DIR- GUE Is it worth taking Fundamentals this late in the game?

[Germie]

Cave 1 and other agencies' first-level cave courses are not intended as terminal courses; rather, the expectation is you will finish the course progression, which in the case of GUE is Cave 2. But keep in mind that just because you have a Cave 2 certification does not mean you can't choose to plan some dive acccording to the Cave 1 rules/limits if you feel like it. Cave 2 just gives you more tools that you can employ or not employ.

That is true, but also not true.
I see here in Europe that the cave1/intro to cave limits are broken in less than 5 dives after the course. Or it are the gasrules that are strengthened to 1/3, or it is the deco, do a jump, or they take an extra stage cylinder to get more bottomtime. This is agency independent.
This is why I really advice people to do the full cave part too in conjunction with the intro to cave. Then there are officially 'no limits' anymore, but then you have learned what to do and can make decisions easier. And then you see that divers sometimes have a more carefull approach.

Divers are all human, and no agency can prevent things divers do. Also there is no law or police that can stop you. So if you want to go on the cave path, look further than only the first level course.