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SUMMER 2012
After making a number of cave dives, which seem incredibly adventurous,
you’ll be ready for a course to become a “full-cave diver.” This level of
training includes learning to dive complex caves, running short lines (called
“jumps”) and using line markers such as arrows and “cookies” to record
information such as who is still in the cave and which is the shortest way
out. Each level of diving increases the amount of potential anxiety divers
may experience, so they should gradually add to their experience before
progressing. There are a few other pathways to cave diver (in the U.K., for
example, divers serve an apprenticeship), but the principles listed here hold
firm regardless of the agency by which a diver is trained.
Improved Safety
Sadly, in the early days of cave diving, fatalities were significantly
more common than they are thought to be today. Research at DAN
examined more than 300 American cave-diving fatalities over a 40-year
period and found that modern approaches to cave-diver training,
probably coupled with more regulated access, appear to have stemmed
the tide of young, untrained and ill-equipped divers drowning in caves.
Today it would be difficult to find a recreational diver who does not
know you need special training to safely dive in caves.
With that training comes the expectation of suitable gear, and such gear
usually costs a bit more than the equipment used for ocean diving. Many of
us have been diving for years before we get into the darker side of diving, as
cave diving is affectionately known. Considering the experience, the cost of
the gear and the expense of the additional training, today’s cave diver may
be a few years more seasoned and a bit more cautious. In general, we also
have high-quality, well-maintained gear and, above all, advanced training.
One of the added benefits of getting trained as a cave diver is that the
skills developed along the way carry over into the rest of our diving. Many of
us change the way we fin even when diving reefs so we don’t throw pressure
waves down onto the wildlife. We feel more comfortable carrying an extra
cylinder and regulator when making deeper dives, and our gas consumption
tends to drop as we improve our trim and buoyancy control. This means we
use less gas on average, so our dives become less physiologically demanding.
Cave-dIvIng travel
The main benefit of all this training, though, is that you get to dive caves.
Florida is known in the U.S. as “cave country,” and there is something for
everyone there. Deep caves, fast-flowing passages, dark rooms, white rooms,
narrow bits to negotiate and tunnels three divers can swim through side by
photo contest
enter
online
until nov. 30, 2012
The editors of
Alert Diver
and
Nature’s Best Photography
invite all photographers to
submit entries in this year’s
Ocean Views Photo Contest.
Enter for a chance to win
trips and prizes by sending
us your best shots taken
above and below the ocean’s
surface. Winning images
will be published in
both
Alert Diver
and
Nature’s Best Photography
magazines. Good luck!
call for entries
www.NaturesBestPhotography.com/oceanviews