Private Cave Diving Training
We are at the best place on earth for cave diving: Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
NEW DIVERS
Learn the right procedures to dive safely through a cave labyrinth system, the use of lines-markers and the right communication with your team during a cave dive, in a relaxed environment adapted to your learning speed and progression, without pressure
CERTIFIED CAVE DIVERS
If you already are a cave diver and you want to continue pushing your limits and improve your skills in a relax teaching personal course adapted to your learning speed and progression without pressure, we offer you all cave training level available in the industry from advanced cave to CCR trimix cave.
SAFETY
We are members of the NSS-CDS (National Speleological Society – Cave Diving Section) and TDI (Technical Diving International ) we practice the highest safety standards in diving industry. Years of diving and teaching cave, technical and CCR, give us the experience to offer you the knowledge and skills for a great and safe training experience.
“Knowledge is Essential, Survival is Practical” – Tom Mount
The primary purposes of the Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society are to educate the public in the proper procedures and techniques for participating in cavern or cave diving, while simultaneously protecting the cave(rn)s from harm. Formal training stresses the importance of cave conservation in addition to safe diving practices and procedures.
The NSS-CDS is committed to the safe and proper enjoyment of the cave environment. The NSS-CDS believes that with proper training and guided experiences, one can visit underwater caves safely. Further, we believe that a properly trained cave diver will significantly reduce the damage that can be caused to the cave environment and its unique features.
Basic Levels
Cavern Diver
- Requires 3 – 4 days to complete
Intro To Cave
- Requieres 3 – 4 days to complete
Full Cave Diver
- Requieres 4 days to complete
Cavern Diver
Cavern Diver course is a safety and awareness course aimed at open-water sport divers. The Cavern Diver course helps or allows students to: avoid the mistakes which lead to cave-diving fatalities, educate fellow divers about the risks and hazards inherent in cavern and cave diving, improve critical diving skills like bouyancy-breathing, trim, propulsion and awareness. Better dive as a team with similarly trained buddies, safely dive in overhead environments while remaining within clear sight of the entrance and daylight and finally, improve the functionality and configuration of their diving gear.
Limits
- Daylight zone of cavern and within clear sight of the entrance.
- Penetration is limited to a gas volume of 1,150 L/40 ft3 or one-third the available starting volume, whichever is less.
- No passing through restrictions (areas too small for two divers to pass through side-by-side)
- Minimum starting gas volume of 1,150 L/40 ft3.
- Penetration distance of no more than 60 m/200 ft from the surface.
- Depth of no more than 30 m/100 ft.
- Minimum starting visibility of at least 12 m/40 ft.
- No planned decompression.
Included throughout the course:
- Private instructor.
- Classroom sessions.
- Transport to the cenotes or boat from the shop.
- Sidemount and Doubles tanks.
- Weights.
- EAN 32 fills.
- Certification card.
- Water and snacks.
What will you learn?
Theory
- The cavern environment. Accident analysis.
- Cavern formation and environmental hazards.
- Equipment.
- Dive planning.
- Cavern diving skills and procedures.
- Team work.
- Comunication.
- Bouyancy-breathing, trim, propulsion, awarnes.
- Preventing and dealing with problems and emergencies.
Land drills
- Deploy and retrieve a primary reel, spool, tie-offs and placements.
- Assist a teammate who is deploying and retrieving a primary reel.
- Follow the line with no visibility.
- Follow the line with no visibility in touch-contact / bump-and-go.
- Practice deploying a safety reel or spool.
- Light Failure.
- Sharing Gas.
Water skills
- Pre dive checks / Safety drills.
- Install and retrieve primary reel, spool, tie-offs and placements.
- Avoiding damage to the cavern environment.
- Effectively assist a teammate who is deploying and retrieving a primary reel.
- Simulate responding to a primary light failure by deploying a backup light and signaling buddies.
- Exit the cavern while simulating sharing gas with a teammate for a distance of at least 20 m/65 ft in good visibility with eyes open. Repeat as both donor and receiver.
Intro to Cave Diver
The Intro cave diver course focuses primarily on limited penetration along the main line. It is also where students learn and master critical emergency skills. The course also provides students with the opportunity to gain limited experience and practice fundamental cave diving skills prior to completing the requirements for full Cave Diver certification.
Limits:
- Penetration is limited to a gas volume of 1,400 L/50 ft3 or one-third the available starting volume, whichever is less.
- Penetration distance of no more than 300 m/1,000 ft from the surface.
- Minimum starting volume of 2,100 L/75 ft3 and a minimum penetration gas volume of 700 L/25 ft3.Depth of no more than 30 m/100 ft.
- Minimum starting visibility of at least 10 m/30 ft.
- No jumps or gaps to offshoot or continuation lines.
- No planned decompression.
- No use of stage bottles or DPVs.
- No original exploration.
Included throughout the course:
- Private instructor.
- Classroom sessions.
- Transport to the cenotes or boat from the shop.
- Sidemount and Doubles tanks.
- Weights.
- EAN 32 fills.
- Certification card.
- Water and snacks.
What will you learn?
Theory
- The cave environment.
- Accident analysis.
- Land owner realtions and conservation.
- Cave formation and environmental hazards.
- Equipment.
- Dive planning.
- Cavern diving skills and procedures.
- Team work.
- Comunication.
- Bouyancy-breathing, trim, propulsion, awarnes.
- Preventing and dealing with problems and emergencies.
- Cave Diving Etiquete.
Land drills
- Deploy and retrieve a primary reel, spool, tie-offs and placements.
- Assist a teammate who is deploying and retrieving a primary reel.
- Follow the line with no visibility.
- Follow the line with no visibility in touch-contact / bump-and-go.
- Practice deploying a safety reel or spool.
- Light Failure.
- Sharing Gas.
Water skills
- Pre dive checks / Safety drills.
- Deploy and retrieve a primary reel, tie-offs and placements.
- Follow line no visibility.
- Follow line no visibility in touch-contact / bump-and-go.
- Sharing gas eyes open and no visiblity.
- Follow a guideline for a distance of at least 15 m/50 ft without a mask.
- Deploy a safety reel or spool.
- Kicking tecniques.
- Light failure.
- Lost diver.
- Lost line.
Full Cave Diver
The Full Cave Diver certification builds on the knowledge, skills and experience students gain during the Intro to Cave. In addition to ensuring students have maintained knowledge and skill proficiency, cave diver course focuses on: Cave complex navigation involving jumps, “T”, gaps and, the theory behind complex circuits and traverses (those requiring establishment of a halfway or “point of no return”). If applicable, how students can apply their open-water decompression training to caves.
Limits:
- Penetration is limited to one-third the available starting gas volume.
- Minimum starting volume of 2,100 L/75 ft3 and a minimum penetration gas volume of 700 L/25 ft3.
- Depth of no more than 40 m/130 ft.
- Minimum starting visibility of at least 6 m/20 ft.
- No DPVs.
Included throughout the course:
- Private instructor.
- Classroom sessions.
- Transport to the cenotes or boat from the shop.
- Sidemount and Doubles tanks.
- Weights.
- EAN 32 fills.
- Certification card.
- Water and snacks.
What will you learn?
Theory
- Dive planning.
- Complex navigation, circuits and traverses.
- Directional and no directional markers.
- Cave diving skills and procedures.
- Restrictions.
- Team work.
- Communication.
- Task loading.
- Preventing and dealing with problems and emergencies.
- Cave diving etiquette.
Land drills
- Complex navigation, jumps, gap´s, “T”.
- Follow line no visibility.
- Follow line no visibility in touch-contact.
- Follow line no visibility in bump-and-go.
- Entanglement & line cut and repair.
Water skills
- Pre dive checks / Safety drills.
- Master buoyancy, trim and propulsion with task loading.
- Complex navigation, jumps, gap´s, “T”.
- Dive complex circuits and traverses.
- Follow line no visibility in touch-contact / bump-and-go.
- Sharing gas scenarios.
- Preventing and dealing with problems and emergencies.
- Restrictions.
- Entanglement & line cut and repair.
Requirements & Conditions
- Private instructor.
- Classroom sessions.
- Transport to the cenotes or boat from the shop.
- Single, CCR, Sidemount and Double tanks.
- Weights.
- EAN 32 fills.
- Certification card.
- Water and snacks.
- Cenote entrance fee.
- O2, Deco Gases and Trimix. (When applicable).
- Lunch.
- Manual or elearning.
- Basic diving gear (Rental US$ 5 each x day (Wetsuit, Mask, Boots, Fins).
- Cave Equipment
- Sidemount Harness (Rental US$ 20 x day).
- Sidemount Regulator Set (Rental US$ 25 x day).
- Twinset Wing / Backplate (Rental US$ 20 x day).
- Twinset Regulator Set (Rental US$ 25 x day).
- Stage Regulator and Rig ( US$ 15 x day).
- Cave Primary Light (US$ 20 x day).
- Backup Light (US$ 5 usd x day).
Plan carfully your trip to minimize your enviromental impact, please avoid sunscreen / mosquito repellent or other skin products for all water activities. Whenever possible, choose rechargable batteries and aviod to carring things like disposable razors, plastic bags, plastic water bottels, etc. We are in a very fragil and pristine enviroment and is our responsability to keep it that way.
Cave diving is a highly demanding activity with a specific mindset and requeires very good trim, buoyancy, propulsion and awareness. We will do our best to improve your skills and knowledge, also we will set the best training plan according to the skills and experience of each diver to help them to succed in the course, but consider some times we need extra days to achive the goals with a classroom or water sessions and we apply extra rate if is necessary. We strongly recommend to the studens plan at least two extra days just in case.
NOTE: Please bring change of clothes & towels for cenote training days.
All courses are available in English or Spanish.
Advanced levels
Advanced Cave Diver
- Requires 4 days to complete
Stage Cave Diver
- Requieres 2 days to complete
Cave DPV Diver
- Requieres 3 days to complete
Trimix Cave Diver
- Requieres 5 days to complete
CCR levels
CCR Cave Diver
- Requires 9 days to complete
CCR Cross Over
- Requieres 3 days to complete
CCR Trimix Cave Diver
- Requieres 5 days to complete
