Cost differences Mexico v Florida

[rddvet]

I would say this. If you are wanting to take the course to really learn and be a better diver and a quality cave diver, take it in Florida. Everyone I have spoken with has said you can learn to cave dive in Florida and then Mexico will be a cake walk to dive, but it does not work as well going the other way around. Mexican cenotes are not as deep and the water is much warmer, you are using aluminums and very light harnesses. Florida you are rolling steels normally, deeper dives and cooler water.

No offense, but I saw you were recently certified here in Fl and its obvious you're just repeating the common bs that gets passed around especially by the "older guys". Gain some experience in the two then form your own opinion rather than repeating nonsense. In Mx nobody does those comparisons, but here in Fl people seem to think Fl cave diving is superior. They all have their merits. In Mx the shallower dives lend to much longer dives which gives the opportunity for manymore drills per dive, more time for forming basic skills, and for complex navigation. Believe it or not there are deep caves and caves with flow in Mx. Mx isn't better than florida it's just different and vice versa.

What the OP should decide is where most of his cave diving will be performed. If in Fl train here. If in Mx train there.

I don't know why so many people in Florida want to push the perception that Fl cave diving is so superior.

 

[bamafan]

I disagree that the caves in Florida are harder. The high flow caves mask buoyancy and to some degree trim issues. I have seen teachers who only teach cavern in high flow caves such as Ginnie or JB. The flow hides a lot of sins. Reading the flow is a skill that unless the op is diving higher flow caves he won't need. I really doubt you can learn it in a class anyway. The op is in California and given his location may not dive Florida. He very well could fly to Mexico cheaper than Florida.

Aluminum tanks take more adjustment to dive over steel tanks in sidemount. You will most likely not learn that in Florida so if the op is diving in Mexico or other locations with Al80's he very well could have issues assuming he is in sidemount. Decide where you are going to do most of your diving and get trained there. Mexico definitely has better caverns. As far as instructors there are good and bad at both places. There is only 1 agency that I say is consistent regardless of instructor and that is GUE. They generally turn out good divers but the major drawback for me with them is that they only teach in backmount.

 

[CptTightPants21]

I disagree that the caves in Florida are harder. The high flow caves mask buoyancy and to some degree trim issues. I have seen teachers who only teach cavern in high flow caves such as Ginnie or JB. The flow hides a lot of sins.

That is certainly true, especially since the layout of Ginnie, LR, etc can create a lot of laziness with deco stops and jumping from rock to rock. At the end of the day it is up to the instructor to be the guardian and address these issues in the OW/Cavern portion of class before the student goes any farther. Regardless of environment, there will be points in class in which proper buoyancy and trim will be necessary to complete the skills of the class. Acceptance of ****** fundamentals is the fault of the instructor, not the environment. Based on the videos I have seen, some Mexican instructors can be just as forgiving (******) as some of the Floridian ones.

 

[rjack321]

Mexico is seriously expensive, lodging is more, airfare is more, nitrox is significantly more. Quality instructor also tends to be more. There's plenty of cheap in MX, just not in the Riviera Maya cave universe

 

[Doby45]

No offense, but I saw you were recently certified here in Fl and its obvious you're just repeating the common bs that gets passed around especially by the "older guys". Gain some experience in the two then form your own opinion rather than repeating nonsense. In Mx nobody does those comparisons, but here in Fl people seem to think Fl cave diving is superior. They all have their merits. In Mx the shallower dives lend to much longer dives which gives the opportunity for manymore drills per dive, more time for forming basic skills, and for complex navigation. Believe it or not there are deep caves and caves with flow in Mx. Mx isn't better than florida it's just different and vice versa.

What the OP should decide is where most of his cave diving will be performed. If in Fl train here. If in Mx train there.

I don't know why so many people in Florida want to push the perception that Fl cave diving is so superior.

I take no offense at all in your statement. Nor am I pushing a, Florida cave is the bestest divin in the whole world cause thats what I do, point of view. I simply said that it appeared to be more difficult from what I have heard and read regarding the two rather different types. This is very much akin to the north/northest wrecking diving and general diving being more difficult than tropic diving. Not that you can not run up against some difficult tropical diving but the moral majority of tropical diving is not as challenging as the moral majority of north/northest diving. I personally have experienced this as when I dive at home (not even north/northeast diving) I am in a drysuit and steel tanks and my setup is a bit more technical than when I go to the Caribbean or even southern Florida. Therefore, I think you read more into my statement and decided to take a dig at me just completing my Intro cave training. I would have made the same statement that I made even if I had not taken the training.

 

[bamafan]

Mexico is seriously expensive, lodging is more, airfare is more, nitrox is significantly more. Quality instructor also tends to be more. There's plenty of cheap in MX, just not in the Riviera Maya cave universe

I really don't know where you are staying but I have a house in Florida and go to Mexico several times a year cave diving. You can get a descent place to stay in Mexico for $50/night. In Florida for this price it is some flee bag motel or trailer. Sure you can do the Wayne or Rob Hostel type accommodations but Mexico has these too. You can certainly stay on the beach for $300/night in Mexico but it definitely isn't the only option. I personally think people are not comparing apples to apples. Who needs nitrox in Mexico for most dives? And by the way I don't see nitrox being more expensive. In the US @.10/cft you are basically at $8/tank with no rental for the tank. I rarely dive nitrox in Mexico but I am thinking an al80 was $6 with tank rental from the fill station. To push someone to one local or another without knowing where he plans to dive the most is not doing the op justice. He may already own a Razor or a Stealth and most Florida instructors are clueless about them or bash them because they sell some other brand with a higher margin. Train where you plan on diving the most.

 

[rddvet]

Mexico is seriously expensive, lodging is more, airfare is more, nitrox is significantly more. Quality instructor also tends to be more. There's plenty of cheap in MX, just not in the Riviera Maya cave universe

Dude you are way off base. If you use tripadvisor, airbnb, or others the MX lodging can be cheap as hell. And the ridiculously low cost of food offsets cost if you choose to stay in more expensive digs. Cenote fees are higher than the state parks in florida, but as a whole a MX trip can be very cost effective compared to FL. And I go typically 3 times a year and generally stay in nicer condos/houses.

 

[rddvet]

I I simply said that it appeared to be more difficult from what I have heard and read regarding the two rather different types.

That falls under the you don't know what you don't know category. And that isn't a dig. I was there when I was firsrt starting out too. Not much of what you'll hear around cave country is actually true.

 

[rongoodman]

It's hard to beat Mom's Hotel in Playa. I think it was $35/night the last time I was there, right next door to Protec and a few blocks from a dozen restaurants.

 

[bamafan]

That falls under the you don't know what you don't know category. And that isn't a dig. I was there when I was firsrt starting out too. Not much of what you'll hear around cave country is actually true.

This is definitely the truth. There I so much chest thumping and bs'ing going on around cave country in Florida. From my experience the ones doing most of it aren't really the ones doing the real dives. Very few cave instructors are the ones doing the real exploration. You don't realize this when you are a new cave diver but as you gain experience and start going to the end of the lines in the various cave systems you generally don't see their line arrows.