beester
Contributor
A couple of my regular dive buddies are expedition grade cave divers, I have led then through these sea caves showing them the best bits (the low tight parts from a cave diving point of view) and they saw no need to lay line etc, and had no problem with the approach the local dive community takes to dive these sea caves.
Heya Tassi,
I'm not disputing anything you say. I believe you when you say that the sea caves/caverns in your area are safe to dive for recreational divers with some additional precautions. However this doesn't mean that all sea caves/caverns are like this, and it's difficult to evaluate the risks if you are not overhead trained.
I also sense that you (and others) think that posts by cave divers on this topic are maybe overly conservative, very strict... not taking into consideration the local aspects of the dives, overestimating the risks involved. Maybe you are all right, but there are reasons behind this conservatism. I've dived a lot of sea caves (both in Italy, Spain and some in France... ah yes there was this little thing in Cozumel too), and one is not the other. While some are totally fine for even beginning divers, others are really not, with pinches, silty bottoms, no place to turn around easily, extended... and you can't see from the entrance, what is what. So how do you evaluate as a diver that it's safe to do?
I read a message on scubaboard, and Tassi DD was saying "it's safe to dive in sea caves because they are not real caves" ? The local dive guide who has done this dive so many times, and says "trust me, just follow me it's very easy you will see"? A friend you know who has dived these sea caves for a couple of times an takes you along? Because you like to take risks and you only live once?
I rather have divers reading this, stop and err on the side of caution than roll the dice. Yes it will go right 99 out of a 100 times, maybe even more... but not every time.
So to all divers reading this topic, think about the following:
It's difficult to evaluate risks, without the necessary experience. How do you know this sea cave is safe to dive?
- Because someone else says so? NO stop!
- Because someone else has dived it 20 times without any problem? NO stop! It's not because something went well 20 times that the dive was safe... It only takes 1 diver to act funny or panick to totally change the ball game.
- Because the dive guide tells you to trust him, and he'll guide you and take care of you? NO stop! Yes the guide wants you to have a good time, but don't rely on someone to help you when the **** hits the fan.
Before you do a dive like this think about the absolute worst that could happen, and how you would react, things like:
- What if my light fails, what will I do?
- What if I lose the others, what will I do?
- What if it gets small and narrow, how do I turn around or back out?
- What if someone in front of me or behind silts up the cave/cavern, and I have 1 ft / 30 cm of vis, how do I stay in contact with the guide/other divers... or how do I get out?
- What if my mask gets kicked off by the diver in front of me, what do I do?
- What if my reg starts freeflowing, what do I do?
You might think I'm a bit of a party pooper... and no I'm not thinking about all these scenarios all the time, because I know how to handle them, they are not serious if you are prepared. The point is if you are prepared ;-)