Cave diving
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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
- March. I join the Swiss Cave Diving association.
Next
- April. Certification as Dive leader, training as Instructor.
Diving possibilities
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.
- End of March: possible cavern training during my stay in South France – 3 cavern dives?
- Early June: possible week in Rocamadour proposed by my current instructor – clarify possibilities to practice in caverns?
- End of July: possible practice in Vallorbe with SCD?
Training comparison
| Organisation | Swiss Cave DIving | Sulawesi Dive Trek (IANTD) | Stratis Kas | CIP (ANFP) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level | HT 1 | HT 2 | HT 3 | Cavern | Intro | Full | Tech | Cavern | Intro | Full | |
| Distance max | 50 m, daylight | – | – | daylight | – | – | – | 60 m, daylight | – | – | 50 m, daylight |
| Visbility min | 10 m | 3 m | – | ||||||||
| MOD | 20 m | 30 m | 40 m EAD | divers level | 39 m | 60 or 91 m | 30 or 40 m | 20 m | |||
| Gas limit | 1/3 | 1/3 | 1/6 | 1/3 | 1/6 | 1/3 | |||||
| Cave limitations | |||||||||||
| T | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✖️ | ||||
| Jumps | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Gaps | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||||
| Restrictions | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ||
| Siphon | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Circuit, traverses | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ||||
| Deco | ✖️ | ✖️ | O2, Trimix | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✖️ or 30 min | |
| Entry requirements | |||||||||||
| Min certification | Rescue | Dive leader | Advanced | Advanced | N1 | ||||||
| Min open dives | 25 | 50 | 100 | 10 | 30 | 50 | 50 | 30 | 20 | – | 10 |
| Min overhead dives | – | 4 (2 sites) | 8 (4 sites) | – | – | 10 | – | ||||
| Course | |||||||||||
| Theory | 4 to 6 hours | 6 to 8 hours | 8 to 12 hours | 1 course | |||||||
| Dry practice | 0.5 day | 0.5 day | 0.5 day | ||||||||
| Open dives | 2 | 4 (2 sites) | 4 (2 sites) | 1 | 1 | – | |||||
| Overhead dives | 4 (2 sites) | 6+ (3 sites) | 8 (4 sites) | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6+ | 4 to 6 | 3 |
| Bottom time | 200+ min | 200+ min | 400 min | 400 min | 60 to 90 min together | 90 to 120 min | |||||
| Minimum days | 2.5 | 3.5 | 5.5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | |
| Days to full cave | 11.5 | 13 | 12 | ||||||||
| CHF | 590 | 1045+ | 1650 | 865 | 865 | 1080 | 865 | 575 | 905 | 905 | 400 |
| Total CHF | 3285 | 2810 | |||||||||