Cave Diving Course

The TDI Cavern Diver course is an entry-level overhead environment program that trains divers to safely explore caverns within the limits of natural light penetration, focusing on planning, procedures, equipment, and hazard awareness. It is not a cave diving certification, but rather the foundation for divers interested in progressing toward cave training

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 Course Overview

• Objective: Develop minimum skills and knowledge for cavern diving, emphasizing safety and hazard management.

• Scope: Diving only where daylight is visible, no tight restrictions, and limited penetration distance.

• Focus: Gas management, guideline use, buoyancy control, communication, and emergency procedures.

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- Prerequisites

• Minimum age: 18 years (15 with parental consent).

• Certification: SDI Open Water Diver or equivalent.

• Experience: At least 25 logged dives.

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- Course Structure

• Knowledge Development: Cavern diving policies, gas management, psychological considerations, equipment configurations, accident analysis.

• Confined Water Skills: Buoyancy, trim, propulsion techniques, guideline deployment, communication signals, stress management.

• Open Water Cavern Dives: Typically 4 days dive across different sites, practicing guideline following, air-sharing, light failure scenarios, and anti-silting techniques.

The TDI Intro to Cave Diver course is the next step after Cavern Diver, designed to train divers in safe cave diving techniques using a single continuous guideline, with limits on depth, penetration, and complexity. It builds precision in buoyancy, trim, propulsion, and emergency procedures, preparing divers for full cave training

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- Course Overview

• Objective: Expand cavern-level skills into elementary cave dives.

• Scope: Cave dives within daylight zones, single guideline, no complex circuits or traverses.

• Focus: Gas management, guideline use, buoyancy control, communication, and emergency drills.

- Prerequisites

• Minimum age: 18 years (15 with parental consent).

• Certification: TDI Cavern Diver or equivalent.

• Experience: Typically 60 logged dives, plus familiarity with doubles or sidemount equipment.

- Course Structure

• Knowledge Development: Cave diving policies, gas management, equipment configurations, accident analysis, cave conservation.

• Land Drills & Confined Skills: Guideline deployment, line markers, communication signals, buoyancy and trim practice, anti-silting techniques.

• Open Water Cave Dives: Usually 6 - 7 days dive, practicing lost visibility drills, air-sharing along guidelines, light failure scenarios, and controlled penetrations.

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The TDI Full Cave Diver course is the highest level of cave diving training, designed for divers who want to explore complex underwater cave systems safely and responsibly. It builds on Cavern and Intro to Cave Diver skills, adding advanced guideline techniques, complex navigation, and decompression planning

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-  Course Overview

• Objective: Train divers to plan and execute complex cave dives with multiple guidelines, jumps, and traverses.

• Scope: Full cave penetration beyond daylight zones, including complex circuits.

• Focus: Advanced gas management, decompression procedures, emergency drills, and cave conservation.

- Prerequisites

• Minimum age: 18 years.

• Certification: TDI Intro to Cave Diver (or equivalent).

• Experience: Typically 100+ logged dives, with prior cave diving experience.

• Equipment: Doubles or sidemount, reels, line markers, backup lights, redundant regulators, and decompression-capable gear.

- Course Structure

• Knowledge Development: Advanced cave dive planning, decompression theory, accident analysis, cave conservation ethics.

• Land Drills & Confined Skills: Complex guideline deployment, jumps, traverses, lost line drills, blackout scenarios.

• Open Water Cave Dives: 10 - 12 days dive covering complex navigation, decompression procedures, emergency simulations, and team coordination.