Cavern/cave with German Yanez

[halocline]

I'm finally taking the plunge and starting training with German next week in Cozumel. I'm starting with the cavern class (in doubles) and I think that's all we'll have time for this trip, so the cave courses will wait until next summer. I've done a few cenote dives with German and I knew right away he'd be an ideal instructor. I'm really excited about it!

 

[Wookie]

I did a trimix course with German. He was awesome.

 

[Peter Guy]

halocline -- Please give my regards to German. I did Cavern/Intro/Full Cave with him and don't regret it at all. Especially the Full Cave which was more of a Mentorship than a "Class."

 

[Doc Harry]

He's a great guy. Did some cave diving with him on Friday. Here's a photo that I took of German during one of the dives:

 

[Belmont]

Good pic harry, where was it taken?

 

[Doc Harry]

Good pic harry, where was it taken?

Aerolito Cave, Cozumel Island

 

[halocline]

I finished the cavern course this afternoon. It was thorough and fun. German is a terrific teacher and we had 4 really enjoyable dives. I used double 72s for the first two, and double AL80s for the two today. If the norte doesn't abate I may spend a good amount of time over on the mainland practicing my new skills! As it turns out, I did not miss any reef diving because the port's been closed the last few days.

I'm looking forward to learning more and improving my skills as I head towards further cave training. I'm hooked.

 

[TSandM]

German is a wonderful person to aid in setting the hook -- he is a wonderfully positive and encouraging mentor. I like him enormously.

Have fun exploring and using your new skills.

Be aware that there are two very different approaches to cave training -- one is mentorship, and the other is scenario-based training. I think both have a place in creating a good cave diver. If you haven't done any other training which involves significant exposure to failures and their management in a team setting, I would highly recommend adding such a class to your list, just to complement German's teaching.

 

[halocline]

Be aware that there are two very different approaches to cave training -- one is mentorship, and the other is scenario-based training. I think both have a place in creating a good cave diver. If you haven't done any other training which involves significant exposure to failures and their management in a team setting, I would highly recommend adding such a class to your list, just to complement German's teaching.

What would be a good example of a scenario-based course I could take?

In the cavern class, we did some land drills for zero-vis exits on the line, and zero-vis lost line drills. In the cavern we did a zero-vis, mask off exit sharing air on one of the dives. Is that the sort of thing you're referring to?

I am looking forward to really studying cave diving thoroughly, I just hope I'll have the chance to practice enough.

 

[TSandM]

Well, any of the GUE or UTD cave or technical classes would be scenario-based. I know some cave diving instructors outside of those agencies tend more to that kind of training as well, but I don't know specific names.