Here's my goals, how do I get there?

[chrisreedrules]

Recently OW certified this summer. Got about 15 dives since then and I expect to have about 25-30 before the end of the year. Looking forward to my AOW in the spring of next year. Most of the diving I've done has been in the springs around Florida.

I would really like to become certified to go into the caves we have all over the place here. And eventually perhaps wreck diving offshore. Where should I go from here as far as my training and certifications? I'm afraid my age may be a limiting factor in achieving some of my goals... I'm 30 but I've read a lot that many divers stop a lot of their deco/technical diving after the age of 40 because of some of the physiological issues.

 

[Doppler]

******** on the age thing... I began "technical diving" -- when I was 40... and that was a couple of decades ago. As far as cave training, the best way to learn is to learn. Many, many great instructors in North Florida.

Most cave instructors -- me included -- like to see someone who is a candidate for Cavern/Intro Cave, Cave1, et al have perhaps 50 logged dives. The chances of them passing are greater. But truthfully, the secret is how well you behave in the water, and that is only indirectly associated with the number of dives. I have seen folks with more than 300 dives do poorly in a cave class... and folks with 40 do great in a cavern class.

Good luck

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Search for a cave instructor at www.nsscds.org - call her, or him and talk.

There is a sticky thread I wrote on choosing a cave instructor, read it.

There are lots of cave instructors from most all agencies, and a few of them teach good cave classes.

 

[chrisreedrules]

Search for a cave instructor at www.nsscds.org - call her, or him and talk.

There is a sticky thread I wrote on choosing a cave instructor, read it.

There are lots of cave instructors from most all agencies, and a few of them teach good cave classes.

Thanks Jim. You were specifically mentioned by a dive master from my LDS when I told him what I wanted to do. I know I need to gain experience but you are on the short list of people I would like to talk to about it.

 

[rongoodman]

I'm not sure why you think your age would be an issue. I got my cave, trimix, and rebreather certs in my mid-sixties.

 

[PfcAJ]

Take a GUE Fundamentals course. You'll learn a ton and it will help you build a solid foundation for all types of diving.

 

[Caveeagle]

I agree that somewhere around 40ish dives would be good prep for cavern class. I would just add that it's never too soon to start diving in good trim and respecting "the rules" of diving in Springs and ANY overhead. My point is that I doubt than many OW divers reach #40 in north Fla without seeing the inside of the Ginnie Ballroom or Peace rock at Blue Grotto. (Both are open to OW)

So even if you wait for Dive #41 to begin cavern cert, you can find a good mentor, or study up on gear configuration, bouancy, and propulsion.

You just need one Saturday Dive at Blue Grotto to see how NOT to dive in a silty overhead environment..

 

[VR78]

You are in the same place I was two years ago. I second @PfcAJ's recommendation to take the Fundamentals. Take it now, and take it as a class, not as an exam. This will give you all the technical foundation you need to proceed to overhead training. Once you have your "Tech pass" and say 20-25 dives in the corresponding configuration (hopefully within 3-4 months) you'll be likely ready for your intro cave class, be it with GUE, NSS-CDS or another agency.

I am hitting 40 next year and hoping to put in another 10-15 years of cave diving before that old age thing kicks in.

 

[RyanT]

I'm afraid my age may be a limiting factor in achieving some of my goals... I'm 30 but I've read a lot that many divers stop a lot of their deco/technical diving after the age of 40 because of some of the physiological issues.

Not sure where you heard that. Virtually all the tech divers I know are well past their 40s. Barring any specific health issues, there no reason you can't continue tech diving decades beyond 40.

 

[chrisreedrules]

I agree that somewhere around 40ish dives would be good prep for cavern class. I would just add that it's never too soon to start diving in good trim and respecting "the rules" of diving in Springs and ANY overhead. My point is that I doubt than many OW divers reach #40 in north Fla without seeing the inside of the Ginnie Ballroom or Peace rock at Blue Grotto. (Both are open to OW)

So even if you wait for Dive #41 to begin cavern cert, you can find a good mentor, or study up on gear configuration, bouancy, and propulsion.

You just need one Saturday Dive at Blue Grotto to see how NOT to dive in a silty overhead environment..

Haven't been into the ballroom at Ginnie. But I have been to Blue Grotto. Didn't go very far into the overhead but "dabbled" a bit. I'm not afraid to, I just don't know what I don't know so I don't want to push it. And I have already been spending at least 30 minutes of every dive working on my buoyancy control and kick techniques to avoid silting things up since all we ever dive are springs. I've seen both Troy Spring and Blue Grotto get super-silted from careless divers bouncing off the bottom or not paying attention to the thrust created by their fins when they kick. I didn't want to be "one of those guys" so I watched some cave divers and how they were kicking and asked them questions about it out of the water.

I have heard that GUE offers a great fundamentals course but I have yet to run into anyone local who is a GUE certified instructor. My LDS had never even heard of GUE. I think I would like to do my cavern/cave certs through an NSS-CDS instructor.