OW Cavern Recommedations

How many OW divers have a tendency to bolt? Not op, but just in general most certified divers are woefully under trained to understand the environment. How many divers don't even own a light and have to rent? I'm not saying I haven't gone in ginnie without cavern or that others always can't, but it seems like a self evaluation hasn't occurred for most ow divers.

This thread is particularly humorous given that OP wanted to stay within his training, which does exclude these environments by definition.

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Get a grip, people. There's nothing wrong with open water divers in the cavern at Ginnie, or Morrison, or Cypress. They're called "novice caverns," and I don't recall an accident in any of them, ever.

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I won't comment on the other sites, but I will strongly beg to differ on Morrison. I remember when I received my advanced OW training at 17 that my instructor could tell I had an interest in other aspects of diving other than pretty fish looking. He took me into the cavern at Morrison and I was so narced I was hitting the ceiling then the floor over and over, and felt like I was being attacked by jaws when the eels came to have a look at me.

I think the flow coming out of the opening is really the biggest thing keeping morrison off of the above list. My instructor warned me about the flow, but I distinctly remember getting shot out like a cannonball. An untrained dive could easily embolize.

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

Get a grip, people. There's nothing wrong with open water divers in the cavern at Ginnie, or Morrison, or Cypress. They're called "novice caverns," and I don't recall an accident in any of them, ever.

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Where is Cypress Springs?

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Originally Posted by ScubaStingRay

This thread is particularly humorous given that OP wanted to stay within his training, which does exclude these environments by definition.

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Not to dig at the OP or be disrespectful, but the glaring thing that doesn't sit well with me is that he notes that he doesn't want to overstep his training, but in essence is regardless of how easy the caverns may be, and is an OW instructor. It doesn't really concern me what he does on his own. What worries me is that if its OK for a student's instructor, doesn't that mean its OK for the student as well?

I'm not so clueless as to not realize there's lots of things good instructors shouldn't be doing, but at the end of the day shouldn't an instructor want to be a gleaming example of not bending the rules?

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Originally Posted by Puttzer

Where is Cypress Springs?

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I haven't even thought about cypress since my first open water classes. Pulling up the link below brought back lots of good memories though.
http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/cypress.html

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Originally Posted by rddvet

I haven't even thought about cypress since my first open water classes. Pulling up the link below brought back lots of good memories though.

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I dived it Monday for the first time since 2001. Puttzer, it's forty miles due north of Panama City Beach, just outside Vernon.

(It's water-entry-only since Nestle bought the property. Our kayaks are in the center of the picture.)

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Originally Posted by rddvet

Pulling up the link below...

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This website says, "This is now private property and only accessible by canoe or small boat. You must launch at a ramp on Holmes Creek several miles downstream and paddle upstream to reach the spring." This is not true - Culpepper landing is only about 500 yards downstream, and it's free.

Ah this is the nestle spring. I've been meaning to try this one out. I imagine entry with doubles into a canoe is rather difficult.

Finally someone agrees with me. Overhead is Overhead. Seems the private , for profit, dive sites really don't care about safety. If they required Cavern Certification in Gennie's Ballroom, Devil's Den, Blue Grotto, Paradise Springs, they would be limiting their audience and would eventually go out of business. Go to Orange Grove, Catfish Hotel, Jug Hole, Madison Blue, or any of the State Parks and take a light with you. You will find out quickly that the State Parks seem to understand the importance of training more than the Private Sector Profitable Dive Sites do. Just because they allow you to be stupid you still have a brain that should let you know what is right.

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Originally Posted by vicp

Yeah, OW Cavern is an oxymoron, but before everyone begins to pile on the OP in some sort of self-righteous, chest-thumping orgy, realize that it is the diving industry that has created these so-called "OW Caverns." Ginnie Ballroom, Blue Grotto, Paradise Springs (I am sure there are others), are all overhead environments that are "open" to OW divers.

We are told to NEVER go into an overhead, no matter how benign, until you have the training and certification. People on SB actually debate whether it is safe to go through coral arches as they are technically "overhead," but the above mentioned sites, which are certainly caverns with cave extensions, are open to OW divers by their owners.

Hey, "don't go into any overhead, watch "A Deceptively Easy Way to Die", give me 30 or 40 bucks, sign the waiver, don't take a light (unless you sneak one in - I won't watch), follow the thick heavy line, and try not to kill yourself."

No wonder many think that training limitations are a joke!

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If the OP is still aorund - with your interest in caverns, go to www.nacdmembers.com or www.nsscds.org for local instructors. Cavern classes are probably $400 for 2 days training and worth it regardless of your level of training. Also, you can check out TDI, IANTD, NAUI, and GUE more more instructors.