cert dives with animals and caverns!

[DandyDon]

Lobsters are pretty similar to cockroaches in some ways,

Don if thats an example of your culinary knowledge no wonder you're single

Note to self , refuse all Thermidors at Dons place. :11ztongue

Hey, that's why they're called bugs. :lol2:

 

[OneBrightGator]

I would have felt comfortable enough to make an emergency exit and free ascent from the 70 feet OOA if ALL else went wrong.

Please think through this statement. If you become OOA you're going to realize it after you just exhaled a breath, and you need another one, 70 ft. is a long way to swim when you're starting out already air deprived. Even if you did make it chances are high you'd be bent on the surface.

 

[Mako Mark]

Lobsters are pretty similar to cockroaches in some ways,

because they both taste like chicken???

 

[Lead_carrier]

As far as the cavern diving goes, there were I believe 11 of us, 3 students and the rest were DMs and other previous students of the instructors. The instructor said that if he (and we students) felt comfortable with our skills, we would attempt the cavern. It did not go in very far but the opening was big enough to drive a semi through. Even though there is no need to justify my dive to anyone other than myself, I would like to say that with the training I have received I would have felt comfortable enough to make an emergency exit and free ascent from the 70 feet OOA if ALL else went wrong. And considering the numerous other divers with considerable experience, I feel my risk factor was quite small. Honestly I feel my first pool session was more dangeous than this overhead dive, I didnt have to swim a mile with weights around my waist and no form of bouyancy other than my own body!

I do appreciate the concern, I think honest caring like this helps make the sport safer for everyone.

Congrats on entering the world of scuba David. If I'm reading your post correctly, and I've very good at misunderstanding things, you did these things as a student. Unless I am reading the OW standards incorrectly your instructor kinda broke at least a couple of standards. No overhead and below 60 feet. If I am incorrect on this them I'm sure one of the NAUI instructors will correct me. My concern is that if he'll do this with you then what else will he do? IF these dives were done after you were certified then the CYA factor had been taken of.

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

Welcome to the board David P and congratulations on completing the course. Please dont get put off by passionate posts warning you of the dangers of entering overhead environments untrained. Some of these folks have been diving a very long time and have seen some destressing stuff some of which could have been prevented. You will find the more information you give about yourself or the specific diving situation being discussed the responses are more usefull and have less flames. :flame:

Now Im not cave trained so I'd like the cave divers like Gator and Cancun Mark to clarify something

there were I believe 11 of us, 3 students and the rest were DMs and other previous students of the instructors.

Isnt a group of 11 (even if they were experienced cave divers) a little large to be safe? Particularly if they are bobbing all over the place and silting everything up or getting tangled in a guideline. Im not critising David P but questioning the judgement of the instructor and DMs involved.

 

[Wendy]

Welcome to the board David P and congratulations on completing the course. Please dont get put off by passionate posts warning you of the dangers of entering overhead environments untrained. Some of these folks have been diving a very long time and have seen some destressing stuff some of which could have been prevented. You will find the more information you give about yourself or the specific diving situation being discussed the responses are more usefull and have less flames. :flame:

Now Im not cave trained so I'd like the cave divers like Gator and Cancun Mark to clarify something Isnt a group of 11 (even if they were experienced cave divers) a little large to be safe? Particularly if they are bobbing all over the place and silting everything up or getting tangled in a guideline. Im not critising David P but questioning the judgement of the instructor and DMs involved.

Depending on the size of the cavern, like the ball room at ginnie, although 11 is large its doable, but on a cavern or cave dive a team of 3 and sometimes 2 is best. A team of 4 gets rough.

 

[OneBrightGator]

:classic:

11 is too many, especially that type of distribution.

 

[David P]

lol... may I remove my thread now? Gator, I totally agree and understand about the OOA, and as much as geting bent would suck, I would rather be bent and deal with the odds of recovery than drowning and deal with those odds!

There was a CYA we were certed before the cavern dive, and I suppose it was a "trust me"(or whatever it was you guys called it) dive. I do understand about the concern about ANY overhead environment, but again this was more like a large "great room" with vaulted ceilings that was missing a wall, sized cavern and was not a cave. All us divers could have probably held hands and all swam in side by side. I think swimming through all the kelp was more dangerous. It would be damn near imposible to get lost in the cavern, and there was nothing to get tangled around your fins and reg. I also understand the concern about the instructor taking the new students to this dive site. I doubt he takes all, if even most of the students there, one student is already certified and taking the class as a refresher, another was a marine who was trained in water survival, and basically getting his civilian c card, along with myself. We all demonstrated basic skills, and proved we can keep our head even during harassment tests, we were given tests to perform while gear is stripped off of us, flooded, and air shut off. Im not saying Im a great diver by any means, or that I can do any kind of diving. I was nervous about the first dive past 60 feet, I was nervous about doing my free swim ascent with out air from 45 feet, I was nervous about swimming through kelp so thick I couldnt see out, and yeah I was nervous about going into the overhead cavern. However on every dive, my instructor demonstrated that he has made sure I have the skills to deal with my suroundings and to think my way out of a situation (I would like to belive that would be prevention of the situation!) If I upset any of you, I appologize. I believe I did NOT dive beyond my training, I believe I did NOT take unnecessary risks, I believe my instructor did NOT endanger any students any more than he already did to get us to suck air out of a tank while under water hoping we dont drown or get eaten by a shark!

 

[OneBrightGator]

Alright, sounds good... mull over what we said and do what you want with it.

Remember, your buddy's carrying YOUR extra air, make sure you both know that and don't let it get too far from you.

Dive Safe

 

[Xanthro]

I think much of the overhead concern comes from people misunderstanding the nature of some of the California diving.

Most dives here are somewhat overhead obstructed. When you have vast beds of kelp above and around you, popping up isn't really an option.

I think many newly certified California divers are less wary of large caverns because of the kelp experience. Afterall, the kelp can entangle you, the caverns actually seem safer by comparasion.

It may not be the safest practice but I'd guess it's fairly common.

Xanthro