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. Invited in Southern France to build a community, I explore cave diving possibilities, and have twice the chance to get trained with the French Federation. I particularly appreciate the approach based on companionship, which directly starts in cavse.
- April. I get certified as FFESSM Cave Diver 1 (PS1).
Training comparison
Personal comparison without warrantee. Please contact me to propose improvements. :)
| 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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | |||||||||
| Max penetration | 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 | – | |||||||
| Visibility 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 | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Circuit, traverses | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✖️ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||||||
| Siphon | ✖️ | ✓ | no multisiphon | ✓ | |||||||||||
| Entry requirements | |||||||||||||||
| Min certification | Rescue | Dive leader | Advanced | Advanced | P2 | N2 | N3 | ||||||||
| Min open dives | 25 | 50 | 100 | 10 | 30 | 50 | 30 | 20 | – | 25 | – | (15) | (20) | – | |
| Min night dives | 5 | 10 | 20 | – | – | – | – | ||||||||
| 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 | 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 | 4 (2 sites) | 4 (2 sites) | 8 (3 sites) | 1+3 | 2-4 day perfecting courses as needed | |
| 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 | ||
| Total to cave level 3 | |||||||||||||||
| Course days | 11.5 | 13 | 12 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Overhead dives | 18 + 12 (4 sites) | 16 + 10 | 13 + 10 | 16 + 0 (3 sites) | 40 (6 sites, min 2 multisiphon) | ||||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||||
