> For people who've never had the experience, it's stunning how fast a stray kick into the silt can turn the water in a cave pitch black. Like barely able to see your hand dark. Even when you're used to it most people will find it very claustrophobic.
For some reason reading this made me shiver in fear. I don't usually visualize scary stuff when I read it, but this did it. I know I would be scared to death if it were to happen to me.
In practice, the training is excellent and you'll have dozens of zero-visibility experiences before finishing the certification. You learn that as long as you have the line in your hand and you stuck to your gas limits, you have everything you need to make it out alive, even if it takes you twice as long to do so.
...the trick is what happens when you don't have the guideline in your hand, or something goes wrong with your equipment, or someone's tanks run out, or a diver gets lost, etc. But you train for that, too.
For some reason reading this made me shiver in fear. I don't usually visualize scary stuff when I read it, but this did it. I know I would be scared to death if it were to happen to me.