Diving Little River at Intro/Basic Level

[Allison Finch]

I haven't dived Little River since the 70's. An earlier post was correct about going off the main being dangerous. I was on a team that brought two untrained divers out, after they had been in there a day and a half. I loved that cave. Sorry to hear it is getting so worn.

 

[j2s]

Now I really can't wait to get out there, I do need to work on my tie offs in high flow, I had some trouble in the ear at ginnie so It will be nice to get back into some flow...now I just need a buddy. I feel bad since I'll only get to do one dive in the morning about dragging a buddy out there to do only one dive. seems kind of selfish but Solo diving isn't really allowed so o well.

Did LR, twice, Sat. the 27th...Viz was good, no silt....Flow was steady but not bad...Going in took 40 minutes, coming out 20.......We did two 'jumps' each dive...32% back gas.....It's 100' so depending on your dive time, we did 1hr each dive w/a long interval, you'll need deco time [ I used 70%, the other divers used 100%]....The weather was colder than expected w/Sandy passing by, dress warm.......Good place to practice reel work in flow.......

 

[sealsix14]

I''ll be using 30% back gas...and I don't have my Adv Nitrox yet so Deco is a no go. That's why I was asking about running into deco. I mean If I'm doing only one dive on 1/6th's I think I should be good but still thought I should get an opinion on the matter.

 

[BabyDuck]

even if you are an/dp, i don't think you are supposed to do deco cave dives at intro/basic. anyone? buehler? buehler?

 

[sealsix14]

Yeah, I believe it says no deco, and I'm also not An/Dp (until this december). So I would just be doing a basic No-Deco dive to 1/6th's.

 

[Cave Chick]

I think that if you spent some time putting in a reel at Little River, dove nitrox, and dove 1/6th that you would not go into deco. There is definitely more flow then a few months ago. It'd be a great place to practice running a reel and just keep an eye on your computer, if you get close to going into deco start heading out. I've had reports at the shop of people not making it past table top rock on 6ths right now because of the flow so I think you'll be fine. A few months ago when the flow was down some people were able to make it well past the florida room on thirds so I could see where you'd have to worry about deco if the flow was still down, but it's not

 

[sealsix14]

Thanks, I'll probably head over there on Friday to give it a try. Should be a lot of fun, and I've been in need of some more practice putting a reel in.

 

[TreyR]

Thanks, I'll probably head over there on Friday to give it a try. Should be a lot of fun, and I've been in need of some more practice putting a reel in.

Running the reel in is no problem. Pulling the reel that's the fun part. Keep those fin tips down!

 

[jscott099]

My wife and I are both basic cave and we dive there frequently. We have about 60 cave dives under our belts rights now. It is close by our vacation place and we go there for some challenge (compared to P). Several weeks back after the big rains we were going to get some flow practice (rather than driving down to Ginnie). We had to work hard to find the best route past the sign tie off and down the tunnel. We got to about the table before turn. We loved the 'flight' back. That was a blast. Taking up the reel is challenging without making spaghetti. It has been several weeks now so I am not sure about the flow conditions.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Running the reel in is no problem. Pulling the reel that's the fun part. Keep those fin tips down!

My usual dive buddy has been on the short end because I usually put in the reels (I enjoy it), but on the last trip to LR she got to put in and take out the reels with scooters and deco bottles in the mix. My 20' and 10' stops were cleared before she finally got it all pulled and squared away - so yes, pulling line in flow can be fun if you're a little rusty.

---------- Post Merged at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:28 PM ----------

even if you are an/dp, i don't think you are supposed to do deco cave dives at intro/basic. anyone? buehler? buehler?

I have not been able to find the NACD limits (you know, the agency we certed under) but I recall hearing "no deco at Intro", I just can't find it in writing.

NSS-CDS though lays the limits out in a very easy to follow fashion and they have the "no deco" limit for Intro/basic cave:

http://www.nsscds.org/trainingprograms