I'm hooked.... how to progress

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Ask a half dozen cave divers a question and you'll get 8 different opinions. Add in side mount and the number of opinions increases to about 12.

Everybody has a favorite position but I'll try to be balanced and unbiased
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I dove back mount doubles in great lakes and mid Atlantic wreck diving for about 15 years before I started cave diving and I advanced through full cave plus a bit over 100 full cave dives before I switched to side mount about 8 or 9 years ago.

The (or at least my) case for side mount:

I switched to side mount in part because I was developing an attraction for smaller passage cave, and in part because it tends to reduce the wear and tear on your body in a couple different ways. Side mount doesn't reduce the total work load hauling tanks but it does reduce the maximum effort required by reducing the maximum weight you have to lift and spreading the it over more time. In the water, I find side mount to be much more comfortable and given that we're doing often dives that are 6 hours or so long, comfort matters.

My wife/team mate probably holds the record for falling into various sinks in back mount, so while she was not thrilled at having to master a new configuration, there's no way she'd ever go back to back mount either.

At the time I made the switch, I lived in VA and there were no good side mount instructors up there at the time. I opted to mentor with a few different full cave level side mount divers. It made was much better than the alternative of an OW side mount instructor, most of whom seem to turn out very poorly configured divers.

Now, the situation is a little better as there are a handful of side mount cave instructors in N FL that are very good, but I'm in agreement with a post above that suggests you can still count them on one hand. Over the last couple years I've mentored other side mount divers aspiring to be cave divers. The time required to get them up to speed has varied. In general, if they've been open water trained the challenge is to help them properly configure and unlearn all the bad habits they acquired from their open water instructor. I've found it's a lost easier and faster to start with someone who has never dove side mount before. The last diver I assisted fell in this category and it only took him a half dozen dives before he was ready for cavern and intro to cave, and he rocked those classes.

In that regard, it'll go against the grain, but if you are a single tank open water divers who has not already mastered back mount doubles with a back plate and wing, it won't be noticeably harder for you to just start out in side mount. If side mount diving is your goal, then just start with side mount. Just be sure to get solid instruction from a side mount cave instructor, or extensive mentoring from an experienced side mount cave diver.

The down sides of side mount is that a) it is not nearly as standardized as back mount and b) you probably won't have just one side mount rig. For example, we use side mount rigs with wings in the 40-45 pound range for diving in N FL where the caves tend to be deeper and larger steel tanks tend to be the norm (LP 85s are very popular), along with one or more stages and a deco bottle. A 25 pound wing just won't provide nearly enough lift. In contrast in Mexico where most of the caves tend to be much shallower a pair of AL80s and a stage will let you dive for 3 to 4 hours with little or no deco. Unfortunately, a Florida style side mount rig isn't optimum for use with lighter, more positively buoyant aluminum tanks. A smaller 20-25 pound wing is plenty to float 3 AL 80s and a smaller wing is a big advantage when you are packing all your gear (except tanks) in a carry on bag to ensure it all arrives when you do.

The case for back mount

Back mount is very standardized and it's a system that works reasonably well for just about everyone. You might need a shorter or taller back plate depending on your torso length and you may find that some tanks trim out better for you than others (for example, if you are short, a set comparatively long 120s probably isn't going to work for you. But you can train a monkey to dive back mounted doubles and a well trained monkey could probably teach a new diver how to dive back mount doubles.

Back mount also tends to work better off a boat in rough seas than side mount so if you plan to do deep technical wreck diving then back mount is arguably a better choice.

Becoming a cave diver

I'll start with the mandatory statement that no amount of open water training will prepare you for cave diving.

But there is a great deal of benefit in acquiring certain skills before you show up for a cavern class and some of those skills will give you a real leg up in a cave class. For example, I came to my cavern class with 15 years of experience in doubles and a dry suit, as well as about 10 years of inland commercial diving. The ability to *feel* your orientation and buoyancy in no visibility conditions is a real plus and having a solid command of buoyancy, trim and a two tank configuration will let you focus entirely on the cave specific aspects of the class.

Side mount or back mounted doubles, you absolutely must be competent and comfortable in the configuration before you show up for class. You need to be proficient in your configuration in order to fully benefit from the training. And it's important to note that it is cave training, not a guarantee that you'll pass the class. Some things you can learn in open water include:
- proficiency in back mounted doubles or side mount configuration;
- precision buoyancy;
- level trim;
- a good frog kick and modified flutter kick;
- basic line running skills;
- the ability to maintain precise buoyancy and trim in no visibility;
- comfort in low visibility and no visibility; and
- basic cave related hand signals and light signals.

Once you start cave diving, it's easier if you live within a days drive of a cave diving location, or are willing to fly to cave country and store your gear in the area, because it is a very perishable skill. But if not, you can still practice all of the above skills in open water and maintain those skills between cave diving trips - it just takes a little dedication and discipline.

If you are not cave diving at least once a month, you will want to ensure you start out with a warm up dive and critically re-evaluate your skill level. Once you progress to the full cave level, you'll have the opportunity to see ample evidence that many full cave divers are seriously skills deficient and badly over estimate their ability - as evidenced by fin cuts and hand prints in the floor in areas of caves where only full cave divers should be. Some of them are just lazy, others just lack the self confidence to thumb a dive that is beyond their current ability to dive cleanly, some of them just really suck at self assessing their skills and some of them are just slob divers who don't care. Don't be any of those guys,
 
Why? Beyond its likely not really needed?

I find getting to the water, into the water, and out of the water to be quite a hassle. Almost always easier (for me) with tanks on my back. You don't get nice calm swimming-pool like conditions from which to stage and don tanks, and carrying sidemount-bungeed tanks on land isn't fun. That said, I haven't tried anything like a ring bungee system which a lot of folks use for such purposes. I also have no experience off boats, as the charters I usually dive with require standard backmount gear.

However, I'm trying to do it a little bit more because I don't have another way to stay in practice. I've also had some treacherous (heck...scary) exits with doubles at Lobos in low tide over the past few months, so maybe it'll prove to be an advantage there. Hopefully the park will also let us help them to repair the poor boat ramp.
 
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I would like to up my dive count. Not just because it would be a likely requirement before I progress much further, but simply because it is fun.

Honestly, the sidemount doesn't appear all that intimidating, and I would like to get the tanks off my back. I think I would much prefer having tank access at my side, rather than on my back, at least for overhead environments. Adding complexity to a dive is fine as long as it doesn't exceed my capacity to accomplish everything (of course... we never know that point until it's exceeded)... heck... I've had to assemble/disassemble my camera equipment in the middle of my dives to avoid additional charges at cenotes! (that's a joke... I am in no way implying that assembling a camera/light rig is of equivalent complexity to sidemount)

I'm a cave diver that did my training in Mexico and that's been the only place I've done cave diving....so far. Sidemount is definitely the popular configuration there. You also see some back mounted doubles, but it sounds like you prefer to go sidemount. As said, Razor and X Deep are the most popular rigs down there. I'm a Razor guy and I'm happy with the setup. I've never touched the X Deep but it seems to be an excellent system as well. Both have pros and cons but you can't go wrong with either.

If you're looking to go down this path, I'd recommend starting out with the sidemount course and focus on that before venturing into the cave route. I know sidemount seems like there's not much to it, but it's more complicated and requires a whole set of skills that you don't realize. I was expecting a simple, quick training course but it was challenging and there was more to it than what originally met the eye. So my suggestion would be to get the training and continue to do some guided cavern dives while getting comfortable with the new configuration and all of the associated safety drills, i.e. out of air, valve shutdown, bungee failures, etc...You don't want to venture into the cave training not 100% comfortable with the new configuration. Because you will be required to incorporate some of these drills into the cave training. Such as regulator free flow while blindfolded deep in a cave or in actual zero visibility, out of air while deep in a cave, etc...Good luck. It's a challenging but rewarded route you're looking to undertake.
 
Yikes...
Lots of info....

Do places do multi-day cave courses (similar to the liveaboards)? Is that something I should consider or is that condensing too much training in a short period, especially considering my total dive count isn't significant? I mean.... it isn't something I could sell to the woman easily, but if spending a week in florida or mexico is the best way to get the training I need.... :)
 
I'm guessing - that you'll need 100 dives post Fundies and your dives pre fundies won't count - happy to be corrected here.
No, a Tech Pass means the instructor is willing to have you take tech 1 or cave 1 tomorrow, and they are confident they won't get an angry phone call at 8 pm of day 1 from your first tech instructor.
 
Yikes...
Lots of info....

Do places do multi-day cave courses (similar to the liveaboards)? Is that something I should consider or is that condensing too much training in a short period, especially considering my total dive count isn't significant? I mean.... it isn't something I could sell to the woman easily, but if spending a week in florida or mexico is the best way to get the training I need.... :)
There are many that do, at both. Choosing wisely your first cave instructor is very important. There are in fact instructors you don't want to learn how to cave dive from from who regularly teach classes.
 
According to the GUE standards, Cave 1 requires 100!dives post OW certification.

No, a Tech Pass means the instructor is willing to have you take tech 1 or cave 1 tomorrow, and they are confident they won't get an angry phone call at 8 pm of day 1 from your first tech instructor.
 
Yikes...
Lots of info....

Do places do multi-day cave courses (similar to the liveaboards)? Is that something I should consider or is that condensing too much training in a short period, especially considering my total dive count isn't significant? I mean.... it isn't something I could sell to the woman easily, but if spending a week in florida or mexico is the best way to get the training I need.... :)

Hi Victor, expect each of the classes to be 3-5 days long. A good number of dives in the environment in between each class is also a wise plan. Some agencies will require this. Others will recommend. You'll most likely take at least two such classes before you can think about venturing inside a cave.

I have a friend who decided that he wanted to be a cave diver after snorkeling in a cenote on a vacation to Mexico. Had never been scuba diving. This was a little over 5 years ago, and he passed his GUE Cave 2 class a couple months back. There was a lot of work put in, a lot of training, and a lot of commitment in that time. So I'll never say never, but you might need a forgiving missus.
 
Yikes...
Lots of info....

Do places do multi-day cave courses (similar to the liveaboards)? Is that something I should consider or is that condensing too much training in a short period, especially considering my total dive count isn't significant? I mean.... it isn't something I could sell to the woman easily, but if spending a week in florida or mexico is the best way to get the training I need.... :)

Pre requisites vary but 100 OW dives is a good minimum to shoot for before starting cave training. That said, TDI only requires 25 dives to start Cavern class. The thing to remember is that you are paying for training. You won't get a card unless you earn it.

The in water portion of a Cavern class normally involves 4 dives over two days at two different sites. The next level is normally called Basic Cave or Intro to Cave and it also normally requires 4 dives over 2 days. Cavern and Intro to cave are often combined in a single 4 day class. Some agencies allow them to be combined in a shorter 6 dive, 3 day class, but it's also not uncommon for students to still require another day and two more dives to demonstrate mastery of the required skills.

Full cave normally requires 8 dives over 4 days at 3 different sites, but some agencies break it down into a two day "apprentice" level, with two more days required to complete full cave. Normally and "apprentice" card is time limited to 12-18 months. The idea is that the diver will practice at the apprentice level with limited navigation and the come back and complete Full Cave.

Some agencies take a slightly different approach with "Cave 1" and "Cave 2" classes. Cave 1 is similar to the apprentice level, except it's a certification that many people are satisfied to stay at since it allows limited navigational decisions and is more permissive than an Intro to Cave certification. Cave 2 is then the equivalent of the last half of a Full Cave certification.

You can do a "zero to hero" certification with 16 dives over the course of 8 days and knock it all out in one trip. But I don't advise that approach. Combining Cavern and Intro to Cave makes a great deal of sense as Cavern diving can get old in a hurry, while you can spend a lot of time and enjoy a lot of cave diving at the Intro level. However, I don't recommend going all the way through Full Cave without getting some actual experience at the Intro to Cave level first. There's a great deal of value in integrating what you have learned and then getting some practical experience and time in the water before moving to Full Cave. 25 to 50 cave dives at the Intro level before taking Full Cave will usually result in a better diver.

It's also not a bad idea to take an Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures between Intro to Cave and Full Cave. If you are cave diving in N FL at the full cave level, decompression is a common occurrence. If you are cave diving in Mexico, that's not the case, which is one reason why decompression procedures are not part of a Full Cave course.

Once you get past Full Cave, 100 cave dives at that level leaves you fairly well prepared for courses such as Cave DPV and Stage Cave Diving, Normoxic Trimix, Hypoxic Trimix, and possibly CCR Cave diving.

Realistically, even after competing full cave it's not a bad idea to consider taking a new course every year to maintain a continuous learning curve, and put yourself in the water with an instructor on a regular basis.
 
Side mount or back mounted doubles, you absolutely must be competent and comfortable in the configuration before you show up for class. You need to be proficient in your configuration in order to fully benefit from the training.

I'm going to quote and double-super-duper-grande-extra-everything-on-top like this post because this is exactly what I felt when I did my cavern and Intro last week in Mexico - post about that is here. I highly recommend you do Fundies or ITT or whatever, dive a bunch after that using those skills and then pursue cave training.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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