Nice

[Sludge]

There was a shop in Indy that was offering $99 classes....they are no more.

One of the shops I work in has a sign on the front of the building:



FREE SCUBA LESSONS*

*with purchase of Total Diving System

[Arctic Mike]

One of the shops I work in has a sign on the front of the building:



FREE SCUBA LESSONS*

*with purchase of Total Diving System

Must be an SSI shop, no?

[Tegg]

Has anyone attempted to contact them and setup an "educational" meeting with their instructors to teach them the errors of their ways?

I would assume that the CDS or NACD would have literature and would be bound to have someone that can make contact and offer the session to them in person.

If I wasn't already slammed with my schedule, I would be doing it.

I hope someone on the CDS or NACD BOD decides to step up and at least attempt a contact with them. If Chaz is closed again to the general diving public, it would not be a good thing. Permit Diving is not the way I want to have to dive Eagles.

[FW]

Has anyone attempted to contact them and setup an "educational" meeting with their instructors to teach them the errors of their ways?

I would assume that the CDS or NACD would have literature and would be bound to have someone that can make contact and offer the session to them in person.

If I wasn't already slammed with my schedule, I would be doing it.

I hope someone on the CDS or NACD BOD decides to step up and at least attempt a contact with them. If Chaz is closed again to the general diving public, it would not be a good thing. Permit Diving is not the way I want to have to dive Eagles.

Go back a page or so, and read Jim's and my posts

[undercov31]

I live about 15 minutes from this shop. If someone needs me to help out with this i will be more then happy. Im not an instructor but willing to help. I will be at Ginnie on Sunday so if there is any information thats needs to be dropped off let me know

Garrick

[jhnmrt1]

I spend A LOT of time in the Chass, almost every weekend. I have done a lot of dives in Buford, Warm Spring, Blind Spring, Karst Pond, Scrub Island Swallet, Eagles Nest and others.

The FACT that is missing in this discussion is that, like it or not, Buford is easier to get to than any of the other dive sites in the Chass and most of the divers who dive Buford are Open Water divers. I have personally seen a temporary OW card, issued a week before, on the dash of a car parked in the parking area by the logging road leading to Buford. I have made it a point to chat with divers about their experience and gear whenever I see them at Buford to try to get an idea of their experience level. Based on these conversations and observations I am sure that most people diving Buford are not cave or cavern certified.

Buford now has graffiti on some of its walls and in several places divers have tried to carve and cut fossils out of the wall. I have picked up beer cans and water bottles from inside both Buford and Warm Spring and carried them out. IMHO the best way to protect these resources is to make people aware of their beauty and educate them how to protect and preserve them. OW divers ARE diving the site now. Since it is unlikely that there will ever be someone to check C cards of divers entering these sites or to orient them as to the care necessary to preserve them, having a guide seems like the lesser of two evils to me.

Dive Safe - Jack

[WEPIV]

How in the world can a remote site in the middle of nowhere, (and that is quite a hassle to get to), become in such a short time a well known dive site where open water divers are going there (supposedly) frequently...!
I may be a bit slow sometimes to understand some things so can someone -- if it is even possible -- explain to me how this can happen.
In the relatively short time I've been cave diving I've seen and heard about a number of sites that have become diving hotspots and of course that usually takes a toll on the site in a number of ways.
I don't want to have access changed/denied at EN or surrounding sites but I would at least like to think that there is something that can be done to keep these sites remote (as they have been for decades) and not damaged by people that should not be there.
For the record, I have not been to Buford yet but I'd like to. I have been to EN a number of times and really enjoy it.

[john]

I spend A LOT of time in the Chass, almost every weekend. I have done a lot of dives in Buford, Warm Spring, Blind Spring, Karst Pond, Scrub Island Swallet, Eagles Nest and others.

The FACT that is missing in this discussion is that, like it or not, Buford is easier to get to than any of the other dive sites in the Chass and most of the divers who dive Buford are Open Water divers. I have personally seen a temporary OW card, issued a week before, on the dash of a car parked in the parking area by the logging road leading to Buford. I have made it a point to chat with divers about their experience and gear whenever I see them at Buford to try to get an idea of their experience level. Based on these conversations and observations I am sure that most people diving Buford are not cave or cavern certified.

Buford now has graffiti on some of its walls and in several places divers have tried to carve and cut fossils out of the wall. I have picked up beer cans and water bottles from inside both Buford and Warm Spring and carried them out. IMHO the best way to protect these resources is to make people aware of their beauty and educate them how to protect and preserve them. OW divers ARE diving the site now. Since it is unlikely that there will ever be someone to check C cards of divers entering these sites or to orient them as to the care necessary to preserve them, having a guide seems like the lesser of two evils to me.

Dive Safe - Jack

Jack it sounds like you are the guide for this shop. If I am mistaken please correct me.

With the guide system you discuss then what would be next? Eagles Nest?

It just strikes me as irresponsible to be taking people cave diving without them getting any cave training prior.

[cavediver27]

Jack it sounds like you are the guide for this shop. If I am mistaken please correct me.

With the guide system you discuss then what would be next? Eagles Nest?

It just strikes me as irresponsible to be taking people cave diving without them getting any cave training prior.

There are already shops taking OW divers into Eagles Nest. I've seen it myself on several occasions. I wouldn't doubt the same idiots taking them to Buford are taking them to the Nest. Buford isn't an easy access and takes a lot of hard work to get in, the Nest is easy access and just requires a short walk to the platform and steps. With the current situation continuing on, both of these sites are a fatality waiting to happen.

[LiteHedded]

I know at least one shop TEACHING advanced open water at buford