Last night i went to the pool for the intro to drysuit class. I will be doing my AOW dives this weekend and i want to do it in dry. After all was said we all went back to the dive shop to put all the equipment away. My girlfriend picked up a magzine and said i would love to do that. It was an article about cave diving, i said WHOA slow down we have 8 dives under our belt and we will only have 13 at the end of the weekend. We dont have nearly the amount of experience that is needed. She looked up and said yeah i guess you have a good point. Well a young girl over heard this conversation and said "All you need is your AOW to get certified in Cave diving." I said oh really and she said yeah and continued to explain it (Since diving is an ego related sport). I let her go on and on and let her believe she knew what she was talking about. Had a talk with the girlfriend and let her know there is more to diving then just some card that says you are "certified" to do something. I was really shocked to hear this from some girl who has her AOW and thinks its something truly Advanced. I didnt get a chance to watch her but i am sure she is far from experienced, but she is ready for the caves :06: Is this common from divers to truly believe this?
Last night
- Thread starter scottyroz
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Technically this other girl is correct, you do you OW, your AOW and then after that you can do the cavern course with most agencies - in terms of actual cards for pre-req's, now skills and ability is a different matter, after so few dives you probably arent all that prepared, practiced or proficient. Oh and that might add up to about 13 dives total all for the cards. There are other levels after cavern that lead towards cave diving, but all the courses i have read about suggest (and rightly so) that you practice a bit at your current level before moving on to the next one. I have been looking into cave certification one day but know i have a fair way to go yet, hopefully cavern later this year after about 60 dives, intro later and then on from there.
Down here they have many caverns that are "OW-safe" and you can get a feel for cavern diving, that is a whole other thing though....
BTW, from what i hear of DS diving, it takes a while to get used to it, thinking along those lines it might put you off during your AOW training slightly if you are fighting the DS still, just a thought that it might be "better" for you to concentrate on the dives if you were wet, and work on the DS stuff later - of course your decision, what do others think?
Down here they have many caverns that are "OW-safe" and you can get a feel for cavern diving, that is a whole other thing though....
BTW, from what i hear of DS diving, it takes a while to get used to it, thinking along those lines it might put you off during your AOW training slightly if you are fighting the DS still, just a thought that it might be "better" for you to concentrate on the dives if you were wet, and work on the DS stuff later - of course your decision, what do others think?
simbrooks:
Did you hear about the diver at Ginnie a few weeks ago who got plastered against the roof and had to be pulled out?
By definition an OW diver is trained to dive in conditions that allow for DIRECT access to the surface. Therefore, I don't think that any cavern is OW safe although some of the people making money off the divers who are diving claim they are.
Training standards would not permit a cavern or cave instructor to take a diver into those caverns before first doing line drills on land and OW. Standards also would dictate the use of a line. I don't think acceptions are made for OW safe caverns.
I view cave diving as purely tec diving and i believe it takes someone who has been diving rec for a few years with many dives under their belt to be considered ready for the move to tec. Now my views can be very skewd but thats just what i believe. I know that after this weekend i will have my AOW card now i might have the pre reqs to start a cave path but i do not consider myself ready for any of the tec stuff yet. As far as the dry suit our instructors really beat us up with it. At one point i looked like a giant air bubble and he made me try and get out of it to show what would happen if an o-ring blew. I am not that worried about the ds this weekend.
I agree with Mike (obivously).
Scotty, you do need AOW, but it's really the skills and experience that you need, maybe between 20-50 dives for cavern, depending on how good you are.
Ben
Scotty, you do need AOW, but it's really the skills and experience that you need, maybe between 20-50 dives for cavern, depending on how good you are.
Ben
Didnt hear about that at Ginnie, i generally check the accidents forum or the FL conch divers, was it posted in there?
I agree that the "OW safe" caverns are a riskier place for OW divers. Like i said there are many places around here that do such trade, some even do night dives. With regard to the line, there is a permenant one that usually runs from the back of the cavern to OW.
Our instructor is a cavern/cave instructor too. That is where we are getting our further training later this year.
I think that Scottyroz has a safe attitude to this whole concept, many people have died from going into cave systems being unprepared. It is technical as it is overhead (solid overhead) in that you cant directly ascend to the surface - a big point and one of the reasons for getting adequate training in that environment. Like i said, technically you can get to cavern in 13 dives or thereabouts with 3 cards and no additional diving, this is not wise.
Glad you are confident in your DS diving, again i dont dive dry, but one day will.
I agree that the "OW safe" caverns are a riskier place for OW divers. Like i said there are many places around here that do such trade, some even do night dives. With regard to the line, there is a permenant one that usually runs from the back of the cavern to OW.
Our instructor is a cavern/cave instructor too. That is where we are getting our further training later this year.
I think that Scottyroz has a safe attitude to this whole concept, many people have died from going into cave systems being unprepared. It is technical as it is overhead (solid overhead) in that you cant directly ascend to the surface - a big point and one of the reasons for getting adequate training in that environment. Like i said, technically you can get to cavern in 13 dives or thereabouts with 3 cards and no additional diving, this is not wise.
Glad you are confident in your DS diving, again i dont dive dry, but one day will.
scottyroz:
Cave diving sure isn't for every one regardless of the experience they have.
The best way to get into it is probably dependant on the person.
I know a guy who was an active dry caver for years and learned to dive specifically so he could get past the flooded sections of the caves he was exploring. He has never had any interest in OW diving and while he has made hundreds of cave dives in some of the worst possible conditions I'll bet he hasn't done more than a couple dozen OW dives total.
Some divers who live near caves take a cavern class early in their diving and build experience at that level before moving on. For most people it's probably best to have some experience before thinking about cave diving.
If it's something you're interested in though I'd recommend finding some one who can get you started on the right path as far as skills and technique. You won't have so much to unlearn that way.
Hemlon
Contributor
I'm not sure why there is such a draw toward cave diving. Can someone explain?
I have been dry caving a good number of times and have an interest in geology - its my job. I find the structures in caves are really interesting and can only imagine what underwater caves would look like. I have watched cave divers going into several caves (from the cavern entrance) just watching them diving into that beauty is incredible - no i didnt and wouldnt follow them out of curiosity - i am just smart enough to resist such urgesHemlon:
I still enjoy looking at coral, fish and wrecks, plant life and such in OW, but there is a draw that i cant quite put my finger on for caves - when i am ready for it.
I think i am more interested in wrecks then i am caves especially since there are thousands of wrecks in my area. It might be a few years away before i feel comfortable enough to penetrate the wrecks. Caves would be further down my list since i know relatively nothing about them. Wrecks have some history to them which furthers my interest. But i am sure thats a whole other debate to get into.
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