Cavern Class

[saying]

Goin down to FL with my LDS is just under a month and I'm mega-amped.

What I keep wondering is, is this just going to be a little vacation where I poke my head in some holes or is this course generally intensive... i.e.: a real first step toward caving?

Curious to hear about other's experiences with it.

 

[simbrooks]

I am not in a position to really help you here, BUT to make it easier for someone to help you, where are you going in the springs? (That will help someone tell you what to expect possibly).

Are you going to do this as training with your LDS or a local outfit in the springs area? If with your LDS, ask them, if with someone else, maybe others can suggest what they experienced with them.

One day we would like to do these types of dives, have poked our heads in caverns, but nothing too far/deep as we arent trained.

From what i gather looking at various courses, the cavern cert is just for going into environments where you can still see the surface/exit, not real caves where it is an overhead environment. I am sure you will get a load of elaboration on this.

 

[Wendy]

simbrooks once bubbled...

From what i gather looking at various courses, the cavern cert is just for going into environments where you can still see the surface/exit, not real caves where it is an overhead environment. I am sure you will get a load of elaboration on this.

I'm not sure what you meant by your last statement, as a cavern class is definatly in an overhead environment. A cavern is basically the daylight zone of a cave(a cavern at night is considered a cave dive cuz of the lack of sunlight) (cavern limits for most agencies is 70' in depth and 130' linear feet from the surface. There is no direct ascent to the surface in cavern diving.

For a lot of people the cavern course is more difficult than the intro to cave course, I think. This is where you run lines, learn your s-drills, trim/bouyancy, modified kicks, etc. Not to scare you, but people have died cavern diving by not following the 'rules' and these are the same rules that cave divers must follow as well.

Are you doing this class from a local shop in Florida? If it is from an instructor at your local shop in VA I would ask the instructor how much time he has cavern diving (since I don't think there are many caverns in VA) and how much of this cavern diving is his won diving and how much is just when he instructs a course.


This is a great course and it will benefit all your diving.

 

[simbrooks]

Sorry, my last paragraph might have been misleading, that was what i was told was involved in the cavern class. I stand corrected. So the cavern is a light zone, but the class is a limited cave penetration then?

Other than that, the questions i posed are really what people need info on to help this guy out.

One day like i said, i would like to take this class, its another on the list of desired education.

 

[GDI]

:doctor:
I teach cavern and if you are doing an official class vs a cavern tour you will find the class or the tour to be very educating (depending on your instructor).
The class will work you on the cavern environment and the skills related to it. Your bouyancy, finning and awareness skills will determine if you progress in completing the cavern class or not. You will be running lines, placing line arrows and doing gas management, loss diver and OOA drills. You will also be instructed on suggestions how to and expected to handle emergency situations - real or planned. You will need to complete a cavern class before you can move on to the next levels (Intro to Cave - Apprentice Cave - Full Cave)

 

[Spectre]

saying once bubbled...
What I keep wondering is, is this just going to be a little vacation where I poke my head in some holes or is this course generally intensive... i.e.: a real first step toward caving?

Curious to hear about other's experiences with it.

Like every class, a quality instructor truely is key here. Yes, it's the first real step towards caving. Wendy and I had the same instructor, and Wendy mentioned that much of her Intro course was a review from what was taught in Cavern. Not all of it was required, it was additional to help prevent some of the things that _could_ happen in cavern and aren't necessarily covered in the cavern course. "Ok. You're certified. Now lets go do some other post-certification skills and drills"

As far as a cavern course. Likely it will be unlike any course you have ever taken before. It will change your whole thought process about how you dive, and you will end up leaving with a new attitude of treating _every_ dive like it's an overhead dive. It will change the way you dive, and will probably be the best class you've ever taken.

 

[OneBrightGator]

saying once bubbled...
What I keep wondering is, is this just going to be a little vacation where I poke my head in some holes or is this course generally intensive... i.e.: a real first step toward caving?

If you take Cavern with a quality instructor it will be skill intensive, this class is typically a setup for Intro and introduces pretty much all the in-water skills you'll need for Intro and some of the planning. You can take what Wendy and Spectre said as fact, most people regard this class as the best they've ever taken (I don't, but purely because of my instructor).

Ben

 

[saying]

I'm treking down there with an instructor from my LDS... he's a full cavern instructor with whom I've taken a wreck class (SDI class that might as well be called "Reels, Lift Bags, and looking at the same scuttled 30 footers at the bottom of the quarry as you usually do").

We're headed to Ginnie, Peacock, and Something else Springs and the intention is an SDI cert class.

So, I'm saying.

Thanks for all the relation... I'm even more amped.

 

[JDostal]

I'm doing the same thing in about two weeks. Heading down to the keys for a few days of easy reef diving, and then heading up to Ginnie for Cavern and Intro to Cave. I can't wait!!!!