Tell us how that course went? How many dives, skills, drills? Cost? Academics?
And here is my Cavern Review!
I decided to pursue a PADI Cavern Certification so I planned a 5 day trip and padded recreational dives before and after my certification. I arrived in town Saturday night, got settled in and early Sunday morning I was off to meet my guide who is a certified Cavern and Cave Instructor. It was early and raining and slightly cold so we were the only ones at Paradise Springs. We donned our gear, did our safety checks and briefs and away we went. I will confess, seeing the entrance into the abyss made me a bit nervous but as soon as we crossed the threshold the nervousness gave way to amazement! I was surprised at how clear the water was, and I was also astonished at the different fossils and natural structures. Turning around and seeing that light blue turquoise color at the cavern entrance from the inside was an amazing site to see! After we finished our dive, we went off to Blue Grotto where we did two dives AND I got a chance to see Cecil the turtle sunbathing! I did three dives that day, it allowed me to relax and to get familiar with caverns. These were purely recreational dives, we didn’t do any line work or skills.
The next day on Monday was the big day, training day! I meet my instructor and prior to entering the water, he looked at my setup. He took the time to streamline my BCD for cavern diving by securing anything that is a drag or entanglement hazard. So now I can dive recreational or technical with my BCD. His approach is to make the best with what you have and then make upgrades as you progress. Afterwards we hop in the pool and he observes me then he did the most shocking thing,.........he removed ALL of my weights. Surprisingly I was able to descend and maintain buoyancy with zero weights! Afterwards we worked line drills in the pool, then got out the pool and worked line drills again and again. After doing line drills we loaded up the truck and did the 2 hr drive to Ginnie Springs. During the drive we did a review of the material. We had two additional divers with us, one was a cave diver, who tagged along to assist and the other diver had started the Cavern course but had to drop out due to a non diving injury. He was tagging along in preparation of restarting his certification. My instructor told me that having the extra divers gives him the opportunity to better observe and provide feedback.
I pride myself on being a good planner so when planning for this trip I knew the water temp was around 70-72 degrees year round. Based on my log book entries my 3mm wet suit with a 2mm undergarment top is sufficient for me at depth and it was. HOWEVER I did NOT take into account the air temps. Early morning temps were in the 40's AND there was a slight breeze. Can you say popsicle?
After we check in at Ginnie Springs, we do our safety brief and get geared up. We hop in the water, do our buddy/safety checks and away we go. To my surprise with zero weights I actually did submerge. We dropped to the entrance of the cavern which was at aprox 25ft and proceeded to run lines into and out of the cavern. The three of us took turns alternating being the reel diver, the 2nd diver and 3rd diver while the instructor looked on. We used the rule of thirds to determine turn around pressure, so whoever reached it first would turn the dive. The cave diver started first as the reel diver and away we went. He took us through some tight places but it was not as bad as I thought. On this run I was the 2nd diver, with this being my first training dive I was focused on keeping up which I did. However during the debrief, it was pointed out that I did not help the reelman and I didn't check back with the 3rd diver to ensure he was ok. I was so laser focused on keeping up that I forgot about my duties as the 2nd diver. So on the next dive, I would repeat as the 2nd diver and this time I did a better job and for the rest of the week I had no issues. Finally it was my turn as the reelman, I successfully ran the reel in and out of the cavern. Upon reaching turn around pressure we returned to the surface did our debrief.
End of Training Day 1
Day 2 we went to Peacock Springs! Today it was just three of us as the cave diver had to leave. So after the brief we did line drills, then we did them again and then one more time for good measure. During one of silt out drills my instructor tied an extra line to ours just ahead of me to see how I would react. I reacted correctly by keeping track of our line and by communicating to my buddy. So far I’m doing ok. On another silt out drill I felt a tug, turns out I had gotten entangled. I signaled my buddy to halt then I traced out the entanglement and cleared it. I had thought my instructor had did it but he didn’t, it happened naturally. My backup light had legitimately gotten tied up with the line but to my credit I had successfully troubleshot the issue. Had a great day of training and I thought I was finished. My instructor told me, he’d like to do some more training on the 3rd day, which was supposed to be my recreational day. He was pleased with everything except for my tieoff’s and my finning. While I was slightly disappointed, I understood and didn’t hesitate to change out.
At each surface interval I was shaking like a leaf. My instructor was concerned and I think he was on the verge of calling the dives but I told him I was fine and mentioned that while at depth I was not shaking, it was the air temp. End of Training Day 2
On the final day we go to Manatee Springs – Catfish Hotel. This is it! The other diver had left so it was just the instructor and I. We did two dives. I finally GOT IT!!! The issue I had with tie off’s was that I made the mistake of watching a lot of YouTube videos. YouTube has been helpful but you have to be careful at what you watch and implement. I had memorized and committed to muscle memory the incorrect method and it took a while for me to get the proper technique ingrained. So after much practice, I was able to rectify it and finally get it right! As for the finning, I had my legs straight INSTEAD of being bent at a 90 degree angle. With my legs extended they slightly sunk and as a result I was stirring up the silt. Once I bent my knees to 90 degrees I didn’t kick up any silt. End of Training Day 3.
So on the last day I head to the shop, we review the final exam and I ace it. We chatted for a bit and he gave me some excellent feedback on what I did correctly and what I need to keep working on. He also mentioned some gear recommendations one of which is eventually retiring my BCD and going with a BP/W setup and new fins. He encouraged me to keep diving and practicing at my local lake. I truly had a great time and learned a lot and am looking forward to going back next year. And I will be better prepared for surface weather! LOL
FYI, I did 3 recreational dives and 7 training dives that week!
