I understand what you are saying,but time probably isn't the best determiner versus a number of dives. I've known people who wait a year;one person dove at least once a month,and was well prepared,another lived a significant distance and only made one trip in that year.
So many agencies, what to do?
- Thread starter Tank102a
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I understand what you are saying,but time probably isn't the best determiner versus a number of dives. I've known people who wait a year;one person dove at least once a month,and was well prepared,another lived a significant distance and only made one trip in that year.
Scubastud16
Contributor
NSS-CDS, NACD, NAUI, IANTD, TDI, and GUE.
I agree. I know someone who attended a professional program,only to find out it wasn't accredited,so their certificate was not worth the paper it was printed on. Some certifications aren't recognized at certain sites,some certifications are questioned,and some are being rejected entirely.
I wouldn't restrict yourself to panhandle instructors, but...
You might talk to Rob of Chipola divers. He has a non-certification intro to doubles course that might be a good stepping stone for you (regardless of which courses you end up taking to get you into cave diving). I think he's here on SB but I can't recall his screen name right now.
Chipola Divers - Home
Thanks for the recommendation, Richard!
Tank, PM me, e-mail me at chipoladivers@gmail.com, or call me on my cell at 850-272-7484.
The first thing any instructor is going to want to know is what your diving experience is. It is true you don't need AOW to begin your cavern/cave training. Most AOW courses don't do anything more than introduce you to some different types of diving. Your experience will be the determining factor on how you should proceed. As far as agency, the main ones have already been mentioned. You'll also find that many cave instructors teach for multiple agencies, so the issue is not which agency but which instructor. The courses are the same. The difference is which agency's student manual you purchase.
Let's look at cost...
What type of gear do you now have. You can pretty much take a cavern class with almost any gear configuration. However, if you want to continue into Intro and Cave, you should consider getting some time in a back plate and wings in doubles or a sidemount rig before you being your training. The cavern course is the foundation course of cave diving. You will learn a lot in this course. The focus will be in task loading you with new skill sets and different problems that can occur while you maintain horizontal trim and good buoyancy. You don't want to be getting used to new gear in this course. You want to be completely comfortable in the gear you will be using. So the course fee (usually $300-400 per 2 day course) is not the only consideration. You may have to purchase new gear. Now, I do have gear I loan out to my students to try during the course but this usually involves a day or 2 of spending time in the gear in the water before beginning the cavern course...specifically the intro do doubles/sidemount course that Richard mentioned. You also have to consider your travel costs to come to Florida, site entry fees for the different training sites, the student manual, and the certification fee. None of these is usually included in the course fee.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck and dive safe!
Tank, PM me, e-mail me at chipoladivers@gmail.com, or call me on my cell at 850-272-7484.
The first thing any instructor is going to want to know is what your diving experience is. It is true you don't need AOW to begin your cavern/cave training. Most AOW courses don't do anything more than introduce you to some different types of diving. Your experience will be the determining factor on how you should proceed. As far as agency, the main ones have already been mentioned. You'll also find that many cave instructors teach for multiple agencies, so the issue is not which agency but which instructor. The courses are the same. The difference is which agency's student manual you purchase.
Let's look at cost...
What type of gear do you now have. You can pretty much take a cavern class with almost any gear configuration. However, if you want to continue into Intro and Cave, you should consider getting some time in a back plate and wings in doubles or a sidemount rig before you being your training. The cavern course is the foundation course of cave diving. You will learn a lot in this course. The focus will be in task loading you with new skill sets and different problems that can occur while you maintain horizontal trim and good buoyancy. You don't want to be getting used to new gear in this course. You want to be completely comfortable in the gear you will be using. So the course fee (usually $300-400 per 2 day course) is not the only consideration. You may have to purchase new gear. Now, I do have gear I loan out to my students to try during the course but this usually involves a day or 2 of spending time in the gear in the water before beginning the cavern course...specifically the intro do doubles/sidemount course that Richard mentioned. You also have to consider your travel costs to come to Florida, site entry fees for the different training sites, the student manual, and the certification fee. None of these is usually included in the course fee.
If you have anymore questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck and dive safe!
I agree with that 100%. I had 3 months between my Intro and Cave classes. I dove every week during that period and had close to 50 Intro dives before I moved on to Cave. Having the benefit of living only a few hours from the caves was key for me. There are lots of people who don't and would take 2-3 years to get that many Intro dives if they only came one or two weeks a year. Then there are those who might come down 1 weekend a month and have that many in less than a year. The key is not the length of time that has passed, but how much you have worked on the skills and how much you have learned from diving and from other, better divers than yourself.
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
+1 InkDiver
I will say this, in my opinion theres no sense in trying to go far fast, if you havent seen the cavern or the beginning of the cave why try and go see the back of it, just dive some and enjoy it, get to know the front of the cave before you progress on to new certification levels etc. Go dive all the systems you can or that you know about at each consecutive level so that you can get to know the cave, dont miss portions of it because of trying to reach a destination, and get varied exprience in different systems.
I should also note that I have been diving with people with NACD, NSS-CDS, NAUI, TDI, GUE and IANTD Cave certs. All have been good divers and all have had good training. I also know almost all of their instructors. All good people, all good instructors and mentors. Find the right instructor for you, the agency part will fall into place.
As far as costs go, Rob provided a good overview. Like he said, a lot will depend on the gear you already have. I know that between gear, and training, I've spent well over $5k, and that doesn't include the camera gear. Don't get me started on that
As far as costs go, Rob provided a good overview. Like he said, a lot will depend on the gear you already have. I know that between gear, and training, I've spent well over $5k, and that doesn't include the camera gear. Don't get me started on that
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