Using cave card when ocean diving

[Johnny Bailey]

I haven't been ocean diving in a long time. I get seasick easily. Breathing diesel fumes while rocking and rolling on a cattle boat is not my favorite thing to do.

HOWEVER, I do enjoy the sea life. Almost as much as albino crayfish. Has anyone found that having a cave card helps in getting less "hand-holding" in ocean diving?

It may not matter, but was curious if it made a difference.

[diveconjeff]

Depends on the boat. If the captain and/or crew are technically savvy the Cave card may pull some weight for you. If the primary function of the operation is to herd recreational divers in and out of the deep blue sea they may not even recognize your cave card. I have seen it go both ways.


Jeff
[email protected]

[Jack Hammer]

Depends on the boat. If the captain and/or crew are technically savvy the Cave card may pull some weight for you. If the primary function of the operation is to herd recreational divers in and out of the deep blue sea they may not even recognize your cave card. I have seen it go both ways.


Jeff
[email protected]

+1


Saw a guy with full trimix and cave certs get the blank stare along the lines of, "I don't know what those are... you need an AOW cert". Saw another guy flash his Master Scuba diver card and get celebrity treatment....

[ams511]

Saw a guy with full trimix and cave certs get the blank stare along the lines of, "I don't know what those are... you need an AOW cert".

That is funny, I would have wet myself seeing that.

[Garth]

The only stories I've heard from captains were of cave divers being overtly confident and doing something stupid while on their boats.

I have no way of knowing whether the captains were truthful or whether they were embellishing the stories.


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[mag3]

I haven't been ocean diving in a long time. I get seasick easily. Breathing diesel fumes while rocking and rolling on a cattle boat is not my favorite thing to do.

HOWEVER, I do enjoy the sea life. Almost as much as albino crayfish. Has anyone found that having a cave card helps in getting less "hand-holding" in ocean diving?

It may not matter, but was curious if it made a difference.

I had already begun cave training, but had one last time on a "rec" liveaboard. All but me were in poodle jackets (I had a BP & W with a STA... no "doubles available), one tank of air or EAN32 (the only thing they were mixing). They all looked at me like I was nuts. I could not follow my own deco schedules and had to stay with the group (they did one dive to the "Blue Hole"). They kept asking me, "Where's your weight belt?" I had to explain how the BP and STA serve as the weight.

Point being, if it's not run by a "tech friendly" operation, you might be restricted to rec/open water practices (no diving below x', no mandatory deco etc.), since they don't want to have to wait for you to finish deco, or coral you back to where the others are, of which they have their hands full.

[Line Squirrel]

+1


Saw a guy with full trimix and cave certs get the blank stare along the lines of, "I don't know what those are... you need an AOW cert". Saw another guy flash his Master Scuba diver card and get celebrity treatment....

+1 Seen the same myself. I've done a couple dozen liveaboards from Caymans to Thailand and many destination between, you're better off with an AOW and EANx cards. Maybe a DM card. I had my OW Instructor tucked away incase I needed it to buy me more "breathing room" but usually when I brought +$10K worth of camera equiptment on board they let me do my own thing

[Tegg]

When I dive on ocean boats I show them the card they ask for... no more. I have found that if you get "flashy" with cards they expect you to be a secondary DM. I'm paying to dive on the boat and I'm not going to be a DM...

Then again, no one wants to dive with the guy who is diving a single AL80 with a monkey harness and no wing... "He's effing nuts!"

[hunabku]

I have been at a resort in Playa del Carmen where they where not going to let me go do the dive to an artificial reef at 70' because they had not seen me on a shallow dive to verify my buoyancy skills. This is after showing my cave card.

I show the most appropriate card for the situation, and nothing more. That is usually my AOW card on a boat. I never show them my DM card because it opens me up to liability.

[MORGAN]

When I dive on ocean boats I show them the card they ask for... no more.

Yup, me too. No point in confusing them.

The card thing can get a little silly, and not only in diving. A friend of my father's, a Vermont state game warden and hunter safety instructor, went to Colorado to go elk hunting. When he tried to buy a license, they required him to show a hunter safety card and wouldn't accept his hunter safety instructor card. He had to call my father, also a warden and hunter safety instructor, to have a card written up and mailed to him.

Mike

Mike