Recommendation for cave course in mexico?

[TSandM]

T-Dub, where are you in Canada? If you can possibly get some training in the gear configuration you will use, and some work on propulsion techniques and a brush-up on emergency procedures, it will make your cave experience so much easier! We did Cavern with a fellow who had no experience in doubles and hadn't had his mask off since OW. He struggled pretty badly, and didn't continue to Intro. Having had GUE Fundamentals and having dived that way for over a year, we sailed through a lot of the basic stuff, and could concentrate on the cave-specific things, like line running and blind exit drills.

You've gotten a lot of good recommendations for instructors, but I'd like to add Natalie Gibb of Diablo Divers to the list. I've taken a sidemount class from Natalie -- she's good, thorough, and patient. It's also a kick to watch a 4'11" woman slinging cave diving gear around

 

[decompression]

Decompression, what's the protocol for taking the course with Ella or Adam? I know they were UTD instructors. So, does one need to do the whole UTD curriculum from the start? Or can they just do a Cavern/Intro course with them?
Bil Phillips is an excellent recommendation too. And a fellow Canadian. You'll see his name on many of the maps in Mexico. And he's got such a rich history to tell about cave diving in Mexico.

T Dub, what are the rest of the plans for this vacation? Keep in mind that training days are full days. You'll be heading to the shop in the early morning and sometimes not returning until it is dark. Your spouse/significant other might not like that. On the other hand, every student that I've taken down there has said that it is the best training that they have ever done (I don't know whether to take that as an insult or not ) . They felt their skills improved and they felt more confident about dealing with any problems that may arise in the water. It's good training. Feel free to PM me with questions or if you need help arranging things.

Good question Gearhound, the entry course for the UTD cave diver program is essentials of overhead. That's for previously certified divers. The next course is Overhead Protocals and then Cave 1/2. It takes more time as there isn't a "short cut" course but the foundations are solid and Cave 1 expires to keep your skills up to complete the full Cave program.

For the OP, it would be essentials and OHP/cave 1 in 8 days.

Cave Diving Tulum - Explore the underwater Cenotes.

Cave Heaven - Quality cave diving instruction and guided cave diving

Speleotech
As an aside, both Ela and Adam hold ratings from other agencies but I'm not sure if they offer those programs any more.


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[T_Dub]

I am definitely going to try to get some time in the water with doubles. My AOW instructor just got back from several months in Florida where he's been working on becoming a cave instructor. So I think I'll schedule some time with him unofficially just to get used to the doubles and get a lesson in finning properly.

I'm on Newfoundland so it would be very expensive to get out to take fundies. Thats what I want to do but it would be very difficult.

 

[JohnnyC]

I did Full Cave in 8 days with ProtecPlaya, and it was both the hardest, and most fulfilling course I've ever taken. From the information I gathered from speaking with my instructors and other divers, any of the names mentioned here would be excellent instructors.

That being said, I would have a hard time seeing someone with less than 50 dives coming from a PADI background being able to complete the course to standards. I heard tell of a group of PADI TecRec sidemount instructors who spent 8 days and left with only a Cavern ticket. It really does require excellent fine-tuning of skills and it's completely different from open water.

 

[decompression]

Sadly I'm on the other coast, however Harvey Morash is out of Nova Scotia, Louisbourg Scuba Diving Services

He is a fantastic instructor and could get you prepared for Your cave courses. Could definitely save some money by training here and getting the skills you need.

There are several NAUI and UTD courses that could get you up to speed......

Louisbourg Scuba Diving Services

Essentials of Tech · UTD Scuba Diving

I hope that helps.

Jay


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[T_Dub]

I did Full Cave in 8 days with ProtecPlaya, and it was both the hardest, and most fulfilling course I've ever taken. From the information I gathered from speaking with my instructors and other divers, any of the names mentioned here would be excellent instructors.

That being said, I would have a hard time seeing someone with less than 50 dives coming from a PADI background being able to complete the course to standards. I heard tell of a group of PADI TecRec sidemount instructors who spent 8 days and left with only a Cavern ticket. It really does require excellent fine-tuning of skills and it's completely different from open water.

I understand, thats half the reason I'm asking now. I have lots of time to get prepared and better my skills before October. I'd fly to Ottawa for fundies but its not in the cards.

 

[rongoodman]

I did Full Cave in 8 days with ProtecPlaya, and it was both the hardest, and most fulfilling course I've ever taken.

Very impressive, I think my head would have exploded had I tried something like that. Who did you do your course with?

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . .
I'm on Newfoundland so it would be very expensive to get out to take fundies. . . .

I thought you had something called the Bay of Fundies up there?

Sorry--couldn't resist.

 

[decompression]

I thought you had something called the Bay of Fundies up there?

Sorry--couldn't resist.

That's funny......


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[JohnnyC]

Very impressive, I think my head would have exploded had I tried something like that. Who did you do your course with?

ProTec Playa. Rob Bartlett was my instructor with Toro assisting (who also happens to be one of the best guides in Mexico IMO). The only reason I got it done in that amount of time was because both are excellent instructors, and it was an individual course, so their time was directed fully towards me. They have two different teaching styles, and they look at things differently, so it was very beneficial to have two separate opinions and explanations of anything, so that my understanding was always complete.

I already had AN/DP and XR, so the equipment skills were a moot point. Someone without that background would probably have a much more difficult time, as they are constantly throwing failures at you. Every single dive except the demo dive I had some sort of "malfunction," and dealing with that stuff under the hood must be exceedingly difficult without that prior experience.

I will say the hardest part was unlearning bad habits. And my head definitely did explode one more than one occasion. They are very good at working your stress level to the point of failure so that you really understand how to work through problems, and they didn't pull any punches.

I'll be honest, I went in wanting to become a better diver, but not expecting to succeed. I knew the course was difficult, I knew the level of skill required was higher than I was capable of, and my only expectation was to improve. It was a very steep learning curve, and in the end, the ticket was just icing on the cake. The benefit really was in the overall increase in my skill level.


T-Dub, I didn't mean to sound disparaging, I reread my comment and realized it could be taken as such. The best thing you could do is bite the bullet and take the Fundies course, instead of spending the money on doing a bunch of local dives and potentially developing bad habits that you'll have to overcome during the course. Remember, practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. I was a great open water diver beforehand, but I just didn't know what I didn't know, and a large part of the first couple days was getting rid of all those bad habits I'd developed. If I could have replaced my 50 previous dives with one Fundies course, it would have payed dividends an order of magnitude higher.