finding the right path

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

FallenMatt

Guest
Messages
162
Reaction score
0
Location
Orlando, Florida
Hi there fellow florida divers :)

I am a fresh diver (6 months of diving.. 23 dives right now, also have advanced ow cert) but i was trying to figure out "what's next"... what courses to take, what certs to get...

Unfortunatelly i am one of those types who love the dark places, wierd junk on the bottom of the ocean and the tempation for going where few went before.. and it ain't good thing for OW diver (unless it is an OW diver with a death wish). I would love to get cave certified and start taking advantage of having the cave country just 2 hour drive away.

My question is... for central florida area... what's the best path to take ? how much i would need to plunk down on the gear and certs ? where to go to get certified?

I am going to get Nitrox cert in the next 2 weeks btw.

I am swithing my mares BC for backplate and wings this weekend but obviously i can't humanly afford buying the whole two tank rig+lights just right now, especially that i am just starting my adventrue with diving and who knows how long this thing will last ? :)

I went today to LDS with my buddy to ask some questions. I read up on the agencies/certs before hand and kinda decided that the ultimate goal would be cave diver cert from NSS.

And this is where it gets a "tad" complicated. As i said i can't afford buying the full rig just right now and i was hoping to gradually acquire the eqipment in the mean time going by on rental stuff. I assume that the NSS cavern cert is the one that would let me figure out if i like the cave stuff enough to get the full gear and get cave certified (since sticking to almost standard rec setup is enough for this cert)

The shop i talked to does this the DIR way.. or semi dir way - all gear has to be owned by the students, should take DIR-F class before hand but the certs itself can be whatever i choose (ie GUE or NSS or whatever) the required gear is also strictly defined (ie the DIR way).

I appreciate this way of teaching because it just means that when i am done with the classes I will really know my stuff about cave diving.. but on the flip side it costs serious $$$.... i can afford it (full time job, no gf/wife at this time, nobody to make me feel responsible about finances :mean: but is this the only way ? )

ok, just cut to the chase, this is what i would have to take: (the dirf-f and rescue are not required for NSS cert as far as my reading of the web stuff goes but the LDS wont' teach it without first takign them and i see the point of taking them before getting into overhead environment diving)

Scuba Rescue
DIR-F
Cavern
Intro to cave
Cave

cost - over $3000

equipment (my guesstimate assuming some ebay hunting, using some non-essential rental gear and sticking to wetsuit for a while) - over $3000

the LDS basically said "expect to spend $10k on the whole thing" - certs+gear

If i spread it all over a year or (better) two i guess i could go for it... (am i crazy or something???)

This is in Orlando, are there better deals up north from here ? somewhere where going cave diving doesn't mean 3 hours in a car ? :)

am i completly insane wanting to get into cave diving having only 23 dives (springs, ocean, gulf, 61-83 degrees water, 5ft-100ft visibility, up to 110 depth) done ?

I am doing on average about 2 dives every two weeks... so i should hit 50 in about 2 and a half months...

ehh... this is a long post and i guess it is like asking for meaning of life.. (which is 42 btw).

And i have this wierd feeling that somehow the LDS guy i was asking today all those questions will be reading this post (and i realize i was looking like a complete moron just walking in and asking about $3k certifications like they would be standard $150 advanced certs :rolleyes: ).. but i guess that's life .. live and learn...
 
oh great...

so that's when the $3k homemade filling station comes into play ?


i should just drop this whole idea and go on to become a pilot... it may be as well that flying will be cheaper in the long run....
:rolleyes:

let's see.... $130 per hour for a plane rental... find 1 more person to share a ride with you.. oh yeah.. it gets close to the cost of a charter boat.. the difference is that i have an airport 10 miles away and the West Palm Beach is 3 hours down the highway :mean:
 
thank you for all the answers i've got on PMs

Just for a little update. I was diving yesterday in Ginnie Springs and checked a little flier they have over there. They have classes for cavern and intro to cave: $200 each plus private classes for cave apprentice and full cave...

Plus talked to one DIR shop and found that Cave 1 class would cost around $800...

Keeping in mind the feedback on PM: i will take my time before taking those classes. I will take Nitrox and Rescue class first and then get some more dives under my belt (btw. night diving at Ginnie is pretty cool :-) once all those inner tube floaters kids dissappear)

thanks !
 

Back
Top Bottom