Recommendation for Cave Instructor near Ginnie Springs
- Thread starter AceszHigh
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- Messages
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- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
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Choice of instructor is highly personal ... even with the good ones you have to have a learning style that's more or less in sync with their teaching style, particularly once you start taking higher-level classes.
I did my cave training with Jim Wyatt, and considered that I chose well. Jim has a nice knack of knowing when to be demanding, when to be low-key, when to kick your butt, when to sit back and watch you kick it yourself, when to be encouraging, and when to tell you "that's how people die in caves". I went Cavern to Full Cave with Jim, and never felt out of sync with what he was trying to get me to learn ... even though I often felt as though I was being my own worst enemy learning it. And when it was all over I felt I'd gotten good value for my money.
Before choosing an instructor, contact them ... talk to them ... ask them as many questions as you can think of. The good ones will encourage that. And don't just focus on what you want from the class, but also what they expect from you. One measure of whether or not you've chosen the right instructor is how willing they are to talk to you, and make sure you're prepared for a good learning experience ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
I did my cave training with Jim Wyatt, and considered that I chose well. Jim has a nice knack of knowing when to be demanding, when to be low-key, when to kick your butt, when to sit back and watch you kick it yourself, when to be encouraging, and when to tell you "that's how people die in caves". I went Cavern to Full Cave with Jim, and never felt out of sync with what he was trying to get me to learn ... even though I often felt as though I was being my own worst enemy learning it. And when it was all over I felt I'd gotten good value for my money.
Before choosing an instructor, contact them ... talk to them ... ask them as many questions as you can think of. The good ones will encourage that. And don't just focus on what you want from the class, but also what they expect from you. One measure of whether or not you've chosen the right instructor is how willing they are to talk to you, and make sure you're prepared for a good learning experience ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
- Messages
- 97,575
- Reaction score
- 98,722
- Location
- On the Fun Side of Trump's Wall
- # of dives
- 2500 - 4999
By the way ... I'm not sure how applicable it is to Cavern, because of the way I did my class ... but I agree with James about hitting different cave systems. Learning how to deal with different conditions is supremely important ... and I experienced the very difficulties he mentioned, which is why I am pleased that during my training Jim took us to several entries in the Ginnie, Peacock and Little River caves ... each taught us something we wouldn't have learned at the others ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
ucfdiver
Contributor
True. I edited my original post to make it sound nicer, and give more detail on why I feel how I do.
First off, I should admit, I'm against cavern courses. I think they're trying too hard to make cave diving recreational. I'm more of a fan of cavern+intro and apprentice+full taught as 2 courses, with 35-50 dives between the two. Many more and limits get exceeded, fewer and the diver doesn't have the experience to develop the skills needed, and the apprentice/full course will be spent tweaking skills that would have worked themselves out over time anyways. It's all too often that I see divers who I assume are cavern (at Ginnie) well beyond the daylight zone, knowing that they've never done a lights out drill, lost line drill, etc.
That being said, if you insist on taking cavern, use that time to practice reel skills. Think about following each tie off you do in a lights out scenario. I see divers all to often at one of the two extremes:
- Divers who wrap the line every 5ft up against a wall in a smaller area to make it extremely clean and out of the way. (This is more difficult to follow if you ever had to, even though it "looks pretty")
- Divers who run the line right down the center of the cavern zone, don't secure it at all (This is an entanglement hazard for other teams, especially DPV's, and the tie offs would come lose if you followed them)
Bert Wilcher teaches up there as well as other systems. I did my training with him and he has been an excellent instructor as well as a great friend and mentor.
bert@divewithbert.com is his email.
(352)577-2283 is his phone number.
bert@divewithbert.com is his email.
(352)577-2283 is his phone number.
I think there are a number of good instructors out there. You've gotten some specific recommendations already. I would add that I would highly recommend you spend some time talking to your instructor before you commit to a class. Teaching styles vary, and what works well for one person may not work for another. Find out if you LIKE the person, and if they're willing to communicate with you, before you put yourself under stress with them.
And I don't think we're talking cavern class here . . . we ALL go on to more, don't we?
And I don't think we're talking cavern class here . . . we ALL go on to more, don't we?
Garth
Contributor
Garth
Contributor
"its only a once and a while thing..."
I thought the class had to be taken at 2 or more sites. Maybe Ballroom and Devils fit that bill. I think taking cavern byitself is fine. No need to do intro with it if your not ready. Whats wrong with rec divers becoming cavern divers? Funny how once some people get all there cards they want the rules to change. Just get your trim and buancy down and be able to hover before taking the class and things will go alot smoother. Take your time with the reel too, its not a race. Go to the NACD and NSSCDS websites and go from there.
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