CONTACT THIBAULT

thibault@underthejungle.com

THIBAULT QUICK STATS

• TDI Full Cave Instructor

• Trimix diver

• From France

• Languages: English, French and Spanish.

HOW DID I GET INTO DIVING?

I started diving in college in 2004, in the South of France. I came out shaking from the freezing, dark water after diving in a rental wetsuit with torn knees and elbows. After a few more dives, I gave up on the activity, frustrated, and swore to try again in a better setting. A few years later, I finally tried diving again in Thailand. I was hooked! Three years later, in 2012, I became an instructor and never looked back.

I loved being an open water instructor because I could dive daily, travel the planet, and discover new environments and marine life. I never tire of dropping under the surface and exploring a brand-new reef, wall, or cave. I sometimes imagine how the dive site would look if it were out of the water, and how wonderful it is to easily maneuver along the three dimensions, dropping down along a wall or hovering above a pinnacle.

Diving, for me, has always been about discovering new places. I often imagined what it must have been like for the first underwater explorers, like Jacques Cousteau, to dive anywhere and know you were the first to see what you were seeing. It must have been incredible. My curiosity led me to change locations regularly every year or so. I have been lucky to work and live in many different places, meet many great divers, discover new cultures, and learn about different oceans. It is a great life, and although it comes with many challenges, I have never regretted my choice.

HOW DID YOU BECOME A CAVE DIVER?

In 2012, I went on a guided cenote tour only weeks before I started my Divemaster course in Honduras. The dives made a lasting impression on me: entering the water through these holes in the ground and realizing the extent of these seemingly endless labyrinths of tunnels, remaining in this complete, absolute darkness until a diver’s light brings them into existence. I loved it.

I also remember being in awe at my guide, able to hover with all his gear, completely motionless in the stillness of the cavern. As a student, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut, and I studied hard to get a master’s degree in aerospace engineering, hoping to make it one day. My grades and life circumstances decided otherwise, but the parallel between caves and space exploration struck me at the time, and becoming a cave diver has remained at the back of my mind since then.

Cave diver training became the next logical step in my journey. For me, cave diving is about the thrill of exploration; it embodies endless possibilities, self-discipline, and a never-ending growth process. Each dive challenges me to push my limits, enhancing my skills as a diver and educator.

I returned to Mexico in 2018 to become a full cave diver and work as a cavern guide. I had about 5000 dives, but it still felt like I had to learn how to dive again! I loved the demands of cave diving and how it turned me into such a better diver. Everything has to be perfect and optimized to control the risk. Through the training, you become one with your equipment; most importantly, you have to control your mind. The cave has no room for distractions, and your focus must be total. This forces you to be completely in the moment as if you were meditating. For someone like me who always struggled with meditation, it is a peculiar and very addictive experience. 

And once I got certified, I couldn’t get enough of cave diving! I spent every day off exploring new dive sites, finding seldom-traveled passages, and marveling at the remains of prehistoric dwellers, human and otherwise. This time-traveling aspect of cave diving in the Yucatan Peninsula fascinates me.

JOINING UNDER THE JUNGLE

After a few years of cave diving and working as a cavern guide, I decided to keep progressing on this path and looked into becoming a cave diving instructor. I browsed around and contacted Vincent, who talked about the sidemount instructor course as Under the Jungle teaches it. I loved how the training integrated every element into a coherent system and how every detail was considered to create a smooth and flexible workflow, able to prevent and adapt to every possible failure. It seemed a step up from my cave diving practices, and I knew I had found where I wanted to learn, grow, and if possible, work one day. It took me about two years to complete the Full Cave instructor rating, and I felt very proud when Vince and Nat approached me a year later to come to work at Under the Jungle.  

MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Cave diving is an incredibly refined branch of scuba diving; learning cave diving can feel overwhelming. As an instructor, the challenge is to introduce the student step by step to the activity and build solid foundations to teach all the necessary skills in the smoothest possible way to avoid frustration. It doesn’t happen overnight; how long it will take depends on each student.  

As an instructor, it is a continuous learning process, as everyone learns differently, and sometimes people fail to improve not through any fault of their own but because we haven’t yet found a way to make them understand a specific skill. I have found that focusing on the “why” is key: students will learn and retain something only if they know why they’re learning it.

Too many instructors, out of ego, feel the need to impose their way of doing things on their students, without justifying it. If you know why you do something, you won’t forget it and can adapt your practice to a different environment. It can lead to lengthy discussions, but it is gratifying, and it can lead to changes in the way we teach something, and sometimes in the way we dive. Working as an instructor means there is always something new to learn. The courses are long and challenging, but I love to see my students progress from the chaotic first days to becoming thinking divers, maintaining control from the beginning to the end of their dives.