Wreck Diving Vs Cave diving

[Doppler]

FLTEKDIVER once bubbled...
SNIPPED>>>> a caver can add to this, and tell me why other then deeper pentration is a (harder) dive then wreck diving I don't want to sound like im bashing the caver's either, i myself consider both the "Elite" of the diver's, and both take tremdous skils and archivment's !!

Just to myself, i find cave diving alot less challanging so far at this time in my life. If somone can add to this i would love to hear it, with every post i try to learn somthing new and put it to my diving skills, so hopfully one day there not sending a search and rescue team in for me

FLTEK:

While a caver does not have to battle with killer seas, they do have to actually swim! I've done 2 hour wreck dives where I may have actually swum less than five hundred feet. I've done one hour cave dives where I've swum six times that distance.

 

[nyresq]

Doppler, I wasn't asking as a challenge, I was asking if you dove the doria, and if so, I wanted to know what you though of it. I also asked what was your "everest dive"? I wasn't bashing, and I even said that, I was asking for your ideas.
I said I hadn't dove to the doria, and am not trimix certified, but was on a trip, so I do know runtimes and the water conditions while on the line. If you took that as a challenge, you are mistaken, I was asking for your opinion.

I've been bumped by curious sharks on a night dive on the stolt, so they are definitly out there, never had a problem with one, and never heard of anyone having a bad experience with them, but they do swim by and check you out.

 

[Doppler]

nyresq once bubbled...
Doppler, I wasn't asking as a challenge, I was asking if you dove the doria, and if so, I wanted to know what you though of it. I also asked what was your "everest dive"? I wasn't bashing, and I even said that, I was asking for your ideas.
I said I hadn't dove to the doria, and am not trimix certified, but was on a trip, so I do know runtimes and the water conditions while on the line. If you took that as a challenge, you are mistaken, I was asking for your opinion.

I've been bumped by curious sharks on a night dive on the stolt, so they are definitly out there, never had a problem with one, and never heard of anyone having a bad experience with them, but they do swim by and check you out.

Response sent as a PM....

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Doppler your words are well spoken, and best part aboutt hem is they come from experiance, not here say nor there say, or outta a book. My respects go out to anyone with over 550 trimix dives, (being trimix is used in depth, so im assuming you have over 550 DEEP dives, and also who has doven the experiances you have had. Hopfully one day i will have in my log book those kinda of dives. Thanks for the reply, and if you have any pics online i would love to see them of these great wrecks!! Thanks again

 

[padiscubapro]

I have done wreck diving all over the world and caving in florida.. Each has their own potential set of risks and skill sets.. the majority of the skills required by the caver and advanced wreck diver are very similiar.. The main danger in caving is the length of the penetration... wrecks are the hazards in the interior..

Great lakes wrecks are great and overall the deteriation as compared to north atlantic wrecks is incomparable.. the cold great lakes has wood wrecks well over 100 years old in perfect shape, while in the north atlantic by that time all thats left is debris.. Even a 75 year old steel wreck is in serious shape on the atlantic and a severe danger when entering... I have been on wrecks that the walls have become so rusted that you can take your sling bottle at use it to make a new exit...

The great lakes have very quick and abrubt thermoclones where as in the north atlantic other than the first near the surface the temperature change is more gradual and deeper.. both you can get severe surface conditions but the changing tides and the fact that you may have currents in different directions at different depths make the north atlantic slightly riskier.. You dont dare do a fee ascent.. you better be hooked into something.

Line laying skills and foillowing have to be altered in many wrecks especially salt water wrecks since getting your line cut is quite easy as opposed to a cave... keeping all your bottles with you while inside also adds another dimension to the hazard...

Most of the caves I have been in (not all) have a relatively hard overhead so bubble percolation is not a problem...

One of the worse wrecks I can think of and its not that deep is u853, a penetration is handled as a one way dive you enter one portion of the wreck and exit the other.. no matter how good your buoyancy is you cant see behind you.. your bubbles (if on oc) dislodge so much rust that you have zero viz behind you... this isn't a problem on a ccr...

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Love the reply padiscubapro, great information and good comparasing between cave and wreck, both statements are very true, thanks !!

 

[Doppler]

Good summary PSP... especially like the plug for CCR! Very true that's one major difference... percolation simply ain't a biggie in a cave is it? Least not the ones I get to.

Take care mate.

 

[padiscubapro]

Doppler once bubbled...
Good summary PSP... especially like the plug for CCR! Very true that's one major difference... percolation simply ain't a biggie in a cave is it? Least not the ones I get to.

Take care mate.

This is about the only condition I can think of that a CCR is clearly superior and not really debatable even with an SCR.. everything else is just individual perceived benifits/risks.. everyone is entitled to their own opinion.. in this one particular case a CCR is the best tool.. I didn't even intend it to be a plug for a CCR but after I posted it I realized it was, and thats from experience.....just like if I was doing a shark tooth dive on cooper river a simple oc rig is probably the best choice since all guages are useless..

 

[db8us]

Hi,

i started cave-diving to improve my wreckdiving skills.
I like both and there are all kind of conditions on wrecks and caves and so we can not compare apples and oranges besides them beeing round.
Some shallower WWI wrecks scared me by almost falling apart.
Some silty narrow caves i did not like either.

What i do like about most caves is that you do not get seasick and they usually have fresh-water.
I never did a rebreather-wreck dive so far, because the wrecks were not that deep and we did not stay as long either.

In a cave you sometimes have to handle more gear but you can also clip some of it to the line.
Skills should be good on both dives, also the equipment.
I scooter in a cave is live-supporting equipment, on a wreck it is fun.

For wrecks i think i would love to do the Fitz, the Brittanic, and the USS Saratoga.
My favourite wreck-dive so far in the US was the Willkes Barre when Billy Deans was still there.

If you have the chance: TRY BOTH wrecks AND caves !

Michael

 

[Life-Is-Good-Diver]

Thats what i will be doing is both Full cave, and Advanced Wreck with Deco in both, why not have the best of boths worlds