North Florida Cave Diving

[timm_hagen]

I went down to Florida for week over the labor day weekend to take the NSS-CDS Cavern and Basic Cave courses what a blast!!!  8) , but plenty of eye opening and sobering experiences  :-[ .  I definitely think that every open water diver that doesn't mind an overhead environment should go through these two courses.  They are not your traditional pay and get your card like I see so many times....and have done so many times both Rec and Tec diving....it’s a tough set of courses and you are not guaranteed to pass. 

I took my courses through Jim Wyatt (cavediveflorida.com), he is a tough instructor and isn't shy about letting you know where your faults are (but willing to help you overcome them) and he won't pass you if he feels you are not ready....on Wednesday we kept hearing "An instructor can forgive but a cave won't"....on Friday that was put into perspective when my Instructor during our Basic Cave class at Ginnie Springs was called into do a rescue of a lost diver which later turned into a body recovery in Devils Ear/Eye Cave system.  Jim Wyatt and Larry Green pulled the body out of Devils Ear/Eye Cave system....it was a very sobering experience and very sad day among the cave diving community.  It is one thing to hear about people that die while diving....its another to be there watching it all unfold....very very sobering.  The drills you do in the classes are also very sobering....especially the lost main line no visibility get yourself out of the Cavern/Cave drill....instructor is there watching out for you safety but that's it during the drill.

Again these are tough classes but definitely worth the expense...they will make you a better diver....mentally and physically...even if you don't pass.  They will definitely give you a complacency check, something every diver needs....especially experienced divers.  I went down with being on the fence about Cave diving, but wanted to pick up skills from an environments where safety is number one in all cases and instructors that are tough because the environment is a tough one.  Cave divers also pride themselves on buoyancy skills which is another reason I wanted a tough instructor.  In addition Cave and Wreck diving have a lot of similarities and I wanted a good base developed before moving towards Advanced Wreck diving/training....but I enjoyed the caves so much I am planning to head back to take Apprentice Cave and Full Cave within the year.

We dove Ginnies Ballroom, Devils Ear and Peacock, they were all good....my favorite so far is the Devils Ear system.

If you have ever thought about doing cavern or cave diving go to North Florida and take the courses there...you will be glad you did.  Also take the courses from a cave diving association like NSS-CDS, NACD or GUE.....skip the Rec certification version like PADI, NAUI or others....even TDI....they don't cut it....thats my personal opinion. 

Safe Diving

Timm