Ginnie Eye vs. Ginnie Ear

After diving at Ginnie yesterday, we entered through the Eye which seems to be a popular entry as there were several lines running into the system, I started wondering why people enter through the Eye rather than the ear. Is there some advantage to this entry point? During all of my training dives at Ginnie, I think we always entered through the Ear and I remember hanging out for Deco on the log. Honestly, it felt like more work to enter through the Ear. Just curious about other peoples' opinions on the two entry points and why choose one over the other.

Dominick

The only time ive entered thru the eye is when i couldnt find the hole :p (pardon the pun)

I take students in both, but personally always use the Ear. There’s less flow in the Eye which might be a reason.

Safe diving,

Rich

In the ear, out the eye is where it's at.

Deco in the eye is easier.

The Eye is faster, but deco is much more convenient in the Eye, especially when you have stops deeper than 20'. The Eye will also accommodate a lot more people. It kinda sucks on a busy day to see another team on the log already when you've got deco.

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As some one noted above, "in the eye, out the ear" is a common practice, but that's also playing fast and loose with the continuous guideline rule.

I won't say I've never done it, and there are times we do exactly that, particularly on DPV dives.

But I don't do it when mentoring less experienced full cave divers. I certainly will not do it with intro level divers where it not only violates the continuous guide line rule, but also violates the limits of their cert in terms of a traverse. With intro level divers I am more likely to use the Ear as they benefit from the practice running lines into high flow. They also benefit from the experience of exiting in high flow (at a level where they have no deco obligation) so that some day they'll be better prepared if they do exit the Ear with a deco obligation. It's only been a couple years since a diver got blown out the ear with a deco obligation, got bent and died.

Be smart, be a good role model and mentor to others, and take the long view.