cavern cert story

[TheHobster]

What is the difference between the cavern cert and the cave cert? I am thinking about taking a cavern diving course at at Bonne Terre eventually, but they require that I have my AOW cert first.

there is a progression for cave diving that starts at cavern and then goes to full cave

Bonne Terre is a mine, not a cave/cavern, although Roubidoux (sp) is a cave in Missouri - check with cave divers from Midwest for more info on that

and congrats Steph; 33 years of diving and not cavern as yet myself

 

[xScubaStephx]

hey guys... i use a ranger bc...
i had a zeegle escape, which someone happened to steal at Blue Grotto...
there was nothing we could do about it.
called blue grotto, and even got the number
to the people who were suiting up beside us.
DIR members by the way....
my dad asked them if they knew anything about what may have happened or if they saw something... they got pissed thinking my dad was accusing them of taking it and told him... "we dont use that type of gear"

Glad to see such a young person taking a cavern course. Hey, I was just wondering do you have an older sister? Paul is the best instructor that I have thus far as well, he sure has patients of a saint. I will be taking my Intro to Cave with him on the 7th and 8th of October, I to wil be staying at the Divers Outpost. Is this a nice place? or should I just stay at the Holiday Inn? Do you and your father dive at the Grotto alot?

No, i dont have an older sister... i am an only child.
and yess paul is wonderful!!

The cabin/trailer things were okay. I stayed in the one all the way back to the left. it resembles a trailer of some sort lol. the only problem was, you share a bathroom with other people beside you and theres only a door dividing the 2 rooms.
Well i was walking in the bathroom to take a shower, and i got a flash of a naked butt. he standing in his room. haha.
i didnt think it was bad. our room was really small, enough for 2 beds, and a small tv.
we had some sugar ants crawling in through the window.
but then again, others are nicer. i dont know which one you will have.

 

[Debay777]

I didnt read all of the posts so this may be redundant. You said that you were congested before you dove and as you learned, this causes a reverse squeeze. They hurt. They suck. Here is how I try to avoid them. Whether Im congested or not, I take pseudophed about 1 hour or at least a half hour before I plan to be in the water. THen, as Im suiting up I hit the Affrain a few times in each nostril. This makes a big difference in how easy it is to equalize and practicaly insures zero reverse squeeze. Just my 2 p.s.i.

also, congratulations. Cave diving is one of my aspirations. I cant wait to try it out.

 

[smokey braden]

steph,
congratulations.
the fun has just begun.

 

[xScubaStephx]

I dont really dive at Grotto alot, ive been probably 3 times... Got my escape bc stolen there...

 

[rrostie]

Bonne Terre is a mine, not a cave/cavern, although Roubidoux (sp) is a cave in Missouri - check with cave divers from Midwest for more info on that

and congrats Steph; 33 years of diving and not cavern as yet myself

The dive shop that holds classes at Bonne Terre has a cavern class, but it may not actually be at Bonne Terre I guess. I would think that as long as a submerged mine tunnel was lit up, it would be the same thing. (The regular dive trails at the mine are not completely submerged, but the water is up to 60 feet deep.)
I can't wait to go diving at Bonne Terre after I finish my OW.
edit: The course is at the mine:
http://www.westenddiving.com/caverncourse.htm

 

[idratherbedivin]

Thanks for the report. Sounds like a lot of fun. I was trying to get on a trip down to florida for my cavern class with my local LDS up here in maryland but they told me they wouldn't do the class with me until i was 18. So I don't know what agency they are using for their cavern class cause clearly if you are 16 I could do the class when I am 17. I am really looking forward to getting into cave diving and will be down there as soon as I can to start with my cavern.
Good to know there are some other people in high school on the board.

 

[creamofwheat]

Congrats!

I just did my cavern course this summer in Mexico, and I was just as worried about the mask off thing. Had to do it though, if I wanted to pass the course, so I just ripped my mask off my face and went for it. It wasn't nearly as bad as I remembered it from my open water class. I do recommend that you practice taking it off and swimming around without a mask though. You'll find that this skill comes up every so often. Best to get comfy with it! Anyway, congrats once again. Cavern diving is fun.

 

[mirrocraft]

paul is a really nice guy i did all my certs. through scuba west ther in hudson fl i had jill for my cavern and intro to cave i really enjoyed it with her as well they keep things very low key and let you sink it in at you own pace no stress

 

[brutus_scuba]

Once again Congratulations I too made a trip from Ohio to Cave country earlier this summer for my Cavern course. Sounds like you had some amazing dives and I'm so jelouse I can't spend more time in that part of the country. (My bank account still feels that trip). I was fortunate enough to have my cavern course video taped by a diver who sells footage to PADI, and Discovery Channel. I have a dvd of the raw footage and need to get some of it posted on here.

It's amazing how this course changed my diving. Even diving ohio quarries the frog kick is my kick of choice now.