FROM THE LIGHT INTO DARKNESS
There are many reasons to venture into submerged caves, from scientific survey to exploration or technical sport diving. It is important to understand your motivation for cave diving and make an investment to educate yourself as much as possible to safely dive in these sometimes alien and hostile environments. Training options are available below.
Caves are some of the harshest, but most captivating diving environments
Leaving the Cavern Zone and venturing further into the overhead environment requires more skill, awareness and procedures.
As a cave diver, you will move beyond the daylight zone and enter "The Dark Side" where the hazards increase and the exit becomes further away.
The Intro to Cave Diver course will extend and refine your Cavern level skills and require you to connect onto cave lines and safely navigate the cave while being aware of line markings, exit directions and other teams inside the cave.
Additional emphasis is placed on gas management since you will be further inside the overhead environment and have to allow for emergency procedures to be able to safely exit the cave at all times.
Land Workshops cover,
-
Guideline deployment review
-
Cavern skills review
-
Cave line connection - options and procedures
-
Line marker awareness to include exit referencing and system marker cancellations
-
Team work and exit referencing
-
Team exit review for zero visibility and gas sharing emergencies.
-
How to perform a search for a missing diver
-
How to search for and recover a lost guideline
Theory Sessions cover,
-
Cave Diver Standards
-
Additional equipment required for cave diving
-
Cave line connection options
-
Line navigation protocols and choices
-
Gas management
-
Team work, positioning & roles
-
Communication methods
-
Dive planning
-
Cave geology and land access
-
Cave Diving conservation and etiquette
-
Written Examination
Water Sessions cover technical & overhead level skills such as,
-
Pre-Dive checks, bubble checks & S-Drills
-
Overhead propulsion techniques
-
Line deployment
-
Cave line connections
-
Line marker analysis, deployment & retrieval
-
All Cavern Level skills to be performed to Cave Level standards
-
Missing diver procedure
-
Lost line procedure
-
Cave Level awareness of the environment, dive, lines and conservation techniques
-
Referencing techniques & backup navigation methods
The training for Intro to Cave Diver will be unlike any open water courses you have taken, but it will pay off with increased skill, awareness and appreciation for the overhead environment. Take a look below at a training dive to see how it looks,