Which first--full cave or normoxic trimix?

[tracydr]

If you live close to caves maybe do the caves first. If you can practice the trimix skills do the trimix class first.

 

[Taliena]

For both there is a need to travel.

 

[macado]

I wouldn't do full cave first. I would want to get comfortable at the Intro to Cave level and I feel two weeks is not nearly enough time to digest all that information.

That being said.., I've done as far as Intro to Cave myself (planning full cave next year maybe) and I am in the process of completing normoxic trimix course now.

Cavern + Intro to Cave were great classes for me since they taught me how to properly run lines and do tie offs. I use the same technique for wreck diving as I do cave diving since unfortunately there are not a lot of caves in New England where I normally dive.

 

[ucfdiver]

Just my 2 cents. I finished normoxic Trimix a few weeks back. Im thinking cave for next year. I would say trimix first, but that mostly because trimix is much more applicable to my local diving. The cave class for me has nothing to do with doing cave dives on a regular basis, but more to become a better diver in general.

In that case I would take a Fundamentals course. I took GUE's fundies course and it taught me way more about becoming a better diver than cave training did.

 

[manni-yunk]

In that case I would take a Fundamentals course. I took GUE's fundies course and it taught me way more about becoming a better diver than cave training did.

No thank you.

 

[MalibuJerry]

I think the fact that you are asking says volumes. You should only do the advanced nitrox and normoxic trimix if you want to do technical diving for some reason. If your passion is to dive deep wrecks, then you get your answer. On the other hand if your passion is to visit caves, then you get your answer. But if it is just, hey lets do something, then my recommendation is spend the two weeks doing some really cool diving and enjoy your vacation. Both cave diving and technical diving are expensive, time intensive, require laser like attention to detail, and require continued practice after training with well trained partners. I think it well advised if you seriously considered whether or not either of these are for you. If one of them is, go for it.

 

[DCBC]

It depends upon the type of diving you wish to pursue. If you were in Florida, you have a number of relatively shallow caves to dive. In Europe, much of the cave diving that I've done is in flooded mines. These have ended-up being deep Trimix dives. You also have a number of deep wrecks that you can explore, so Trimix would be my first choice.

 

[rjack321]

I am curious what you should advise for a holiday combined with some TDI or IANTD courses:
-2 weeks and do cavern, intro-to-cave and full cave course
or
-2 weeks and do advanced nitrox and normoxic trimix.

What do you prefer?
Diver has some experience with a twinset, has around 250 dives, and of course a lot of drysuitexperience.

2 weeks in not nearly enough time to actually have any experience at the "baby cave" or "baby deco" levels at all.

If you have 2 weeks do advanced nitrox, cavern, and intro to cave. Come back in 2+ years after a bunch more dives at these levels and take normoxic trimix and full cave.

 

[kensuf]

Cavern & Intro, then gain some experience before going on to full cave.
Normoxic trimix, gain some more experience deep diving, and then decide if you are interested in doing the hypoxic stuff.

 

[MalibuJerry]

at the risk of being repetitive: The people on here dive caves, or wrecks, or deep for a reason. They are not going to be your reasons. If you don't have the passion and discipline and interest to do one or the other, do neither. If you do one of these courses, that will be your entire vacation. You will have instruction in the morning, diving during the day, studying at night. And you will spend a lot of money on equipment and training. Moreover, when you return home you are going to need lots of dive practice with a dive buddy who is also similarly trained. This is more of a commitment than, "hey, let's do a rescue diver course while on vacation." It is a serious undertaking with exponentially greater risk.

If your idea is to do a cave course, for example, so that once in a while on vacation you can go cave diving, then there is another section on this board that you should be looking at...one about unpleasant outcomes.