PADI Cavern Specialty

[JLento]

I have been thinking about going to get my PADI cavern diver specialty and was wondering where some of the better places are to do it. I was looking in to Bon Terrre Mine in St. Louis but was hoping there are other places to compare it to. I am looking for an awesome cavern and dive shop. Thanks in advance.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

From your location, go to the Bahamas, or there abouts.









Happy Diving

 

[jonas koh tao]

how about cenotes in mexico? its some great caverns there with amazing vis! cavern and cave diving is one of my passions and i love to this these courses. if you have any questions etc before you start please send me a mail and i try to answer as quick as possible.

cheers
jonas samuelsson
padi course director/trimix instructor traininger/tdi intro cave instructor
jonas@techkohtao.com
AWARD WINNING PADI IDC AND TECHNICAL DIVING

i am based in eilat israel (idcs) and dahab sinai, egypt (tec deep and trimix) at the moment, but if you going to thailand there is some amazing caverns and caves i been diving there (fresh water - Khao Sok National Park - know its far from the states but just an idea)

 

[TSandM]

Why not go down to Florida? There are a lot of caverns there which are natural, and beautiful, and there are a lot of instructors as well.

Is there some reason you want a PADI cavern card? I don't think there are as many PADI cavern instructors as there are from some of the more technically oriented agencies.

 

[gearhound]

The problem with a PADI Cavern course, is if you want to move on. Although it might be an excellent course (depending on the instructor), a lot of the instructors will not recognize it if you want to move on to cave.

 

[Brian Sharpe]

+1 on considering other agencies. You may not be considering going full cave in the foreseeable future but once you get the bug..........

I did my cavern course in Cozumel with German Yanez - fantastic course with a fantastic instructor.

 

[FishDiver]

I am curious about the cavern certification. Does this card permit a diver access to caverns that can't be accessed with an AOW card? Or is it solely an entry to cave certification?

 

[Doc Harry]

I am curious about the cavern certification. Does this card permit a diver access to caverns that can't be accessed with an AOW card? Or is it solely an entry to cave certification?

Cavern is an overhead environment. Bordering on technical diving. Get your instruction from a technical instructor, not a PADI instructor. Look into the National Speleological Society (NSS) or National Assocaition for Cave Divers (NACD) for cavern instruction.

A cavern certificaiton will allow you to dive caverns without a guide or instructor.

 

[boulderjohn]

Cavern is an overhead environment. Bordering on technical diving. Get your instruction from a technical instructor, not a PADI instructor. Look into the National Speleological Society (NSS) or National Assocaition for Cave Divers (NACD) for cavern instruction.

While I do agree that if you are planning to go to full cave it is better to stick with one agency, if you are planning to just dive caverns, the PADI course is about the same as the others. PADI instructors are required to have full cave certification from one of the recognized cave diving agencies. If you go to Florida and pick the right PADI instructor, you can go all the way through PADI full cave certification, which very few people realize is a possibility. The PADI full cave requirements are just about exactly the same as other agencies, and the PADI instructors who are certified to teach it also teach for those other agencies.

 

[rongoodman]

Does PADI allow their Cavern class to be done in doubles? They didn't used to.