Starting the process, advice needed

[Motojack]

No experience in SM, just getting interested in it right now. Posting just because I am interested in hearing from more experienced people.

The toughest part of the configuration seems to be to adjust the tanks' position in a way that you are streamlined and stable. Quicker with a good instructor.

Therefore, I believe intro to tech + SM is a great combo.

No need to do it in Mexico - do it before, when in Mexico go for your intro to cave.

Your only problem is to find a good instructor in the Caribbean.

PS how often do you plan to dive? Skills need to be maintained, I would recommend at least a dive every 2 weeks as a standard

Good thoughts, not sure if I can find someone on St Croix where I dive most. Will be diving n a regular basis. Thanks.

 

[Motojack]

A related question: do you consider diving dry to be an essential part of tech diving?

To me, wanting to get into tech without learning to dive dry is like saying you want to become a racecar driver but you don't want to get glasses to correct your vision problems.

I understand your point of view, but I am not interested in any tech diving beyond "relatively" warm Mexican caves. No NW / Great Lakes / Atlantic diving in my future. If I find its too cold will investigate dry suit at that time.

 

[halocline]

A related question: do you consider diving dry to be an essential part of tech diving?

To me, wanting to get into tech without learning to dive dry is like saying you want to become a racecar driver but you don't want to get glasses to correct your vision problems.

I think it entirely depends on where you want to dive. My interest is pretty focused these days on Mexican caves so I don’t need a drysuit. If/when that changes, I’ll get one and learn how to dive with it.

 

[AnnikaPersson]

Since you are asking for advice to out line a path - my humble opinion is to start with GUE fundamentals and take it from there.
Yes it is in not in side mount - however, my advice is to start a process you are lining up, really from the basics - and see how this develops and find the tool kit(s) best suitable for the dives you would like to do at a certain time.

Good luck

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

I think it entirely depends on where you want to dive. My interest is pretty focused these days on Mexican caves so I don’t need a drysuit. If/when that changes, I’ll get one and learn how to dive with it.

The value of drysuit in Mexican caves is not just thermal protection.

I had an itchy mosquito bite, dived wet for few days in cenotes and had to start using an antibiotic cream because the wound became very infected. Warmer fresh water can be pretty biologically active, that’s why people use all the ear beer and such.

Drysuit is also a backup source of buoyancy if you don’t use a double bladder wing - or if you are on a longer dive and only can inflate the backup wing orally which gets old very fast.

Since you are asking for advice to out line a path - my humble opinion is to start with GUE fundamentals and take it from there.
Yes it is in not in side mount - however, my advice is to start a process you are lining up, really from the basics - and see how this develops and find the tool kit(s) best suitable for the dives you would like to do at a certain time.

Good luck

+1 for GUE Fundies. You will also get a more universal training. Personally I found backmount significantly less fiddly, so it’s easier for me to get back into backmount after not diving the configuration for 6+ months.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

I don't know how fundies is helpful to a person who is asking how to get to full cave in SM in Mexico
For his goals, fundies is a total waste of time and money that doesnt bring him any closer to his goals


Agree that cavern alone is a useless cert like @DiveLikeAMuppet mentioned, but its great if you combine it with SM on trip#1 for 7 days training. So while technically the SM portion is only 2 days, in reality it will be extended over the entire 7 days of sm+cavern training as your @Motojack instructor will be helping you with gear tweaking etc. Bottom line is that you will end up with 7 days SM training and 5 days cavern training.

 

[macado]

A related question: do you consider diving dry to be an essential part of tech diving?

To me, wanting to get into tech without learning to dive dry is like saying you want to become a racecar driver but you don't want to get glasses to correct your vision problems.

I don't consider dry to be an essential part of technical diving but they can certainly be synonymous. I would 100% agree that certain exposure times in certain water temperatures require a drysuit. It's just another piece of equipment.

For me it's simply the exposure protection required for the water temperature. I used to teach people in basic open water classes in New England in a drysuits, a far cry from any sort of technical diving.

Regarding the drysuit question in Mexico. It largely depends on the person, in my opinion. I do plenty of "tech diving" without a drysuit.

All of my "local" dives in Great Lakes / New England are done using a drysuit and dry gloves. I would never not dive a drysuit there; I would be hypothermic very quickly. Even all of my Florida cave dives in 68-72f (20-22c) water require a drysuit. I tried diving wet a couple times and I came out of the water shivering and miserable.

For whatever reason (bioprene / cold tolerance?) I'm able to tolerate Mexico water temps 78-80f (~25-27c) much better in a full 7mm wetsuit. 3-4 hour dives are no problem for me in a 7mm wetsuit. Actually a few of my dives were in the 6 hour range last week and I was in a 7mm. Granted the caves in Cozumel are a bit warmer than the mainland.

Someone actually once told me I must not be a "real" cave diver because I was diving in a wetsuit. I guess all my cave dives are fake.

My wife on the other hand dives dry down here. She is fine for 2 hours dives in a wetsuit but beyond that she has to be in a drysuit or she is completely miserable. She has a a brand new 7mm Waterproof wetsuit. It didnt make any difference for her. She basically dives dry 100% in the caves down here.

My advice for the original poster @Motojack is stick with a wetsuit until you find your dive times or comfort level requiring a drysuit. During classes, there can be a lot of standing around and debriefing in the water this certainly doesnt help you stay warm.

Honestly, you might even want to consider a full 7mm as opposed to a 5mm. Wetsuits get compressed relatively quickly. If you want to buy a drysuit it's definitely not a bad idea and nobody is going to fault you for wanting one.

 

[mr_v]

FWIW, I never finished a dry suit dive wishing I had a wet suit. However, many a times I finished a dive with a wet suit wishing I had a dry suit.