How to choose a Cave Instructor - My opinion

[jscott099]

Turns out my cave instructor was incredibly tough and a former navy diver. A zillion cave dives. A real stickler on buoyancy and trim obviously. And super strict on the gear.

But what set him apart was his ability to curse me under the water and ask 'what the ****** are you doing'. Funny, I never thought you could really do things like that so clearly.

I asked for references from other students and from other instructors.

[Mariel]

Recently, I finished my full cave diving course, and I want to share with all of you, the professionalism, joy and safety that my instructor Robbie add to this training, he is EXCELLENT!!!!
Interesting, comfortable, safety and very appasionable are some of the words that better describe my emotions during my fullcave course, basic passport to make my trip to explore xibalba's mayan world
Mar
Recientemente conclui mi entrenamiento de buceo en cuevas y quiero compartirles que el profesionalismo y seguridad con que Robbie Schmittner, mi instructor, lo llevo a cabo fue EXCELENTE!
Interesante, comodo, seguro y apasionante son algunas de las palabras que mejor describen este curso sin duda alguna mi pasaporte basico necesario para adentrarnos a explorar las entrañas del inframundo maya
Mar

[slufoot]

a good cave instructor hum... well to me its the guy that teaches you everything he knows about diving and has a passion for it my instructor has probably been teaching cave diving longer than almost any instructor that i know of he was one of the originals to get the nsscds started was one of the first to lay line past the Hinkle so hes been around he has a passion for cave diving and teaching .his class is more like a mentoring program than a heres your card deal and if you take one of his classes don't be in a hurry iv been diving w him for over a year and I'm still not full cave but i don't really mind he takes his time explains everything really well and is fun just to hang out with hes not one to say lets see how hard i can make this class but if you get overconfident you will be put in your place . but honestly do you want to be a cave diver or get a card find a instructor that makes cave divers not cave cards

[Andy B]

Chouse Phill Short from UK - He is very good one - Plus to this he can teach cavediver and in cold water caves and do vertical caving as well. So after that cavediving course you we will be very universal cavediver one

[TSandM]

But what set him apart was his ability to curse me under the water and ask 'what the ****** are you doing'

This made me laugh, because my instructor for Cave 1 was like that. One day when we had performed poorly, we got several minutes of animated lecture that went something like this: "YOU, YOU and YOU -- Geez! PULLING on the line, YANKING it off the ties, and then what do you do? Do you try to control the slack line? NO! You could have held the slack, you could have tried to tie some of it off on something . . . What WERE you thinking?" The funny part was, the whole lecture was done underwater, and in gestures, and it was as clear as anything he could have done on land.

Having taken two versions of Cavern/Intro, I'd add that there seem to be two schools of thought on cave training. One is scenario-based, and the other is a mentoring approach. Ideally, I think you should have some idea of which type of instruction works best for you, and find out from the instructor which way he teaches. I took a mentoring course first, and felt uneasy and inadequately trained. The scenario-based class I took after that, I thought was far more thorough, and I felt much better about things afterward. But my husband does not like scenario-based courses at all, and went on to Full Cave with our original instructor instead.

[ucfdiver]

Look for an instructor who ENJOYS teaching, and doesn't just put up a front in order to get the money. I think this step will cut your selection down more than any other. The trick is figuring out if it's genuine or not.