Introducing PADI/DSAT Tec Cave Diver

Okay, let’s be honest here. If you say the words PADI Cave Diver to some folks, they recoil in horror, envisioning barely qualified Open Water Divers who complete an “easy, convenient” online study program, then knock off the required in-water training requirements in a day.

Of course, as with so many of PADI’s critics, these folks haven’t got a clue what they are talking about. The fact is, the requirements to both teach and take the PADI Tec Cave Diver program are, arguably, the most stringent for any program of its kind.

To start, you can’t teach this program unless:

• You are already a fully certified Cave Instructor with NACD, NSS-CDS, IANTD, TDI or NAUI.

• You are also qualified as a PADI Tec Deep Instructor.

• You’ve proved that you can actually do a decent job teaching this program.

To take this course, students need to be certified to the PADI Tec Deep (Tec 50) level, or hold an equivalent certification from another agency. (That’s typically six or more days of training and twelve or more dives right there.) Having this prerequisite helps ensure that students:

• Are familiar with the equipment they will use and the procedures for using it.

• Have mastered basic decompression procedures.

• Have buoyancy control and propulsion skills that will enable them to pose less of a risk to the fragile cave environment.

• Will be able to learn more in the same period of time, because they are building on prior knowledge and skills, rather than mastering new ones.

Additionally, the PADI Tec Cave Diver curriculum not only covers all of the knowledge and skills taught in traditional cave diving courses, it places a heavy emphasis on being considerate of other teams, and planning dives in such a manner as to minimize the impact on caves.

To date, only a handful of instructors have qualified to teach this program (and most of them are using our 106-page training outline, knowledge reviews and final exam). If your goal is to acquire this very prestigious Cave Diver rating, we can help.

Note: Even if you don’t meet the prerequisites for PADI Tec Cave, you can still qualify for Cave Diver certification from NSS-CDS or IANTD. We teach the same quality program regardless. That having been said, we do encourage students to have at least some prior Technical Diver training before becoming a Cave Diver. Doing so helps you learn more and is just plain better for the caves.