Vacation: Cavern/Cave Interest

[FranzKafka]

I have first 2 weeks off in November and am planning a dive trip. I am fascinated with the caverns in Mexico. I am not a cave diver, Just AOW, Nitrox certs. 47 years old, very comfortable underwater. 55+ dives. Some deep (120'+). I have been doing some Northeast wreck dives and really like that. I have a deep respect for all that can go wrong, so I would not charge blindly into cave diving.

I have read as much as I can here on the forum. So I am asking what would be a good vacation to start down the path of cave diving? I can only do so many reef dives before I get bored out of my mind. Looking at the pictures of caverns and caves has really made me want to see if it is something I would like.

So what do you all recommend? I am a little hesitant to commit to signing up for a cave class without knowing 100% if I will like it. I dove Devils Grotto in Grand Cayman and I absolutely loved it. I prefer challenging myself within my limits.

So are there any places/destinations you all could suggest that would get me into caverns with a guide?

And by all means if you think I am posting in wrong place, move me where you think appropriate.

 

[TSandM]

If you take a vacation, either to Cozumel or the mainland, you can combine reef diving with cavern tours. Cavern tours for OW divers are big business there, and there are many operators who provide them. I would be cautious about who to book with, though, as I have seen operators leading tours and violating several of the voluntary guidelines that are supposed to be followed (which include the guide diving in cave gear, lights for all divers, and no more than 4 divers to a guide).

I would highly recommend Dennis Weeks of Aquanauts (he's Pez de Diablo on this board). Dennis's dive shop runs boats out of Puerto Aventuras, and my husband has been out with them and was pleased with the dives. Dennis does the cavern tours, and is also a cave instructor.

Another good choice for cavern tours, especially if you decide to do the reef diving in Cozumel, would be German Yanez of Yucatech. German's a delightful man, a cave instructor and explorer.

I hear you on not signing up for the class until you're sure you're going to like the environment. That's what I did -- three days of cavern tours on a Cozumel trip, and I was utterly, totally hooked. (You might get lucky, too, and do one day of tour and then decide to go on to take the class, if the instructor/guide has the time free.)

 

[giles45shop]

There's several places in North FL you can go that are "technically" available to OW divers. The Ginnie Ballroom, Paradise Springs, Devil's Den, Blue Grotto are all places that "allow" OW divers.

The vast majority of the people who go there are OW/AOW certified. That said, you can still get into issues if things go wrong in an overhead environment and it may not be you that makes the mistake. You can have perfect trim and good fin techniques and still get silted out by another diver.

Fortunately, the cave training is a progressive process, and a cavern class will really give you a chance to evaluate how you feel about diving in that environment and provide you with skills that will be beneficial in all of your future diving whether you decide to go on with future training or not. Most cavern classes are $250-400, so it's not a huge investment and if you consider the fact that you are doing at least 4, usually more, dives it's only slightly more that a normal day of boat diving.

John

 

[FranzKafka]

So how many days of Cavern tours could I do if I stayed on the mainland? And how many dives do you get to do on a cavern tour per day?

I like the idea of doing a few cavern tours and then joining in on a class. So if I have 2 weeks what do you think would be a good plan as to where to start, where to stay?

 

[ucfdiver]

I would strongly recommend taking a cavern course in Marianna FL. I can't imagine anyone not liking the caves OR the scenery around that area of the state. Plus you have the dry cave that has tours at Florida Caverns State Park as well!

 

[FranzKafka]

There's several places in North FL you can go that are "technically" available to OW divers. The Ginnie Ballroom, Paradise Springs, Devil's Den, Blue Grotto are all places that "allow" OW divers.

The vast majority of the people who go there are OW/AOW certified. That said, you can still get into issues if things go wrong in an overhead environment and it may not be you that makes the mistake. You can have perfect trim and good fin techniques and still get silted out by another diver.

Fortunately, the cave training is a progressive process, and a cavern class will really give you a chance to evaluate how you feel about diving in that environment and provide you with skills that will be beneficial in all of your future diving whether you decide to go on with future training or not. Most cavern classes are $250-400, so it's not a huge investment and if you consider the fact that you are doing at least 4, usually more, dives it's only slightly more that a normal day of boat diving.

John

I like the idea of the cavern class. And I also like your advise about the places I could "technically" dive, but could have issues. That is why I would want to start off doing it right from the beggining. An electrician once told me always respect something that can kill you.

So if you all had 2 weeks off and where just getting into this discipline where would you go?

 

[PfcAJ]

James is spot on. The Marianna area is beautiful, and the caves are spectacular.

 

[SandyRobinson]

So if you all had 2 weeks off and where just getting into this discipline where would you go?

I am partial to the US but look forward to a trip to Mexico. Great advice on Marianna in the panhandle. I would also consider North Florida where you have Ginnie, Peacock Springs State Park(PSSP), and Little River. Marianna is probably 3 to 3.5 hours form the PSSP and Ginnie area.

I took Cavern and Intro at the same time. We did the four or five cavern dives in Marianna(3 different caverns). The next weekend, we did two cave dives in Marianna and then two dives at PSSP. Apprentice and Full were also split between two locations. Our instructor had us dive a variety of caves during the classes. Someone else can tell you how many different systems may or may not be required.

Some websites to visit:

National Association For Cave Diving
Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society
www.caveadventures.com Edd, the owner, is a super guy and can help you with any equipment needs. Caution, buying from Edd can be addictive.
Cave and Technical Dive Training and Cave Excursions East Rich Courtney is also a great guy.
Cave Excursions
Florida Cave Diving Florida Cave Diving Instruction Florida Cave Diving Services
The official page of Ginnie Springs Outdoors, in High Springs Florida. Visit our online shop for great deals on dive gear and accessories.
www.cavedivers.net

Also, if by chance you are in Florida the weekend before Thanksgiving, you could attend the NACD annual seminar in Gainesville.

 

[TSandM]

Since the OP specifically said he was fascinated with the caverns in Mexico, my recommendations have been for diving in MX.

If you stay on the mainland, you could do cenote tours every day if you wanted; they're generally two dives, and take about a half day. The number of caverns which are suitable for OW divers is limited, however, and you might well end up repeating some. I would think that two days of tours would be plenty to let you know if you want to take the class.

It depends on the time of year you go, as to how busy the instructors are likely to be, though. If you, for example, booked six days with somebody and did two of tours and then wanted to take the class, that shouldn't be an issue, since you have already reserved the time. On the other hand, I don't think anybody is going to be willing to hold open four days just in CASE you decide to do the class

The other option is just to book at least the cavern class (which is two days) and then either do cavern tours after that, or extend to do Intro. We originally didn't plan anything more than cavern, but decided to do the two additional days for Intro more or less on the spur of the moment, and luckily, the instructor had time for us.

Mexico is also good because, should you discover you DON'T like cave diving, you've got very reasonable reef diving available (which is not so true with N. Fl.). Depending on lodging, MX may be somewhat more expensive. The Q. Roo cave systems are all very close together (no more than an hour's drive from one end of the area to the other) whereas distances in N. Fl. are longer (up to 3 1/2 hours from High Springs to Marianna).

But questions of Florida versus Mexico aside, it is quite possible to do a two week diving trip to the Yucatan, incorporate cenote tours, a cavern or Intro class, and reef diving, as your interests turn out to direct you.

 

[Dive-aholic]

You could get a lot of diving done in the Florida panhandle. And if you want some salt water time, too, then Marianna is the place to go. Panama City is only an hour south of us. But after doing some cavern/cave training, you might not want to head to the gulf... You can also split your time up between Marianna and Peacock. Peacock is about a 2 hour drive from Marianna. Tallahassee is right in the center, the airport being a little closer to the Marianna side.