Anyone know anything about Sealsports (LA) Cave class?

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Aotus

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I'm living in New Orleans now, looking to work up to cave diving int he next year or so. I understand that I should be very selective about where I go for my training, I like the idea of staying alive and all that. So, in my search, I just found a cave class on the calendar at Sealsports.net but almost no other info: Main Website Store - Cave Diver Class The first red flag for me is that there's no specifics about the class, not intro/advanced, just "cave diver." The second flag was that the prereqs just say the padi advanced open water certification, but I'm sure I've heard that a minimum of 50 dives experience is often required by most instructors.

wondering if anyone knows anything about this place, and/or whether they have a reputable cave instructor? They're close to me and I like the idea of building a relationship with a LDS. A quick search of the forums turns up only old posts, no mention of cave classes.

Thanks for any info.

Cheers.
 
I'm living in New Orleans now, looking to work up to cave diving int he next year or so. I understand that I should be very selective about where I go for my training, I like the idea of staying alive and all that. So, in my search, I just found a cave class on the calendar at Sealsports.net but almost no other info: Main Website Store - Cave Diver Class The first red flag for me is that there's no specifics about the class, not intro/advanced, just "cave diver." The second flag was that the prereqs just say the padi advanced open water certification, but I'm sure I've heard that a minimum of 50 dives experience is often required by most instructors.

wondering if anyone knows anything about this place, and/or whether they have a reputable cave instructor? They're close to me and I like the idea of building a relationship with a LDS. A quick search of the forums turns up only old posts, no mention of cave classes.

Thanks for any info.

Cheers.

The first thing you are doing is asking questions and that is good. I would find out who the instructor is and talk to him directly to get more of your questions answered. It would be good to know where you go for training,and how often they teach these classes.
 
The image on their website is of Chac Mool in Mexico, but who knows if it's where the training is done.

It appears to belong to someone else, as it's used here
Mayan Riviera, Yucatan, Mexico - The Most Divine Diving Destinations in the World
here-
Abyss Dive Center - Playa del Carmen - Reviews of Abyss Dive Center - TripAdvisor
here-
Inmersiones en Playa del Carmen curso full cave - bucearte.com
here-
Scuba diving in Playa del Carmen, cenotes and ocean diving | Pluto Dive


So you've got a shop
  • Is based far away from the caves
  • using images without permission, or without giving credit at the very least
  • posting rerequisites which are incredibly lax (although they do meet NACD requirements)
  • zero information about the course
  • doesn't list an instructor

Meanwhile, if you head to Mexico or Florida, you've got numerous well known instructors who can offer the course, have clear guidelines, and teach often enough that you can ask around for references.

Seems like a really, really easy decision to me on where to go.

Just for comparison, here's what I would expect from a legitimate shop teaching cave diving, notice how class requirements, instructor bios, etc are clearly laid out.
http://www.dir-mexico.com/chris.html
 
It's not a Cave Class - it's a PADI Cavern Specialty Class. Hover over the link for a 2nd and it pops up. The Specialty in the title is another clue. The fact that they're calling it a Cave Diver Specialty class makes me think that's the last place I'd ever want to take it - they don't even know what they're teaching.

I'd want a little more precision from my Cave Certification shop - it's only your life right?

Does PADI even offer a Cave certification? - I don't think so. NACD, NSS/CDS, IANTD, TDI, NAUI? - others all do.

I agree with the previous poster - if you really want to learn cave diving correctly you'll have to go to where there are actually caves.
If you do - I don't see the value in doing it thru your shop since many of the best cave people are found near caves typically

In Florida, either of these might be a good choice:

CAVE ADVENTURERS INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL SCUBA TRAINING FACILITY - Edd is who they call to rescue other cavers - how can you do better than that?
Rob Neto - Chipola Divers - Rob is the Training Director at NACD. I know of him thru mutual friends.
 
PADI DOES offer a cave certification....but it's a distinctive specialty, and I believe there are like 3 instructors that can teach it (Jim Wyatt being one).

Regardless.....I wouldn't trust that shop with ANY training if my end goal was cave diving. They also call AOW "Advanced Diver" and don't have "Cave" listed in their Tech certs. They seem far too sloppy for my taste. Not knowing the distinction between Cavern and Cave is an unbelievably huge red flag, and would halt my business with any shop.

I shot the OP a PM about Edd and his shop. They're about 4.5 hours away from NO,LA....a dive buddy makes that drive a couple weekends a month. Take I-10 until you get to Marianna :D
 
they do, in fact, have a cavern specialty class there too: http://www.sealsports.net/event-calendar-scuba-paddling-swimming/monthly/201405. So they're not that bad to muddle the two together. Nonetheless, I'm encouraged further by your helpful responses to look into alternatives for post-cavern classes nearby. Thanks very much.

I'll be looking in FL and nearby (LA ideally but I know that's unlikely) for cave instruction. Would love suggestions for well respected instruction in the region.

Thanks again!
 
Go straight to an instructor in Florida. Any shop in LA will likely act as a middleman, marking up the price of the course, and selling you gear you don't really need.
 
Read the sticky at the top of the cave forum by Jim wyatt, that's a good place to start regarding cave instructor selection. In my opinion north Florida has the best technical dive instructors and certainly the best cave instructors in the states. These guys are in caves nearly every day either diving for fun or instructing. Read Jims write up and go from there. Everyone will recommend their instructor and tout about how he / she is the best, blah blah. What counts is that not only is the instructor highly experienced but also that his teaching style and even personality is a good fit for you.

Cave diving is very equipment intensive and definitely requires you to be at your best. That said aside from your dive buddy, your biggest enemy inside a cave is yourself. When everything is going well it is unlike anything else. However...when the sh!t hits the fan the quality of your training is what keeps you alive, its not something to be taken lightly. Also you should take cave training only if you want to, if your only doing it because you think its the pinnacle of diving then that is for the wrong reason.

Don't try to rush through your levels of training either, a quality instructor won't recommend it and some won't even do the zero to hero in a week courses. There are lots of skills to be learned and techniques to be perfected, you need to really dedicate your time to the sport if you want to be any good at it. I've dove with several people that have a piece of plastic saying they are cave divers...I've only dove with a few that dive like cave divers..

Good luck in your endeavor and if you choose to proceed, welcome to the dark side!
 
thanks all for the comments.

not to worry fishinmaniac, I am very serious about learning this art, and not just because it's high-end diving....


....I am a PhD student and have co-authored the description of a new fossil primate species mandible recovered from an underwater cave in the Carribean (more about it on my page here; more about that expedition here)
. During the previous expedition I didn't get a chance to meet the divers, but since then we started working with new divers who really inspired me to get into the water with them. While still participating in the analysis and description of such material, my latest aim is to become a cave diver myself to aide in all aspects of the underwater cave paleontology project. I'm funding my own training at this time so it's a little slow going, but I want to do it right and include this as an aspect of my career. This is why I'm asking so many questions, I'm not looking for the occasional thrill of a cool site, I'm hoping to become an expert.
 
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I forgot about Jim Wyatt. He's an excellent choice if you're PADI and want to stay within the system.
 
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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