helpful information and support you get.

A cavern course, for example, is a fun way to see if cave diving is for you. It will help you learn new skills and help you better understand why caves can be so dangerous if you don't know what the basic safety proceedures are. We lose a couple of very good - and experienced - open-water divers each year because they didn't have the training before they let themselves get lured in. From one diver to another, a cave is probably not the best place to be poking around if you don't know what you're doing, so get the training first.

Is it worth a weekend of your time this winter? Hope so, and hope to see you next season in cave country.

 

[boulderjohn]

I certainly agree with the general concept of the post with all my heart--that is exactly what I did last year. I also agree that it is a good seed to plant in the minds of people who might be interested.

On the other hand, I am wondering about the forum in which you placed it. Obviously the topic is cave diving, but I sense the only people who really go into the cave diving forum are not your real target. They are probably already there.

Maybe it might be better placed in the Advanced Diving section. Just a thought.

 

[aquaregia]

+1 John's suggestion to move.

 

[Cave Diver]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved to Advanced Discussions for broader exposure

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[aquaregia]

I was going to ask this on CD.net, but perhaps here might be a good place too.

Is the "instructor not agency" thing true for cave diving too? If I wanted to take a cavern class, are there any particular agencies that are distinctly well- or poorly-respected? Seems like PADI, NACD and NSS-CDS are my options? GUE seems to go straight from Fundies to Cave?

Also, I'm in California, so Florida's probably not substantially easier/closer than Mexico. Is there a particular reason to choose one location over the other?

 

[Xenia]

I was going to ask this on CD.net, but perhaps here might be a good place too.

Is the "instructor not agency" thing true for cave diving too? If I wanted to take a cavern class, are there any particular agencies that are distinctly well- or poorly-respected? Seems like PADI, NACD and NSS-CDS are my options? GUE seems to go straight from Fundies to Cave?

Also, I'm in California, so Florida's probably not substantially easier/closer than Mexico. Is there a particular reason to choose one location over the other?

Yes I personally strongly believe in instructor, not agency. NACD and NSS-CDS have very similar curriculum, I did half the material with one agency, half with the other one.

I do not know much about PADI other than a friend at NC took cavern with PADI and was very dissatisfied. He did not learn as much as expected and thought he needed much more practice/mentoring before he got to the cavern. I am not supporting any agency though, if you find an instructor you trust, you match with his/her teaching, I really think it does not matter.

FL was great for me but then again I do not have the experience from Mexico. I think that both environments are good and have differences to learn from (more Ts in Mexico than FL is one distinctive difference I know of, more flow in FL that can teach you some great skills in efficiency).

Beware. The caves in FL are really addictive... they will make you want to do crazy things like sell your house, leave your career... and move there.

 

[Cave Diver]

I was going to ask this on CD.net, but perhaps here might be a good place too.

Is the "instructor not agency" thing true for cave diving too? If I wanted to take a cavern class, are there any particular agencies that are distinctly well- or poorly-respected? Seems like PADI, NACD and NSS-CDS are my options? GUE seems to go straight from Fundies to Cave?

Also, I'm in California, so Florida's probably not substantially easier/closer than Mexico. Is there a particular reason to choose one location over the other?

Most of the instructors I know for cave courses are NAUI, NACD, NSS-CDS, GUE, or IANTD. Many of them can offer certification from multiple agencies. I haven't seen PADI particularly well represented in cave training.

My opinion is that Florida caves present a different type of challenge than those in Mexico. I think someone is better off learning to deal with the darker, deeper, higher flow caves of Florida and then diving in Mexico than vice versa.

 

[aquaregia]

Beware. The caves in FL are really addictive... they will make you want to do crazy things like sell your house, leave your career... and move there.

Oh dear. I don't own a house and I already hate my career...

 

[TSandM]

I have done training in Florida and in Mexico. I think, if cave level skills are going to be something really new for you, learning them in high flow is not the way to go. (In fact, I honestly think the basic skills, like buoyancy control, trim, non-silting propulsion, light communication and basic reel work ought to be learned in open water, at home, where you have no time pressure for learning and plenty of opportunity to practice.) However, you can be pretty solid on cave skills in shallow, low flow caves, and have your butt handed to you in high flow, so it's not a bad idea to do some training in both places. The best place to learn? The place where you're going to do most of your diving!

I think it's definitely instructor, rather than agency, and although I am a PADI divemaster, I'd be very careful with PADI cavern classes, because there is actually no requirement at all for the instructor of such a class to have had ANY training in the teaching of cave skills. It is sufficient to BE Full Cave, and have logged a certain number of cave dives. I think people who are going to teach these skills well should be coached on how best to teach them. (Note that not ALL PADI cavern instructors are without training in teaching; but it is possible to get the cert without any such training, so be careful.)

GUE goes straight from Fundamentals (which is some of that open water training I was talking about) to Cave, because they simply don't agree that anyone should be in an overhead environment independently without the skills of a basic cave diver.

 

[kanonfodr]

If you want the best measure of an instructor, IMO, go diving with their students. There is one instructor in Florida (I know she teaches cavern, but I'm hearing she is moving up to Full Cave) that I have never met before in my life but one of my very good dive buddies trained with her before moving here and I really enjoy diving with him. Very proficient in the water, very calm, and very smart. I would not hesitate to train with her if she offered a class to suit my needs.

Peace,
Greg

I was going to ask this on CD.net, but perhaps here might be a good place too.

Is the "instructor not agency" thing true for cave diving too? If I wanted to take a cavern class, are there any particular agencies that are distinctly well- or poorly-respected? Seems like PADI, NACD and NSS-CDS are my options? GUE seems to go straight from Fundies to Cave?

Also, I'm in California, so Florida's probably not substantially easier/closer than Mexico. Is there a particular reason to choose one location over the other?