I was first certified as an Open Water SCUBA diver in the spring of 1998 in the cold dark waters of the Northeast. My initial certification was immediately followed by one more “advanced” certification after another. First Advanced Open Water followed by Nitrox Diver, Deep Air, Advanced Deep Air, and Normoxic Trimix.

I accomplished all this even though I had less than 65 dives by the time I was done. I could not yet be fully certified to dive mixed gas because I did not have the requisite 250 dives. Since I also wanted to extend my stays underwater, I started to do some research on fully-closed and semi-closed rebreathers.

A number of things happened prior to my purchase of one of these fancy and very expensive units. Jarrod Jablonski, President of Halcyon and GUE, was surprised to learn I was Normoxic certified at 65 dives and asked why I needed a rebreather then told me not to make a purchase decision until after I have logged more than 200 dives.

This was in contradiction to another agency’s leader who took a more neutral position by telling me the positives and negatives of each unit and counseled me that 65 dives was sufficient to begin training on rebreathers. Needless to say, I was more intrigued by JJs advice than that of the other individual – after all, it was in JJ’s best interest to convince me to purchase one of his units and receive training from his instructors. I still have not purchased a unit nor do I plan to do so any time soon.

Around the same time, my friends and I traveled to Grand Cayman for what was to become our annual dive trip sans wives and children. Armed with my brand new Normoxic Trimix certification card, I arranged for a guided wall dive to 180fsw with a local dive operation.

I was made to wear two wings sandwiched together. One was a Dive Rite Classic and the other was an OMS bungee wing. The purpose was for redundancy but I do not think I could have reconnected the low-pressure inflator on the second wing when it became necessary to do so. For my bottom gas, I was using 21% Oxygen and 35% helium carried in double aluminum 100s.

I carried decompression bottles of 36% Oxygen on my right and 80% Oxygen on my left as I had been taught by my instructor. The first problem was on the water surface since my guide carried his decompression bottles in the exact opposite configuration I carried mine. This potentially could cause one of us to breath the wrong gas at the wrong depth—a potentially fatal mistake.

I had hoses, reels, lights and other miscellaneous equipment such as wreck reels and lift bags hanging all over the place. Not only were they useless because I would have been unable to reach many of them, the equipment configuration was such that I was nothing but a basket of entanglement hazards and drag. The dive was a disaster and fortunately or unfortunately, I had the dive videotaped so I cannot deny anything and the video serves as a not so gentle reminder of how to do it wrong.

I was not comfortable in the water because my trim and buoyancy were non-existent and my equipment configuration was disorganized and uncomfortable. If my guide had experienced an emergency, I would not have been much -- if any -- help to him. I had no business going on that dive to those depths without more experience. I blew through my gas supply in 15 minutes while flailing around in the water at 195 feet. This was deeper than our plan to swim above 180 feet because I could not control my buoyancy. I could not hold my stops at depth until I reached the anchor line for support.

I am surprised I didn’t experience oxygen toxicity and go into convulsions because after I finished my 10-foot stop I accidentally swam to 30 feet as I moved from the bow of the boat to the stern. I was certainly testing the limits of oxygen toxicity. This was dive 68 and it convinced me to start my dive education from the beginning. My current instructor merely had me go through the motions of obtaining one certification card after another without teaching me the skills necessary for each successive level. He merely read the course outline to me then had me jump in the water and shake my hand at the end of each dive.

After realizing I needed more – and better -- training, I started to do some research on the Internet. I was looking for additional technical training as well as overhead training to improve my skills as a wreck diver. I knew I had to take a step backward. This was when I discovered GUE. I called to try to sign up for a wreck diving course or -- if they did not have one, could they recommend one.

The woman on the phone told me that many wreck divers come to Florida for cave training in order to improve their overhead diving skills. I was not moved. Then I somehow came across Maggie Owens’ website where she has available an account of her and her boyfriend Tony Thomas’ experience with a GUE Cave Class. While diving a wreck in Lake Michigan, I also ran into a group of divers from Chicago who had completed a GUE Cave class. I was impressed by how they moved through the water with such ease and grace.

Every piece of gear was accounted for and stowed in the proper place. While I raced for the anchor line to complete my required deco stops, they simply floated up effortlessly from one depth to another. I was finally convinced that I had to visit Florida to learn to dive. The cave part was secondary. I was a Northeast Wreck Diver after all.

In October 2000, I attended a GUE Cave I class taught by Dave Sweetin. I made two major discoveries during class. The first was the difference in caliber of instructors and training at GUE compared to other agencies. While excellent instructors may be found in many agencies, GUE instructors in my opinion are held accountable to a much higher standard. My second discovery was the fact that I was not ready for this class and at the time there was no “Fundamentals of DIR” class.

My buoyancy skills and trim were non-existent as opposed to merely poor, while my level of fitness caused me to be exhausted after each class. Luckily, I was the only one in class and Dave patiently helped me improve throughout the week. It was a given that I would have to take this class again. It was the first class I have ever failed, but surprisingly, I came away extremely happy. For the first time, I was actually very comfortable with my equipment configuration. I was taught and drilled constantly on emergency procedures. I was taught how to communicate in the water and how to be a good dive buddy.

These all seem like very basic skills, but skills that I have never learned until that week. I spent the next several months practicing the skills Dave taught me as well as getting into better physical condition and in May 2001 successfully completed the Cave I course with Dave, Tyler Moon, and Tamara Kendel. I barely passed the second time around and I may not have made it had it not been for my dive buddies and fellow classmates Bob Cooper, Don Hoover and Lonnie Pechnik. I have since taken Tech I taught by another excellent GUE instructor -- Fraser Purdon. The class was held in Grand Cayman, but we didn’t finish because the three students in the class, including myself, did not work well as a team and fell behind schedule. I look forward to finishing it, too.

I first sought cave training to improve my ability to penetrate wrecks. However, my first dive inside a cave has caused me to reevaluate my priorities. I am no longer sure which I enjoy more though my friends in the New Jersey area believe I am turning to “The Dark Side” because I have logged more cave dives than wreck dives in the last 12 months. My change of heart occurred after my first splash in the crystal clear waters of Ginnie Cavern and was solidified after my first swim into Devil’s Ear.

The visibility and the colors were incredible. I was amazed and laughing about the fact I was able to see the trees, the moon and the stars above me as I was doing my safety stop in The Eye. This burning passion for caves was further fanned by visits to Peacock State Park and Little River during my cave class. While the age of wrecks may be measured in terms of decades or even hundreds of years, cave and rock formations are measured in millions of years. And the diving was easy from a logistics point of view and my schedule was under my control. I did not have to wake up at 5:00 am to drive to a boat that will motor for anywhere between 1-7 hours so I can get seasick right before doing two 25-minute dives – and that all assumes the weather is cooperative. I can drive to the cave whenever I want to and park my vehicle close to the cave entrance. In most places, you can dive any time of day or night. I was hooked!