looking to do cavern

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

I'll second OneBrightGator, those are some good instructors he mentioned, as well as advice.

Go upto Gainville / High Springs area, and also FYI, Ginnie rents the can light , etc, but like OneBrightgator said, hold off untill you talk with your instructor

 

[LiteHedded]

i put my name on a list with an instructor here locally.
we would do some class room work and open water stuff around here and then drive up for two days to do the cavern dives
he's got to get people together to do the class so nothing may come of it.

 

[timle]

Questions to ask would be -

What organization is the cert through?
How many people max in the class?

 

[LiteHedded]

is there a preferred response to those questions I should be looking for?

 

[timle]

Well I'd be looking for a class of 3 (I take it with just myself and my wife) or so and not PADI - but NSS/CDS, NACD, IANTD, NAUI (has a full tech program)

Its much more the instructor than the org - but if you want to get into cave you need to choose a path that will lead you in that direction.

 

[LiteHedded]

ok sounds good
I think I remember him saying the class had a max of four.
I'm confident in the instructor from my talks with him. doesn't want to take just anybody into these classes. he asked me a lot about how proficient I am with trim/bouyancy and how many dives I have done.
he doesn't require a long hose but recommends it. I'm going to get one.

 

[jviehe]

Well I'd be looking for a class of 3 (I take it with just myself and my wife) or so and not PADI - but NSS/CDS, NACD, IANTD, NAUI (has a full tech program)

Its much more the instructor than the org - but if you want to get into cave you need to choose a path that will lead you in that direction.

PADIs cavern class is accepted by many higher level cave diving instructors.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

i have regular fins and can frog kick and back kick in them pretty well
i wouldn't be opposed to a long hose setup
thanks for all the suggestions!

Regardless, if you decide to pursue cave diving, you will have to ditch the splits.

Some instructors may let you take cavern with them, since you can use purely recreational gear for that class, but I'd be really surprised if you can find any cave instructors that will let you use them after cavern.

It isn't about whether you can do all the kicks with them, it's about POWER while swimming into the flow with lots of gear: doubles, deco and stage tanks, dry suit, etc.

Also, you don't need the long hose because cavern divers are not allowed to go thru a restriction. Your recreational should be fine.

 

[Caver95]

PADIs cavern class is accepted by many higher level cave diving instructors.

it depends on who the padi instructor was, I will not take another one unless I know the instructor, and even then I might not.

 

[LiteHedded]

Regardless, if you decide to pursue cave diving, you will have to ditch the splits.

Some instructors may let you take cavern with them, since you can use purely recreational gear for that class, but I'd be really surprised if you can find any cave instructors that will let you use them after cavern.

It isn't about whether you can do all the kicks with them, it's about POWER while swimming into the flow with lots of gear: doubles, deco and stage tanks, dry suit, etc.

Also, you don't need the long hose because cavern divers are not allowed to go thru a restriction. Your recreational should be fine.

I don't use splits
i have quattros. only because jet fins don't fit. the quattros give me plenty of power (or at least I think they do)