OP
How I started and why I continue to cave dive
- Thread starter Cave Diver
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OldNSalty
Contributor
Oh, you can do this in the caves! The hardest part of the planning and preparation, for those of us who don't live where the caves ARE, is getting there. After that, which cave, how many dives, how long, and all the rest, can literally be figured out at breakfast . . . except, of course, for the ones that require gas blending
Are you trying to assimilate me?
OP
Resistance is futile...
I've been amazed about caves for many years, enjoyed cave exploration just walking inside, and was always curious about all the divers (in Lot region in France for example - didnt know about Florida at that time) getting in there.
First there was the pictures, not very deep, but the clarity of waters, and the blue lights are so amazing.
Then there was youtube. So many cool videos there.
One of my last favorite YouTube - Cave Diving with Liquivision X1 ;-)
So if I'm right, TsandM/Lynne may be ever more inspiring cave diver than the UTD guy!
I hope I'll try some days (need certainly some years). Whether I'll get doomed and only think about cave diving or not in a another story, but having to try this experience is certainly one goal of life.
Cave divers are self-assimilating . . .
I remember finding myself in Ginnie's ballroom in the early 1990's and thinking, "Wow! It's so pretty in here." I wasn't used to amazing visibility in fresh water and fresh water without a thermocline. I dove some other spring systems and knew I wanted to see what was further down the tunnels where only the cave divers were going.
A few years later after taking GUE-F and Tech 1, I wanted to find out how far removed DIR was from cave diving as taught by NACD, NSS-CDS, TDI and IANTD. While I signed up for cave training to improve my knowledge and skills, I found that I absolutely love cave diving.
I love everything about it - the endless penetration into a gorgeous natural realm, the forests that surround springs in the United States and the islands, the local flavor, the talent within the community, the chance to sit around local watering holes, trailers, or the homes of old and new friends talk diving without having to hear Jimmy Buffet or steel drums echoing in the background, the slow Southern charm of northern FL or the Jurassic Park feel of places off the beaten path, the history you see when you read the initials on line arrows or the happy surprise of seeing your friend's initials on a deco bottle or a jump when you weren't expecting to be cave diving at the same time in the same place, and the chance to discover new things or swim down lines or tunnels you love or that are new to you.
Best of all, I can sleep late because I don't need to be at the dock and I don't have to be in any hurry to rinse gear - if at all.
A few years later after taking GUE-F and Tech 1, I wanted to find out how far removed DIR was from cave diving as taught by NACD, NSS-CDS, TDI and IANTD. While I signed up for cave training to improve my knowledge and skills, I found that I absolutely love cave diving.
I love everything about it - the endless penetration into a gorgeous natural realm, the forests that surround springs in the United States and the islands, the local flavor, the talent within the community, the chance to sit around local watering holes, trailers, or the homes of old and new friends talk diving without having to hear Jimmy Buffet or steel drums echoing in the background, the slow Southern charm of northern FL or the Jurassic Park feel of places off the beaten path, the history you see when you read the initials on line arrows or the happy surprise of seeing your friend's initials on a deco bottle or a jump when you weren't expecting to be cave diving at the same time in the same place, and the chance to discover new things or swim down lines or tunnels you love or that are new to you.
Best of all, I can sleep late because I don't need to be at the dock and I don't have to be in any hurry to rinse gear - if at all.
stakanak
Guest
I am a newbie diver and after seeing ads for Bonne Terre and the Cenotes in Mexico I have to go there! There is something so alluring to being under water under ground I cannot stop thinking about it. Do it do it do it!
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I'm not sure if I'm "one of us" or not ... not yet.
I got my introduction to caves on a trip to Cozumel with Lynne and Peter a few years back ... doing the basic Cenote tour with our dive guide. It was nice ... real nice. But I'm more into critters than rocks, so for me it was more of a novelty item ... nice, but not as nice as a really good reef dive.
Fast forward a couple years. My tech instructor does a few trips a year to Florida, even keeps a locker full of gear down there, and suggested I should get cave certified so I could join my usual tech buddies for some cave diving. The social aspect of doing it with people I was already diving with was enough of an attraction to convince me to get the training.
So last August I headed down for the eight-day "zero-to-hero" course. Well, things didn't go quite as easily as I had expected them to, and I only managed to make it as far as Apprentice Hero. Still, it was an exhilarating, exhausting, and thoroughly enjoyable experience ... so I figured I'd do it again.
November I headed back down and spent a week diving Apprentice-level caves ... Ginnie, Peacock, Little River, Madison Blue, and Hole in the Wall. Met a bunch of really nice people ... several of whom I had already known right here on ScubaBoard for quite some time ... and really enjoyed myself.
In about 34 days (not that I'm counting or anything) I'll be heading back down to take my Full Hero training ... hopefully I'm better prepared this time.
Still, I can't say as I'm totally hooked on cave diving. I like it a lot ... but I also like diving wrecks, reefs, walls, and just about any other way there is to blow bubbles for fun. I'm still more into critters than rocks. But the caves are their own attraction, their own beauty, and their own challenge.
It's kinda like asking me if I'd rather have steak or salmon ... it really depends on mood and circumstances. Given the choice between a week in the caves of Florida, a week on the walls of Port Hardy, or a week on the reefs of Komodo, I'd be hard put to make a choice.
I guess I'm kinda the "Tiger Woods" of diving ... I love 'em all ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
I got my introduction to caves on a trip to Cozumel with Lynne and Peter a few years back ... doing the basic Cenote tour with our dive guide. It was nice ... real nice. But I'm more into critters than rocks, so for me it was more of a novelty item ... nice, but not as nice as a really good reef dive.
Fast forward a couple years. My tech instructor does a few trips a year to Florida, even keeps a locker full of gear down there, and suggested I should get cave certified so I could join my usual tech buddies for some cave diving. The social aspect of doing it with people I was already diving with was enough of an attraction to convince me to get the training.
So last August I headed down for the eight-day "zero-to-hero" course. Well, things didn't go quite as easily as I had expected them to, and I only managed to make it as far as Apprentice Hero. Still, it was an exhilarating, exhausting, and thoroughly enjoyable experience ... so I figured I'd do it again.
November I headed back down and spent a week diving Apprentice-level caves ... Ginnie, Peacock, Little River, Madison Blue, and Hole in the Wall. Met a bunch of really nice people ... several of whom I had already known right here on ScubaBoard for quite some time ... and really enjoyed myself.
In about 34 days (not that I'm counting or anything) I'll be heading back down to take my Full Hero training ... hopefully I'm better prepared this time.
Still, I can't say as I'm totally hooked on cave diving. I like it a lot ... but I also like diving wrecks, reefs, walls, and just about any other way there is to blow bubbles for fun. I'm still more into critters than rocks. But the caves are their own attraction, their own beauty, and their own challenge.
It's kinda like asking me if I'd rather have steak or salmon ... it really depends on mood and circumstances. Given the choice between a week in the caves of Florida, a week on the walls of Port Hardy, or a week on the reefs of Komodo, I'd be hard put to make a choice.
I guess I'm kinda the "Tiger Woods" of diving ... I love 'em all ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
OP
Amen!
Well, he is a cave diver and there's a picture of him with Bill Rennaker in the Cave Excursions shop. Maybe you have more in common than you think.
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