How much experience does one need before attempting Cavern/Intro to Cave?

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I don't make many trips up to ABWA, but if you keep hitting up the springs(or beach dives from PCB to Gulf Shores), you'll run into me. I don't have the experience some of the posters here have, but I can atleast get you going in the right direction.

 

[Cave Diver]

Alright, so here's a question...
I rarely meet divers who don't have high opinions of their diving skills (except for several women who were mostly being overly critical of themselves, but that's another topic)...So how do you know if you're good, or if you're just overconfident?

Tom

By diving with a buddy you can trust to be honest with you. Most of our dives include a post dive debriefing. What we did right, what we did wrong, what we saw, where we went.

I don't rely on my buddy to tell me I screwed up, I ask him if I did. When something is off for me, I *know* it. Checking with my buddy just confirms what I already know.

Likewise, when we do a challenging dive and everything *clicks* we discuss that too.

When we see a problem, whether it's line placement, diving too fast, silting, deviating from the dive plan, or whatever, we discuss it. Nothing is taken for granted.

 

[Dive-aholic]

BabyDuck,

I only know one certified cave diver, and he hasn't dove in a really long time (6 years, I think - since he got bent at ABWA). Don't know any DIR divers, really.

One thing I'm having trouble with is finding buddies who like to dive as much as I do...I've got quite a few coworkers who dive on once-a-year tropical vacations, but none who actually want to go diving in local or semi-local waters. If I had my way, I'd be in the water every weekend, but I can't find anyone to go with! Hence my efforts to get my significant other interested in diving...

Anyone want to mentor a very eager newbie?

I haven't been up to ABWA, but might have to check it out sometime. Although, with unlimited visibility in the Florida springs I don't see us making that many trips up there. But we'll definitely dive with you in the panhandle. And my wife and I are both cave divers. Also, I'd take up Mat/SuPrBuGmAn on his offer. He does pretty good in the water.

 

[karst_divers]

Hi, I'm pretty new to cave diving too. I am an ow instructor so have lots of experience in the water. However, overhead and darkness is a different ballgame. My bf is a tech cave diver and they go into tiny little spaces, do side mount and stage diving and go for what seems like forever into some caves. That didn't come over night and takes years of dedication to practise, safety and equipment maintenance.

On the other hand, the first time I dived in a cenote (cavern) here in Mexico I was in awe and amazement of cave divers!! It's a thrilling and wondrous feeling "floating" in mid-air among stalactites and stalagmites. The crystal waters are just breathtaking! Anyway, the most important thing you can learn is buoyancy, without which you are a dangerous diver in that kind of environment. And overhead is not the best place to practise those skills; the formations are fragile and when broken, never return again.

So, how much time and experience does one require? It depends on the person. I've seen people who have done hundreds of open water dives, but get nervous in overhead environment and simply lose control of their buoyancy. It's bizarre! I think the key is fear, or lack of it in this case. If darkness and small spaces scare you, stay out. And if not and you are relaxed and in control then go for it! What my instructor told me was that you never stop practising skills, drills and every dive you do recite the safety steps until you can do it in your sleep.

I hope this helps and if you ever come our way, we do cenote and cave diving trips and offer accommodation in a condo. We live in Playa del Carmen, in Mexico. One hour south of Cancun. The largest underground river system in the world lies under this bedrock!

 

[jeandiver]

I'm still waiting to hear about the over-critical women divers...
Sorry , Just me...

As far to say from me , I was blessed to live in Cave Country whilst I did my training. Did Cavern and then practiced (and dove and dove)
Did Intro and then practiced (and dove and dove )

My instructor told me what to work on between Cavern and Intro and I kept working at it.
Same thing between the other levels. I took the constructive "advice" and worked on the skills I needed to work on.
And I was also blessed with Full Cavers to dive with (they dove at my level) and mentored me just wonderfully !

Nuff said...(removed soapbox)

Jeano Beano
Fort White , Florida

P.S. That's why I always make time to dive with people who want to do Intro dives! Someone was super nice to me and I want to return the favor. It meant the world to me.

 

[b1gcountry]

I'm still waiting to hear about the over-critical women divers...
Sorry , Just me...

I kinda had TS&M in mind. I've seen a lot of her posts where she does this little thing wrong, and then brow beats herself on the board for what she did. My wife is somewhat like this as well. I've noticed in classes I've help with, the guys tend to lean toward overconfidence, where some of the women sometimes need a confidence boost. Some guys will compete with each other, and some women more compete with themselves.

This is a generalization, of course, but I do think over-confidence is more common in guys.

Tom

 

[wedivebc]

Yeah...I'm getting the impression that I was in a bit over my head, so to speak. I've no desire to wind up another statistic, so I'll just stay out of the caverns until I've got the appropriate training. I might just have to take that cavern course sooner than later, though

One of the most important prerequisites for overhead training is a safe attitude. This post indicates you are definately on the right track.

 

[BabyDuck]

I kinda had TS&M in mind. I've seen a lot of her posts where she does this little thing wrong, and then brow beats herself on the board for what she did.

jean does this too, but in person, not on the board. she's definitely her own worst critic.

give yourself a hug, jean!

ps - 2 1/2 more weeks!!

 

[jeandiver]

jean does this too, but in person, not on the board. she's definitely her own worst critic.

give yourself a hug, jean!

ps - 2 1/2 more weeks!!

Awwww.....
Thanks.
Yes , I DEFINATELY can be my own worst critic , for sure.
So Tim and BabyDuck , you are correctamundo.

Yes , oh yes , the clock is a ticking ... (Can't wait)

Jeano Beano

 

[Dayo Scuba]

If you think you are ready to take a cavern class then you should. If you take it with one of the instructors that teaches technical courses and does a good job, you may find it to be a very humbling experience. I have always recommended students taking a cavern class as it teaches proper buoyancy and trim and good diving practices. Find a real hard-ass instructor, it will be worth it as you go forward in technical and open water diving. Remember most diving accidents occur when one over steps there training, with that said stay out of caves, caverns and wrecks until you are trained or the next post about you could be in the Incident and Accident Posts