Cave diving instruction advice

I've recently set my sights on getting into cave diving this summer. I've been doing some research into it on the net, but am still unsure of many things.

For one, I live in Canada and would like to do my courses in Florida, which makes going down there a big deal and something I can't do very often. Also, I'm planning to move to Australia within the next 6 months, and would then not be able to go to Florida at all. I've heard that it's possible to go all the way to Full Cave in about a week, and was wondering what peoples' views are on that approach? Is it just as safe as waiting to get experience in-between courses (e.g. Cavern to Intro-to-Cave), as long as the person in question can handle that pace? Is it often done this way? Personally, I first thought of just doing Cavern and Intro-to-Cave in one shot, and then continue later. But the fact that it's possible to do it in one week peeked my interest. But I don't want to do it that way if it's not deemed safe to do so.

Also, does anyone have any instructors, certifying agencies, or dive shops to recommend.

I would really appreciate any input possible. Thanks a lot.


Josh

Not sure where you are getting information but will be happy to tell you about my cave instruction. Don't think it is possible to go to full cave in a week. It has been a few years but when I did get my certs, doing cavern and intro to cave in a week was do-able in a week. You really needed to be at a tech diver level to make it in a week. The full cave was another good week. Doing them back to back would be brutal. One of my cave diving buddies is from Germany, so when he came over to get cert. he did it in 3 1/2 weeks. He had 100+ dives in doubles and had a lot of tech training. He said it still was not enough time. Have you talked to some actual instructors for realistic time frames? I think you will find a week won't do it.

Actaully there are some instrcutors that do a cavern thru full cave and I think it lasts from a weekend to a weekend. I personally don't like the rush thru everything approach, although I know some folks that have done it and they are very good divers. I like to do a class and then become proficient at it before going on to the next level. You could just do cavern and intro now and then maybe do full cave in Australia (http://www.cavedivers.com.au/)

When I did my intro class I looked at instructors and not what agency they certified thru. You can find lists of instructors on the NSS-CDS website and the NACD website.

(http://www.safecavediving.com/training.html)

(http://www.cavediver.org/)

Also check out:

(www.gue.com)

(http://www.scubawest.net/)

(http://benthictech.com/)



Hope this helps you out some. Private message me if I can answer any more questions.

The one week course is great if you have good buoyancy, proficiency in diving in doubles, understand and practice diving with a ceiling. If you are going to be a recreational cave diver (less than 100 dives a year), you may want to consider only doing cavern and intro, then moving on to full cave while in Australia.
As to safety, some people think that swimming around in a cave with a single cylinder (intro) is safe and I don't understand this concept. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck. If you would like a list of good instructors to e-mail and get the info from the "horse's mouth", send a private message.