Requirements to become a certified cave diver

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Saloooh91

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So I got my Advanced adventure diver SDI certificate a couple of weeks ago with 9 dives. I was wondering how many dives do I need to learn cave diving ?

Oh and any recommended place or State to cave dive ? What are the best caves out there ?
 
technically the requirements for cavern are AOW, which you have I guess, and 15 logged non-training dives since we are in the NACD section.

Basically you find an instructor, and sign up for a course. There are a lot more factors to consider and I suggest going thru the cave diving subforum here as well as the cave divers forum and read up a bit. Evaluate the different agencies, primary ones are NSS-CDS, TDI, PSAI, IANTD, NACD, and GUE, then evaluate an instructor
 
technically the requirements for cavern are AOW, which you have I guess, and 15 logged non-training dives since we are in the NACD section.r/QUOTE]

I don't think there is a 15 dive requirement for cavern if you are AOW or equivalent. The prerequisite is written with an "or" not an "and."

But Intro to Cave requires Cavern plus 25 logged non-training dives.
 
Typically speaking, the path to becoming a cave diver goes something like this:

Advanced certification + total of 25 dives.
Cavern course - minimum 4 dives, minimum 2 days.
Intro course - minimum 4 dives, minimum 2 days.
Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures - minimum 6 dives (7 with some agencies), minimum 3 days. Can sometimes be included in full cave with agency approval.
Full Cave - minimum 8 dives, minimum 4 days.

There are also two other agencies with a different program (NAUI and GUE) that looks something like this:

75 dives pre-req + either intro to tech or fundamentals
Cave 1 - typically 5 days
Mandatory Experience period - typically go off and do 25 cave dives at the cave 1 level
Decompression Procedures
Cave 2 - typically 5 days

Although the first ("traditional") approach seems to be the quickest route, most cave instructors worth their salt will not run a person all the way straight through to full cave. Cavern/Intro are a common stopping point to then let the student go practice and building experience before coming back for full cave. I would probably run away from a cave instructor that promised to take you straight through from Advanced Diver to full Cave without requiring you to go build some experience on your own in between steps.

How much practice, experience, and time between steps depends on the student and instructor; I have a student that finished Intro with me last year, and wants to take Full Cave, but I am making him go do more dives first. On the other hand, I'm running a full cave course later this month for some students that took intro with me this past spring.
 
Florida is the place to be for cave diving in the U.S.

In cave diving and tortoise races, "Slow and steady wins the race". The skills that are taught in cave diving can be quickly mastered. Proper temperament, self awareness, and situational awareness in an underwater, and overhead environment almost always boils down to hours underwater. I've never for a second regretted taking my time between courses.
 
Personally, I don't even take on a student for cavern (be it through IANTD or TDI) who has less than 25-30 dives (and AOW). Even then, I still do a skill assessment.
For intro or full cave I am even stricter...
Cave diving is not an activity that should be taken lightly, and the student should have the right set of skills before even thinking about it.
Just my $0.02
 
As Erik points out, the minimum experience levels for cave training according to standards are quite low. It depends on the individual, but I would want one my students to have at least 70-100 dives and be confident in the equipment configuration they will be using. Trying to teach someone to dive doubles or sidemount at the same time as they go into the cave for the first time is not ideal (to put it mildly), and an Essentials/Intro to Tech/Fundamentals package before cave training is a good idea. Personally, I had hundreds of dives in doubles before my cave course, which meant that I was very comfortable in the configuration and could focus on the cave course without worrying too much about how to dive.

Like many things in diving, there is no rush! Learn to dive in doubles from a decent instructor and go and enjoy some diving. If you nail your buoyancy, S-Drills and valve drills and get really used to diving the configuration you will be using in the cave, then your course will be a lot more fun and you can devote more time to improving your cave-specific skills.
 
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