Cavern Diver
The Cavern Diver course is a safety and awareness course aimed at open water sport divers. The Cavern Diver course helps or enables students to: avoid mistakes that lead to cave diving fatalities, educate fellow divers about the risks and hazards inherent in cavern and cave diving, improve critical diving skills such as buoyant breathing, trim, propulsion and awareness.
Dive as a team with similarly trained buddies, safely in controlled environments while remaining within sight of entry and daylight, and finally, improve the functionality and configuration of your dive equipment.
Requires 3 to 4 days to complete
BOOKING
Reservation confirmations require a 50% deposit. We accept bank transfer, credit card or PayPal. Full payment must be settled in Mexican pesos at the daily USD exchange rate or in cash prior to the start of your dive activity. Deposits for reservations are non-refundable, in certain circumstances, such as unforeseen medical issues or emergencies, the course or dive activities may be rescheduled. Any cancellation less than 24 hours prior to your first day of diving will be charged in full.
SCHEDULE
You can customize your course or dive trip according to your preferences and schedule throughout the year, we are open for training and diving seven days a week. The schedule can be adapted and subject to change due to weather conditions.
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.
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.
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.
Not included:
Cenote entrance fee.
O2, Deco Gases and Trimix. (When applicable).
Lunch.
Manual or elearning.
Basic diving gear
Cave Equipment
Additional Services
Equipment rental and/or sale
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).
Important Information:
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.
Notes:
Please bring change of clothes & towels for cenote training days.
All courses are available in English or Spanish.