Where should i do a basic cave course?

[Bryan Hansen]

Hello.
It's about time for me to do a cave diver course, and I really am in the blue as to where. I live in Israel, and there are no "wet" caves here - so we have no cave diving, and no cave diving instructors (makes you wonder why...). In our tech diver community, we also have vary few certified cave divers.
But we do have a few nice wrecks. And generally, I understand the difference between a wreck/cave pennetration. And I have never found a good opinion on weather or not cave training suits wreck divin. your opinions..?

Anyway, my budget isn't very high. And still, I want the best Quallity training I can get. And of course I know what Cheap training means. If I could find a dive center I could at for a short period in exchange - I guess that would be perfect...

What about DIR courses? do they have any bennefits? I don't really like their concept ("any other way - you're dead"), and at least the GUE fundementals does'nt teach anything I can't do - so I think I'll pass on them. Any reason not to?

I think it is most likely I will do the course in the mediterranian sea or in europe. Going to the USA or mexico probably isn't going to happen. So far, the only reccomendation I have is for a guy nammed Tody in Sardinia. Any thoughts?

Anyway, I have cheked out TDI and IANTD standards, a king of got a picture of wich courses I need to do. But how far in certification levels do you tthink is a reasonable goal at first, for someone who has never been in a cave?

On the other hand, I am a CCR/OC Trimix diver, OC advanced trimix is planned for September, and I have +- 100 hours of rebreather dives on an Inspiraion. I have been working in the last few years a a diving instructor, currentley with a rating of Deco Procedures/Adv. Nitrox in TDI, with 3000 sport dives and a few hundred tech dives, I guess.

Also, would you reccomend doing these coursen onn CCR or OC? would there be any rel difference as to what I am Certified or Qullified to do?

So where do you think I should start from, and how far do you think I should go in a 1-2 week corse? and do you have any reccomandations for an English speaking Instructor?


Thanks,
Bryan

 

[decompression]

Have a look at the Unified Team Diving website, they have a very good approach to full cave certification and have instructors all over the world (Italy might be a good option). Very high quality as the founder of the agency was a big part of GUE.

 

[billgraham]

A lot of divers from Europe come to Florida for cave training, so I'm thinking there's a reason for that.

 

[chrpai]

I'm curious, if your budget is modest and there aren't any caves near you to dive, what is your motivation for taking a cave class? I would imagine any training you would take would be towards the aim of diving the sites that are realistically available to you.

 

[Superlyte27]

As I see it, your choices are Mexico or Florida. If you choose mexico the caves are very easy, little to no flow often with shallow depths and unlimited visibility. However, if you go to Florida, most good cave instructors will put you in high flow, sometimes with less than perfect vis and will push your core skills to their limits.

I think Florida is a bit cheaper to live while taking training. Nitrox is 10cents per cubic foot. Housing is as cheap as $25/night. Tank rentals are $10 for a set of doubles per day. If you are a competent CCR diver you can do training in either OC or CCR.

If you have any more questions I might be able to steer you in the right direction. I can do the OC training or can hook you up with a fellow instructor who teaches CCR Cave. Check my link out at the bottom if you decide Florida is your destination.

 

[TSandM]

You can get cave trained in France, but the caves there are colder.

There have been a lot of discussions about whether cave training is good preparation for wreck penetration, but if that's what you are interested in, why not find a technical wreck class somewhere near you? I know you can do such classes in Malta.

I think, if you have some GUE-trained divers near you, that you might find it interesting to dive with them and see what the standard of performance is. Cave diving requires the highest refinement in buoyancy control, trim, and tolerance of task loading, and even people with other technical training are sometimes surprised by how tight the tolerances are (and of course, the same holds true for penetration of silty wrecks). And I would like to disagree with the statement that GUE teaches, "Do it our way or you are going to DIE!" They don't. There are some practices (like deep air) that are felt to be grossly unsafe, but primarily, GUE teaches, "Do it our way and you'll find it works pretty darned well." And it does.

But if you are trying to figure out how to do this training on the ultra-cheap, GUE classes aren't an option, because cheap they are not.

 

[MarkHerm]

I think it is most likely I will do the course in the mediterranian sea or in europe. Going to the USA or mexico probably isn't going to happen. So far, the only reccomendation I have is for a guy nammed Tody in Sardinia. Any thoughts?

That is actually a recommendation for Protec Sardinia as Tody is the owner of that base. While I didn't personally take any courses from him, the courses from Protec Sardinia have a very good reputation. You can't go wrong there IMO. Besides, you can try to find an intructor in France (region Lot) which is another top spot for cave diving in europe (can't recommend an instructor there though).

 

[jago]

Besides, you can try to find an intructor in France (region Lot) which is another top spot for cave diving in europe (can't recommend an instructor there though).

Pascal Bernabé (CCR & OC (BM & SM) cave) http://www.pascalbernabe.com Frank Vasseur (CCR & OC (BM & SM) cave) Celadons | Le site officiel de Frank Vasseur. celadons@free.fr Alban Michon (OC (BM & SM) cave) Quercy-plongée.com

 

[tracydr]

What about Bahamas?

 

[WDT]

Hi Bryan,
In my opinion Florida is one of the best place to train. Water is not so cold (which is good to meet the hours needed for a course) theres is flow and no flow, good visibility and bad visibility, shallow and depth.
I love it so much, this is why I moved here more than 10 years ago.
Safe cave dives