Here in central Florida, we are home to one of the largest concentrations of freshwater caves in the world. Our TDI Cavern/Intro to Cave Diver combined course is taught in doubles or sidemount, and gives you the knowledge and skills to do your first Florida cave dives, limited to main “gold” line dives with no navigation, using up to 1/6th of your starting pressure. This course serves as the first two steps (Cavern → Intro Cave → Full Cave) in the progression towards cave certification with TDI and other technical agencies.

This combined course is intended for Intro to Cave students with strong prior experience in backmount doubles/sidemount or open water technical diving, but without prior technical cavern certification. If you are a newer diver (< 100 dives) or new to technical configurations (e.g., sidemount, doubles), we strongly recommend taking Cavern and Intro to Cave as separate courses, leaving time in-between to practice your cavern skills prior to starting intro cave.

The combined cavern/intro course introduces cave skills in the cavern environment with limited overhead exposure, before building on those skills to enter the full cave environment. You’ll learn to handle a reel, how to lay and follow guidelines, and safely navigate in and out of a cavern. We will also work on fine-tuning trim and buoyancy, and anti-silt propulsion techniques (e.g., frogkick) to reduce contact with the cavern and prevent silt-outs.

You’ll then build on those skills in a full overhead cave environment, including new challenges, such as how to handle light failure, loss of visibility and/or gas, and what to do if you lose your buddy - or the guideline. We will plan to spend at least one day of class in a low flow cave system (such as Peacock Springs) and at least one day in a high flow cave system (e.g., Ginnie Springs), conditions permitting.

Our cave instructor, Peter Kibler, is an active tech instructor and cave diver, with extensive personal experience of Florida cave and cavern systems. He is certified through the Full Cave/Cave DPV/Cave CCR level, as well as Advanced (Hypoxic) Trimix, and proficient in CCR, as well as both sidemount and backmount doubles. For more on his tech/cave teaching philosophy, see here.

Prerequisite: Open Water + minimum 25 logged dives and good buoyancy control in backmount doubles or sidemount required; AOW (or higher) and 100+ dives strongly recommended.

Gear Configuration: Backmount doubles or sidemount

Course Details: TDI Cavern + TDI Intro to Cave

Total time commitment: 3-4 days

Recommended Reading (optional): Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival by Sheck Exley

Minimum age: 18 or older

Maximum Course Size: 2 Students

Course Cost: $1200 USD* - does not include the cost of rental gear (if required). You may be required to provide your own lights; please contact instructor for details. Additional fees may be required for air fills, transportation, and dive site entrance cost. Contact us for more information.

This price includes certification/training through TDI.