Cavern Course

This NAUI Cavern Diver course builds the awareness, precision, and calm that let you dive within the daylight zone confidently and on your own terms.

About this experience

NAUI Cavern Diver Course

The cavern is where the overhead environment begins — and where good habits are either made or exposed. This NAUI Cavern Diver course builds the awareness, precision, and calm that let you dive within the daylight zone confidently and on your own terms. You'll spend eight hours on academics and a minimum of seven dives in the water, six of them in at least two different caverns, until guideline work, propulsion, and emergency protocols become second nature. Graduates are qualified to plan and execute cavern dives without direct supervision, within the environment and equipment parameters of their training. Taught in Florida cave country by Brandon Wolters, NAUI #57753 — Course Director, Technical Instructor, and Technical Examiner.

What You'll Master

  • Guideline discipline. Deployment, removal, placement, team position, and roles — the skills that make an exit non-negotiable.
  • Propulsion and trim. Frog, modified frog, modified flutter, pull-and-glide, and 360° rotations without stirring the silt.
  • Real emergency protocols. Primary light failure, lost line and lost diver drills, and a simulated zero-visibility gas-sharing exit as both donor and receiver.
  • Dive planning that holds up. ODIGTML planning, Rule of Thirds gas management, dissimilar cylinders, and thinking like a cavern diver.
  • Environment knowledge. Cave formation and terminology, entrance types, environmental and non-environmental hazards, conservation, and landowner relations.

Course Structure

  • 8 hours of academics
  • 1 open water skill development dive (minimum)
  • 6 cavern dives (minimum) totaling at least 120 minutes of overhead time
  • Dives conducted in at least two different caverns
  • Maximum 4 students per instructor in the cavern zone — small classes, real attention

What's Included

  • All academic sessions, NAUI course materials, and eLearning access
  • All in-water training — the open water skills dive and all six cavern dives
  • Your NAUI certification fee

Not included: dive charter fees, gas fills, cavern and park site entry fees, consumables (e.g. CO2 absorbent), and equipment rental.

Prerequisites

  • Minimum age 18 by the water phase of the course
  • NAUI Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver certification or equivalent
  • Current medical clearance and completed NAUI paperwork
  • A screening/evaluation dive may be used to confirm readiness before training begins

Training Limits (NAUI Standards)

  • All dives within the daylight zone
  • 30 m / 100 ft maximum depth
  • 60 m / 200 ft maximum distance from the surface
  • Single continuous guideline to the cavern exit
  • No decompression dives, no restrictions, no solo diving, no DPV, no original exploration, no complex navigation
  • Rule of Thirds minimum on all overhead dives
  • Minimum starting gas volume 1,415 liters / 50 cubic feet
  • Minimum starting visibility 12 m / 40 ft with four students

Equipment You'll Need

  • Single tank or rebreather configuration, 50 cf minimum starting volume
  • Primary second stage on a 213 cm / 84 in hose
  • One primary reel or spool, no longer than 60 m / 200 ft, per team
  • One safety reel or spool of 30 m / 100 ft per team member
  • Two battery-powered dive lights (primary plus backup)
  • At least one line cutting device
  • Two methods for calculating decompression
  • Appropriate thermal protection

Don't have everything yet? We stock it. Talk to us before class and we'll get your kit sorted — final say on equipment suitability rests with the instructor.

Course Terms — Please Read Before Booking

  • No guaranteed pass. Technical training is not a transaction. Your course fee buys instruction and evaluation, not certification.
  • One day of course fees is due at booking to hold your dates. The balance is payable in full at the start of the academic session.
  • You provide your own equipment per the list above, in working order, on day one — including cutting device, spare mask, and reel/spool.
  • Punctuality matters. Missing a scheduled academic session may reschedule your course and incur additional charges. If a charter leaves without you, the charter fee still applies.
  • Arrive dive-ready. All cylinders analyzed and MOD clearly marked before you leave the fill station — back gas included.
  • Zero tolerance for recreational or abused prescription drugs, intoxication, violent or bullying behavior, or harassment of any kind. Violations mean immediate removal and forfeiture of all fees.
  • No smoking or vaping during classes, briefings, charters, or post-dive debriefs.

The full Technical Course Candidate Letter and NAUI Statement of Understanding are provided for signature before training begins. Enrollment signifies acceptance of these terms.

Ready to Get Started?

Dates are set individually so we can match conditions, team size, and your schedule.