Cave Excursions Anyone?

Good morning.
I would like to know if anyone here has had any dealings with a place called Cave Excursions down in Florida (Luraville,FL?). Website is sidemount.com.

A buddy and I are planning a spontaneous("planning" and "spontaneous" is an oxymoron when used in the same sentence isn't it?) trip to Florida day after Christmas and he came across this place. Talked with Bill Rennaker and he sounds like a nice guy... and knowledgable. We were looking at their Cavern course and it looks like they can fit us in for the time that we will be down there.

I would welcome any / all comments about this operation.

Thank you in advance for your comments.

Best Regards
Don Costanza

They are awsome.

Great on prices, and Bill - I've only met him once - is a real nice guy.

One of my dive buddies received his Cavern cert from Bill, and recommends him to just about anyone.

Another dive buddy of mine will soon be going to get intro2cave and I believe he will be using Bill.

Great man, great shop, and he is very well known in the cave-diving regions around here!

I highly recommend him!

WgOaLnFg

Thanks for the prompt reply. My impression is that the cave diving community is pretty tight so it was only a matter of time before I started reading replys.

Unfortunately, Bill's schedule is full but said a Fred Berg (Burg sp?) would be our instructor.

It sounds like a really good place to get an "intro to caving" education.

Thank you again...

Don,
You should have just asked. Bill is from my neck of the woods. My former cave instructor is the guy who got Bill started cave diving before he moved to Florida. In fact he was Bills OW instructor. The two started their sidemounting careers together with a class they took from Lamar Hires. Now Bill is the big Florida sidemount guy. We don't know Fred Berg personally but I've heard good things about him. I know someone who is doing a cave class with him this week I think.

My wife and I are planning a sidemount class with Bill the end of March. We've been sidemounting the quarry already but I'm told the way to get into all the cool sidemount caves is to do a class with Bill.

Two freinds of mine did all their cave training with Bill and swear by him.

This is not the DIR side of town if that matters to you. Where are you staying while your down there. Try Cathy at the Dive Outpost if you don't already have something lined up. She is about a block away from Bill and they are both a stone throw from all the dive sites. Bill is usually full way in advance but that is worth a try also.

Did they tell you about some of the sites you will dive? You will likely dive one or all of the following: Orange grove, Peacock, 1, Peacock 3 and down stream Cow Springs. BTW Bill is the NSS gate keeper for Cow (he is how we all get in) Check on my website there are pictures of all these places.

Anything else you need to know?

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Check on my website there are pictures of all these places

Click to expand...

Don't suppose you would care to add a link to your web site on your profile?

Fred Berg is an excellent instructor and very nice person. He teaches wreck diving in the Great Lakes in the Summer and Cave Diving all winter. He trained one of my best friends (well). I have only great things to say about Fred. PM me if you want his e-mail.

Cheers and hope to see ya here,
Sherpa

Mike,
"You should have just asked."

I did ask? (laughing ) I fired off an email to Sandy earlier about it but knew you wouldn't be able to respond until later. That's when curiosity got the better of me and I posted it here....after I sent the email to Sandy. For the record( still laughing ), my first email went to Sandy. I found out that we were going to do this about 11:30pm last night. I figured if you didn't get around to answering my email, I'd bring it up this weekend.
As far as where are we going to stay...Tried to get one of those fancy trailers but Bill mentioned they are all booked. Gonna probably be at Cindy's (4miles away) or Best Western (17 miles away).

Glad to hear this is a reputable outfit. I appreciate everyones comments.

DiveSherpa, I will pm you probably tomorrow regarding Fred's address. Want to wait until my "dive buddy" gets back with me regarding the information I've given him already. Just want to make sure the trip is still "on" Thanks for the offer.

Best Regards
Don Costanza

I'll have Sandy send you the number at Dive Outpost it's better than a hotel and it's within stone throwing distance.

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
I'll have Sandy send you the number at Dive Outpost it's better than a hotel and it's within stone throwing distance.

Click to expand...

http://www.diveoutpost.com/

Roak

Thank you Roakey. I will contact them tomorrow for further details.

It just dawned on me. In less than a handful of hours I went from mere curiosity about a cavern program to getting a number of responses confirming that the program we are looking at is a reputable one. I appreciate the time that many on this board take to respond to my inquiries. I also appreciate the willingness to share knowledge and experiences with "newbies" to the sport.

Best Regards
Don Costanza