What does it take to become a certified cave diver

Famous cave divers include Wesley C. Skiles, Sheck Exley, and Jim Bowden. All had sound judgements regarding dive planning and execution. And had great respect for the underwater environment. When executed properly cave dives are extremely exciting and perfectly safe. What does it take to become a certified cave diver? Read on…

Start Your Training

A good intro to cave diving can be found online. Dive manuals and videos are readily available. And this will save you time when you go on the practise course. You’ll see that physical requirements include being over 18. A confirmation that you’re fit to dive. And that you have achieved your Open Water certification.

You should aim for a minimum of 50 open water dives before you take your cave diving course, 20 of which should be logged. You should also be comfortable diving at night.

Cave diving accidents are normally related to diver errors. Such as:

• Not getting cave diver training
• Failing to maintain a continuous guideline outside the cave system
• Not providing adequate lighting
• Failure to properly manage the air or gas supply
• Not knowing your personal limitations

All of these issues will be addressed, learned, and practised during your cave diver training.

Continue Your Learning

Your cave dive training course can take up to nine days. During this time, you’ll cover cave dive planning, navigation, cave environment penetration, diving gas management, and decompression techniques.

You’ll practise line and buddy awareness, handling primary reels, and the art of buoyancy control and finning. You’ll be exposed to a wide variety of underwater cave conditions. And the safe enjoyment of the cave environment from the comprehensive training.

Get Your Professional Cave Diving Certificate

There are three cave diving training levels conducted by Koox Cave Dive Masters in Tulum, Mexico. They are the cavern stage where you encounter an overhead environment, the cave step, followed by the advanced cave phase.

The boundaries of the course cover:

• A cavern dive of up to 21m
• A cavern dive into the cave system of up to 60m
• A cave dive further from the entrance
• A cave dive that goes beyond the reach of sunlight
• A cave dive with confined overhead environment

The Cavern Diver Course

During this course you’ll get to know basic skills using the cavern diving equipment. Learning to use reels and lay and follow a continuous guideline to the surface are an essential part. As well as developing buoyancy and swimming techniques. Emergency procedures will also be learned and practised.

The Cave Diving Course

This will involve a greater depth with underwater skills. And give you more knowledge about cave diving in general. The training is limited to a maximum depth of 30 metres, without any complex dives that involve jumps or gaps. And with one continuous guideline.

The Full Cave Diving Course Details

Depending on the degree of certification the time for completion may vary. However, the conclusion of a full course includes:

• A minimum of 20 hours in water time
• Minimum cave penetration of 500 metres
• Four different cave entrances

How Much Will It Cost?

Depending on the course you enrol on the cave diving certification costs will range from £825 to £995. The courses include theory, practise, and the exam. And the Koox Dive team will provide you with all the cave diving equipment, tanks, and air refills you need.

Your cave diving education certificate will be awarded by the International Diving Research and Exploration Organisation. Also known as IDREO. And this will be delivered on the day you complete the course. This certification is recognised around the world.