TDI Cave Diving Training

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The Fascination of underwater caves

Caves are very special places and preserve history. They are often decorated with stunning dripstone formations or chrytals and especially in underwater caves those are preserved over millenia!

Cave Diving demands highest levels of special diving skills. Only as certified cave diver you should explore this magic world, otherwise you will put your life at risk!

Learn more about my TDI Cave Training

What do you have to do to become a TDI Full Cave Diver?

It´s a long way to the top if you wanna Rock `N´ Roll

The minimum requirements for starting the TDI overhead environment training are not so hard to reach:

Minimum certified Open Water Scuba Diver
Minimum 25 logged dives after certification
Minimum age 18, 15 with parental consent

BUT: Not everybody of this experience level will be able to finish his cave training successfully! Some divers still struggle at that level with some basic skills like buoyancy control.

Are YOU ready for TDI Cave Diving Training?

If you are not sure about your skill level, I recommend you to make a Cave Training Assessment Dive with me. I will conduct two guided cavern dives with you as well as some basic skill drills and let you know in a detailed debriefing my assessment.

Like this we can avoid you start your cave training just to learn that you are not ready yet. My goal is to motivate you, not to disapoint.

What are the steps to become a TDI Full Cave Diver?

Step 1: TDI Intro to Tech Diving and TDI Sidemount Diver (recommended!)

Cave diving, or in a more broad definition Diving In Overhead Environment, is part of Technical Diving. The difference to Recreational Diving is that in case of a problem a technical diver is not able to go immediately to the surface: He might conduct a decompression dive and will risk decompression sickness or he might be in a cave and has to swim back to the exit to reach the surface.

Good technical divers follow highest safety standards to reduce the risk of their passion to a minimum. That demands special equipment configurations, special equipment and special safety skills.

Before starting your cave training you should knwo how to handle that equipment and know those skills.

Sidemount Diving

Sidemount Diving is an equipment configuration where the cylinders are mounted along your body line instead of on your back. It was invented by British sump divers and continously developed for cave diving.

Sidemount diving is also a big fun in open water, but its real home is overhead environment.

I highly recommend to learn Sidemount Diving before starting your cave training or combine the courses

TDI Divers with doublle backmount and sidemount configuration

Intro to Tech Diving

Intro to Technical Diving is a course that prepares you with the basics of Tech diving:

In-depth dive planning, advanced buoyancy control, gas management, situational awareness, proper trim, gear configuration and selection.

I highly recommend to learn Sidemount Diving before starting your Intro to Technical Diving or combine both courses to get the best preparation for your TDI Cave Training.

Step 2: TDI Cavern Diver course

Your first step into the magical underworld! A cavern is by definition the entrance area of a cave with a maximum distance of 61 linear meters to the surface. Here you will learn the basics of cave navigation - how to use lines, reels and line marker. Also safety skills to handle a complete loss of visibility are an important part of the TDI Cavern Diver course. All skills are first practiced on land, so called "land drills". Afterwards again in open water before you finally master them in overhead environment. Here you can find out everything about the TDI Cavern Diver course.

Step 3: TDI Intro to Cave Diver course

Behind the cavern zone. Intro to Cave teaches you additional skills and improves your confidence of your cavern skills. You make your first connection from a cavern guide line to a cave guide line. Inside the cave you will practice simple navigation. That means you are only allowed to follow the main guide line without jumps or line splits like T- or Y-connections. Also all skills are fisrt practiced as land drills, then open water before entering the cave.

Here you can find out everything about the TDI Intro to Cave Diver course.

Step 4: TDI Full Cave Diver course

Your final step into the fascination of cave diving. This is the most demanding part of your cave training. So far your penetration limit was 1/6 of your air reserve using double tanks. Now we use the rule of third, 1/3 of your air reserve marks the turning point.

Also complex navigation is introduced - jumps, T- and Y-connections.

Here you can find out everything about the TDI Intro to Cave Diver course.

And this is your reward for finishing TDI Cave Diver Training:

Meet The instructors

The Frogman Diving TDI Cave Diving Training team

Tillmann Steinberger

Intro to Tech, Sidemount

Chris Sansoni

All Overhead Environment courses, Advanced Nitrox, Deco Procedures

About Chris Sansoni

I first met Chris when I did my cave diving training. At that time I was still working for a dive shop in Cancun. A colleague told me that she will start her cave course in two days. I was anyway looking for an instructor so she gave me his number, we talked and I decided spontaneous to do my training with him.

We combined sidemount and all three overhead courses in one block, the most intense ten days of dive training I ever experienced!

On the second day of our course I told him that he reminds me of the new "Aquaman". He laughed and said

"Yeah, but I´m the real Aquaman".

And that´s true:

Chris, original from Argentina, was a competitive swimmer in school and became a life guard afterwards.
He discovered scuba diving and made his way up to the scuba instructor
20 years ago he started working in Cancun, soon afterwards he became a TDI Full Cave Diver.
Since then Chris conducted thousands of cavern- and cave dives as professional guide
He gained instructor level for overhead environment and decompression diving