AOW diver looking for Cavern Instructor

[scuba_redneck]

Hello, I just completed my AOW this past weekend and am looking for a cavern instructor to take a class on cavern diving. Does anyone know of any instructors in or around South Mississippi, Central Mississippi, South Alabama, Central Alabama, or North Florida regions? I am not looking to take the course right away, however I would like to receive information about the course, equipment needed, and costs. Thank y'all very much in advance!

 

[tstormdiver]

Northern FL is the heart of cave diving country. There are many very good instructors to be found there. You might look around in the cave diving forum here & get some ideas.

 

[Jax]

Also see National Association For Cave Diving
and National Speleological Society Cave Diving Section
and International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD)

 

[mselenaous]

There are several very good instructors who are SB folks too:
I took my class w/ Capt Jim Wyatt in Ft. White/High Springs. Here is my class report.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/cave-diving/376927-cavern-class-capt-jim-wyatt.html

Also highly recommended: Rick Murchison, Rick Murcur (aka GDI), and Rob Neto (aka Diveaholic). Contact each directly for additional information and to get a feel for their teaching styles/personalities and hope you find one that meshes well with your learning style and goals. I'm sure there are a few others that you'll receive recommendations for.

Good luck, have fun and dive safely!

 

[ianr33]

Ken Paramore (Kenny P. on the boards http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/members/kenny+p..html ) lives in LA (Lower Alabama)

I can vouch for him being a great instructor. Vortex and Morrison might be the closest places to do a Cavern course?

 

[scuba_redneck]

Thank all of y'all for the quick responses. I have been to both vortex and morrison in my diving career and am looking forward to furthering my knowledge and skill set as soon as possible. Just gotta wait for the bank account to recover first, haha!

 

[ianr33]

A cavern class only runs around $300 and can be done in OW gear (although I guess some instructors may not allow that)

If you get hooked though and get into Cave Diving all bets are off!

 

[scuba_redneck]

ianr33: I have a buddy who dives the entire tech setup recreationally but is getting his technical training also. I have talked with him along with several others who have echoed your post. My current gear configuration is listed on my public profile, and like many people have said through the years, all roads lead to backplate/wing rigs. I am convinced that this statement is true. However as I am still in college, my gear stockpile has not been growing as rapidly as I would like it to. All of my gear I have been able to purchase brand new with warranty and still get good deals that stay within the budget.

Back to topic at hand: I fully understand the risks and implications that overhead environments pose and instead of being macho-man, I would like proper training in how to handle myself in situations where my buddies and my own lives and personal safety are at stake.

I do not plan on advancing to full cave cert, but I would like to complete cavern. Eventually I would like to finish my certifications out with: OW, AOW, Rescue, MSD, Cavern, Nitrox, Deep Specialty, Wreck Diver Specialty, Underwater Navigator, Search and Recovery, and Night Diver. My goal is to become a well rounded diver who is proficient in all areas of diving skills.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Before going out and spending money on tech gear, you might want to research sidemount. Even though at this point you are only looking at taking a cavern course, that has been known to change the lives of many. Before you know it you are living, breathing, dreaming about caves. The next thing is buying the gear to do it and there are many more options available these days.

 

[wjefferis]

I took cavern and intro with Rob Neto (Dive-aholic) in the previos post. Geat instructor and I learned alot. Although I must say he is a bit of a crack dealer (of sorts) Once he gets you under the power of the dark side you are a goner! In fact I will be feeding my addiction this weekend. Good luck with this course. It is fantastic and you will really learn a lot.