Looking for a cave

[derek modet]

I've done several dives including a few cave dives, and I've got all my cave gear but no certification. Does anyone know any good caves in Florida that don't require any certification at all?

-Thanks

 

[K Mejean]

No. Nor would I recommend you attemp to enter one. You will find that no one on this site will give you the info you are looking for. I don't want to lecture you but what you want to do is not safe without the proper training. Even if you have done it before without a problem I would be afraid that your skills would not be enough to get you out if the situation got bad.
GO GET CERTIFIED AND THEN COME ASK ABOUT CAVES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dive-aholic]

Get experience then get trained. I highly doubt that with less than 25 dives you have the skills needed to be cave diving. I even question whether you have the proper "cave gear". Read my sig line and take a look at some of the videos on my web site.

 

[fire_diver]

Stay out of the caves until you get the proper instruction. Can't get any simpler than that. We don't need any more divers deaths than we have already.

The number 1 killing factor in caves is lack of training or exceeding training.

 

[Belmont]

:grinjester:

 

[BlueWaterDiving]

:reaper: should I say more. I think it is all been said

 

[AtomicZ]

This ought to be interesting.

 

[tc]

An excellent post on the topic-

A Letter for the Open Water Diving Community


Since the 2007 dive season in Florida is underway we at the NACD would like to take the opportunity to discuss with you an important topic related to diving in Florida.



This year has had its share of cave-related diver fatalities. Currently, the death toll in Florida caves includes two experienced cave-trained divers and two non-cave trained open water certified divers. This adds to the fact that over the years the NACD has seen an unacceptable rate of non cave trained divers perishing in the cave environment. Most of this is likely due to the divers not being fully informed of the hazards and specialized training that diving into the caves requires.



Our guidelines of accident analysis have shown that the following are the primary causes for untrained divers dying in caves:



Lack of training for the overhead environment.
Lack of using a permanent guideline when in the environment.
Not using safe and proven gas management rules.
Diving too deep, beyond their level of training.
Not using the proper equipment for the environment.


Over the years we have found that divers have perished for all the above reasons. Open water-trained divers, attracted to the crystal clear waters and inviting cavern entrances, can unknowingly enter a cave. Their flutter kicks stir up the silty bottom, which slowly closes the door of visibility behind them. Eventually they turn and have lost visual reference to the surface and with no line of reference may inadvertently follow the clearer water deeper into the cave or spend precious moments blindly searching for the exit, which eludes them.



The NACD hopes you will review these guidelines before considering which dive sites you will visit. Our Public Relations and Safety committees have volunteers that are always available to speak to you, your local dive shop or dive club. To arrange for one of our Public Relations members to speak to you please contact Walter Pickel at 813-843-1588 or send email to pr@safecavediving.com.



Go to NACD Safety Brochure and download a copy of our safety brochure for you to help educate yourself and other divers of the hazards involved with cavern and cave diving.



In closing, if you have any comments or questions about cave related safety in your area please contact the NACD Safety Officer Richard Dreher at 612-508-4469 or send email to safety@safecavediving.com.







Jeff Bauer, Rick Murcar, Larry Green, Jim Wyatt, Bert Wilcher, Richard Dreher and Tracy Grubbs





Board of Directors, National Association for Cave Diving

 

[Thalassamania]

I know a great one. It's about eight feet long, three feet wide and six feet deep, it has lots of stalagmites but no stalactites, but lots of grass grows all around.

Come on, don't be stupid ... stay alive so you can post on ScubaBoard.

 

[RickI]

A blast from the far past. When I was at USF in Tampa, FL in 1975, I met three different NACD certified divers over about a year. Each was scheduled for a cave dive, each backed out for whatever reason and in all three cases, the caving teams dove as scheduled and died in different ways and times. There was some good accumulated knowledge about cave diving even then, still some hard won lessons and tech developments were still off in the future. Cave diving was still a fairly new thing. We dropped like flies, largely because we approached cave diving like open water diving to an excess degree. That was decades ago, how does your approach today differ? Our fatality rates in cave diving only started to drop and level off once safety, training and gear got dialed in.

Ask around, find a good NACD program and get as much out of it as you can.