Cave Certs Expiration

[MyronGanes]

I recently started a cave course in Florida. I was one drill away from completing level 2 which I plan on returning later to finish. However, he didn't write me a cert for level 1 (cavern) and says that if he writes me any certification it will expire. He seemed to be able to write the expiry for whenever he wanted because he wanted to schedule my return visit to Florida and said he would write the expiry in time for me to return. So as of now I don't have any official certs. Is this normal practice for the cave certification? Thanks

 

[rjack321]

what agency/card? I don't know of an agency with expiring cavern certs. This is really only applicable at the apprentice level (intermediate) and intended to encourage students to finish their full cave

 

[KevinNM]

GUE cards for all levels expire, you have to agree that you actually have done 25 dives in 3 years for a renewal card. But if you haven't been actively diving for 3 years (8 dives a year) you probably should do a refresher, particularly before doing tech dives. But they don't have a cavern course.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Typically when Cavern and Intro are taken together only the Intro card is given and those can expire if you don't take Full Cave within a certain time frame. However not all agencies do things the same. I would suggest asking your instructor for clarification and asking about the Cavern card if you prefer to have one prior to finishing the entire class.

 

[tbone1004]

sounds like your instructor is probably not someone you should be taking instruction from since I don't know of ANY cavern/intro certs that expire. It is rather pointless to have a cavern cert if you are diving in Florida since there aren't a lot of caverns really worth diving, so I wouldn't worry about it, but please tell us which agency you are getting certified through because if any of them have a cavern/intro level cert that expires I certainly don't know about it

 

[bamafan]

NACD? You will probably be full cave and trimix before they get around to printing your cavern card.

 

[MyronGanes]

The organizations he can give a card for are NASE, IANTD and NSS-CDS. Does this all add up?

 

[MyronGanes]

It's not the point of having a cavern cert I'm worried about, it's that my travel schedule isn't defined and an expiring certification makes it almost pointless for me to even attempt to complete the full cave. I have many other real life obligations and traveling is secondary.

 

[uncfnp]

Get your cavern card and look elsewhere. NSS-CDS cavern does not expire. Nothing says you got to stick with the same instructor throughout.

 

[Caveeagle]

... It is rather pointless to have a cavern cert if you are diving in Florida since there aren't a lot of caverns really worth diving, so I wouldn't worry about it,

I disagree.. I live in FL and think a cavern cert is a good idea for folks who dive in the area even if they don't plan on diving beyond the 'daylight' zone. Historically, there have just been too darn many OW divers who (mostly out of ignorance) get themselves killed. As an aside.. I have never been comfortable with allowing OW divers being allowed into the cavern zones a several of the popular sites.

Just my opinion.. but I don't, necessarily see Cavern (or Intro) training as a commitment to full cave training. There is plenty of diving to be done at the 'Intro' level.

...but please tell us which agency you are getting certified through because if any of them have a cavern/intro level cert that expires I certainly don't know about it

I would not pay for a certification with an expiration date on it.