A guid ususly knows what is worth seeing and also knows what to aviod , and
can also make a guess as what to aviod that may be beyond your abilities.
Being an "out of towner" spending a ffew buck more for it is not a pronlem
, you usualy end up spending quit a bit to get there and stay there , so
spending a little mor is not realy going to break the bank.

Even better , get a quilified instructer to give the guided tour/check out
, and you can also get a little instruction and brush up an anything that
may need a little attention.

Of course I am talking about a resonable fee here . I could have gone to Fl
twice from new yoork and piad for instruction for 5 days on the money
wasted on "shit assed" gear that was not worth anthing for! Still have some
if it in the dive locker gathering dust. 

Those with big egos will have a problem with that. 



At 06:34 AM 4/5/2000 -0400, Trey wrote:
>Mike, I agree with the guided dives suggestion here. That is something
>these NACD and CDS instructors need to start doing. They can charge for
>it like any other service, and it would cut the accident rates severely.
>Even an idiot like  Bill Dooley can pull off a cave dive without killing
>somebody, but these out of towners are high risk no matter what they
>think they are doing right or what they think they know.
>
>I would rather myself go on a guided dive than wing it in a system that
>I do not know ( unless of course it were unexplored, in which case I am
>following my own line ). I just went to Mexico for a couple of weeks and
>hired a Mayan guide for three dives in systems I had never seen. That
>was a lot more fun that getting in there and thrashing around trying to
>find the good stuff. 
>
>In WKPP we basicly have all mentor systems and effectively "guided"
>dives to get out guys going.
>
>
>ALEXANDER MELLER wrote:
>> 
>> Mike
>>  I take a group of cave divers down from Pennsylvania to Florida 4 to
>> 5 times a year. They have been trained by one of the best cave
>> instructors in Florida and are certified NSS-CDS. In the last three
>> years, I have not visited your place for one reason or another(floods,
>> students in classes) In selling my trips, I speak of how beautiful
>> your place is and how great the cave system is at Madison Blue. we are
>> coming down again in April with the intention to visit Madison.
>>     I cannot speak on the issues you have against the training
>> agencies or thier instructors and directors. I do not want to be
>> involved in such politics. I disagree with you on "GUE" being the only
>> agency to dive at your place. What if the Cayman's only allowed PADI
>> divers in and Cozumel only SSI divers.
>>     I was trained to cave dive by the NSS-CDS when there was no GUE
>> and no George. I feel I have evolved to become a top notch cave diver
>> over the years. I subscibe to the "DIR" method of gear configeration
>> and have the feelings most of the Wkpp have on team work, buddy
>> system, personal preference gear, etc. But I do not need "GUE to
>> sanction me. I cannot devote the time to work with the WKPP although I
>> admire their acomplishments would like to be a team player.
>>     Because you own Madison, I guess you have a right say who comes
>> and goes. I do not think you could survive at the gates(income) if
>> only Gue people would be admitted. Based on what I've seen over the
>> last three years, I do see most people flocking to GUE to be trained.
>> This is just my observation from being down the Florida caves a month
>> or so out of the year. It would be a real shame if you had to lose
>> Madison for lack of profits to be turned over to someone else who
>> would give two shits about the cave envoirment or the beauty of
>> Madison.
>>     Just a thought but if your worried about the level of training
>> coming to Madison, why don't you do guided dives or have some type of
>> chekout skills prior to entering your cave system. And just another
>> thought, Instead of renouncing the CDS, why don't you and some of the
>> GUE/CDS instructor get rid of the people running the NSS and help mold
>> it to take the shape you are after. I am not an authority on Cave
>> instruction although I am an scuba instructor.
>>     I would really like to visit Madison without the GUE involvement.
>> I hope you reconsider. Thank you for your time.
>> Respectfully
>> Alex Meller
>> seacave@vo*.co*
>
>
>

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