Cave diving

Background

1997

• April. First recreational dive in Lake Geneva. Over two years, I will do 80 dives, most in the lake.

2023

• October. Resuming diving during a retreat in Indonesia. I switch to sidemount and deco, and discover the Coral Triangle.
• November. A video of Robin Cuesta in Sulawesi caves inspires me to get into cave diving.
• December. Exceptional 100th dive in Thailand, where I am surrounded by thousands Great Barracudas.

2024

• January. I order the books from Stratis Kas where renown divers provide insights into cave training and incidents.
• March. I plan a full cave training in Sulawesi in June, and propose to build a research collaboration with the Nixie expedition.
• April. Back to the lake with my new sidemount equipment, I am confronted with many challenges: my old dry suit is leaking and the setup needs a lot of adjustments, which adds to the skills I need to acquire to become a dive leader. I need practice!
• May. I decide to postpone the cave training as I do not feel ready, and I did not get the support for my research.
• October. My most stressful dive, navigating into a milky cloud with maybe 30 cm visibilty for 15 minutes.
• November. Back to South East Asia, where I discover freediving.

2025

Beyond my intention to plan trainings with the instructors mentioned, various openings emerge to practice in 2025. This bring me to reflect that gathering practices in different settings may be more important at the beginning of the curriculum, than finding the best training. I will be able to improve my practice and get training with the instructors I identified as my practice develops.

• March. I join the Swiss Cave Diving association. During a stay in Southern France, I dive twice into a cave.

Next

• April. I do three more cave dives and get certified as Cave Diver 1 (PS1). I also finish my training as Dive Leader, and start the course for Instructor.

• Early June: possible week in Rocamadour ?

Training comparison

Organisation	Swiss Cave DIving			IANTD (Sulawesi Dive Trek)			? ( Stratis Kas)			TDI (SubSport)			FFESSM CNPS
Level	HT 1	HT 2	HT 3	Cavern	Intro	Full	Cavern	Intro	Full	Cavern	Intro	Full	PS1	PS2	PS3
Unsupervised	✓			✓			✓			✓			✖️	✓
Distance max	50 m, day	–		day	–		60 m, day	–		60 m, day	–		90 min total		–
MOD	20 m	30 m	40 m END	39 m			40 m			40 m			40 m		–
Visbility min	10 m	3 m	–
Gas limit	1/3			1/3			1/3			1/3			1/4
Deco	✖️		✓	✖️			✖️		30 min	✖️		✓	30 min		✓
Cave limitations
T	✖️	✓				✓			✓	✖️
Jumps	✖️	✓		✖️		✓			✓	✖️
Gaps	✖️	✓				✓			✓	✖️
Restrictions	✖️		✓	✖️			✖️		✓	✖️
Siphon	✖️		✓										no multi
Circuit, traverses				✖️		✓	✖️		✓
Entry requirements
Min certification	Rescue		Dive leader	Advanced			Advanced			P2			N2	N3
Min open dives	25	50	100	10	30	50	30	20	–	25	–
Min overhead dives	–	4 (2 sites)	8 (4 sites)	–		10	–		10				–	20 (3 sites)	40 (6 sites)
Specifications	–			–		500 min	–						–		6 Z3, 2 multi
Course
Theory, hours	4 to 6	6 to 8	8 to 12							1 x	1 x	1 x
Dry practice	0.5 day	0.5 day	0.5 day
Open dives	2	4 (2 sites)	4 (2 sites)	1			1	1	–	1	1	1	–
Overhead dives	4 (2 sites)	6+ (3 sites)	8 (4 sites)	4	4	8	3	6+	4 to 6	4 (2 sites)	4 (2 sites)	8 (3 sites)	1+3
Bottom time				100 min (200)	100 min (200)	400 min	60 to 90 min together		90 to 120 min	80 min	100 min	240 min
Minimum days	2.5	3.5	5.5	4	4	5	3	5	4	2	2	4	3+
Days to full cave	11.5			13			12			8
Costs
CHF	590	1045+	1650	865	865	1080	575	905	905	450	400	750	245
Total CHF	3285			2810			2385			1600
Specialities
Courses	Stage, SM, Mapping, DPV			Tec, DPV, SM, Stage/Multi, Survey			Stage, Multi-Stage, DPV			Tec, SM, Stage, DPV, Survey			Nitrox, Trimix