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Hi im cavern and intro certified and am taking apprentice/full cave with advanced nitrox a few days before the cave course. Other than practicing with doubles, running lines etc. what can I do to prepare me for the course? I hear it is a difficult course (It should be) I just want to be ready to take on the challenge and pass. Any help would be appreciated
Check with your instructor for specifics. what I look for is above average ability to conduct skills, especially while task loaded. More than anything I look for situational and team awareness. You can do the skills perfect, but if you have no situational or team awareness, you're not getting a card from me. I also look for how my students handle different situations under pressure. The only way to practice these things is to gain experience. Hopefully your profile is outdated.
Rob Neto
My website - Chipola Divers - Recreational, Technical, & Cave Diving Instruction & Mentorship Coz Caves If you think it's okay to dive in a cavern or cave without the appropriate training, watch the videos on this web page: Diving the Freshwater Springs. If you still think it's okay, please make sure to donate money to the IUCRR...
Hopefully you'll realize that you don't even know enough to know what you don't know.
Slow down, enjoy what there is to see in shallow OW, then get the training to go deeper. When you've absorbed that, take Intro, dive at that level for awhile, and then do full cave.
The caves will still be there, we'll all enjoy them more if they don't get beat up by the minimally skilled, and we'll all be happier with no one having to recover a too fast, too far cave diver who got in over his head on a trimix cave dive.
DA, he didn't say trimix, he said advanced nitrox. He also indicated he's currently at intro level. He may be moving quickly but the training progression sounds right if what he really means is advanced nitrox/deco before his apprentice and full cave class.
I went thru the cave program quite rapidly myself and have no regrets. With your buancy and trim in check, Hover abilities and being able to clip and unclip reels etc as well as confidence that you and the team can safely explore flooded caves, you might do fine. Others get task loaded and fumble in the dark getting sloppy pushing off the bottom and just making a mess of things. You will probably do a stage dive so get proficient with slinging and dropping one. Predive planning and checks are important so ask questions. Theres no talking underwater and classes can be caotic if no one knows how the instructor is gonna conduct things, other than a few surprises they might spring on you to make sure your sharp enough to handle mounting problems. I enjoyed all my classes very much and a bit of stress from having to perform to near perfection is common. Slow down with reels and arrow placements but not with emergency reg swaps since it could be an emergency. Knowing when to rush and when to slowdown is important. Good Luck.
DA, he didn't say trimix, he said advanced nitrox. He also indicated he's currently at intro level. He may be moving quickly but the training progression sounds right if what he really means is advanced nitrox/deco before his apprentice and full cave class.
My bad for misreading - but it does not change my overall response.
Slow down, gain experience in OW, then on deeper dives with doubles, then start pursuing cave training in moderate bites gaining experience between levels.
I'm don't agree with pushing what amounts to zero to hero progression, or any technical dive training for divers with less than 100 dives (minimum).
Do you really want to find yourself lost in a cave with no idea how to get out alive? That's what cave training is all about, and not about how well you do the frog kick, for example. Focus on getting your head around cave awareness + safety and you will do just fine.
Help yourself by not introducing any new gear or gear configurations into your training. You will have enough to deal with during your training without compounding it with something "else" new, like a new dry suit, mask, fins, etc.
You are not going to be "perfect" with your diving skills when you finish the course, but you should know what skills you will need to work on to be so. Being "perfect" with your trim, buoyancy, etc., will come with time.
So thinks about it: If you get your diving skills down but you don't get your head around cave safety, do you really want a license to go cave diving anyway? Does that help you to see what your instructor is going to be looking for?
Oh, one last thing: Cave diving is beautiful, and fun; Look forward to that in your training.
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Originally Posted by kotik
