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STAGE CAVE AT A GLANCE
• Duration: 4 Days Minimum
• 32% Nitrox Fills Included
• Backmount or Side Mount Configuration
• Stage Reg and Hardware Included
PREREQUISITES
• Age: 18 Years Old
• Certification: TDI Full Cave Diver or Similar in the Equipment Configuration to be Used for the Course
• 25 Logged Non-Training Dives at the Full Cave Level
WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS CERTIFICATION?
The TDI Stage Cave Diver Course allows you to extend your distance and increase your dive times by using a stage bottle(s) for penetration within the following limitations:
• Maximum of 1/3 of your total breathing gas may be used for penetration
• No equipment removal in the cave other than stage tanks (unless certified to do so)
• Decompression and other techniques may be used according to the diver’s previous certification level
This course is a prerequisite to the TDI DPV Cave Diver Course.
What’s beyond the next corner? If you have ever finished a cave dive with the image of the last room burned indelibly in your mind, if you exit the the water with plenty of energy and your curiosity unsatisfied, there’s no way around it – you need more gas. One way to accomplish this is to carry a stage bottle to extend both your penetration distance and time. As most cave divers stop at the Full Cave Level, carrying a stage has the added benefit of taking you beyond the range of most cave divers, to areas that see less traffic and that are more pristine due to lower diver impact. When properly managed, stage tanks increase diver safety by providing an extra breathing system in the cave, and can even be used to safely and simply recalculate thirds to investigate jumps and leads during your exit. There’s a lot to learn during the stage cave course, but the enjoyment of going way, way off the beaten path in the cave is absolutely worth it.
WHERE WILL I DIVE DURING THE STAGE CAVE COURSE?
The TDI Stage Cave Course will take you to a variety of caves. The beginning of the course requires practice in the open water area of a cenote, where skills such as static and swimming stage drops are honed. We often conduct these skill sessions at Cenote Ponderosa or Cenote X’tbay. From there, we move to a series of short cave dives, where we gradually build penetration distance and work on stage skills, again in training caves where high impact drills will not negatively impact the environment. Once you have mastered the basics, you’ll travel further into the cave, reviewing stage specific training scenarios before culminating with a graduation dive somewhere gorgeous and distant, such as the bedding planes at Chan Hol or the far Canyons of Chan Aktun Ha. As usual, stage course theory and equipment set up are conducted at the dive shop, where we have air conditioning, shade, and coffee.
WHAT WILL I LEARN DURING THE TDI STAGE CAVE DIVER COURSE?
The Stage Cave Diver Course includes dive theory, confined water skills practice, cave dives, and practice scenarios.
⇒ STAGE CAVE COURSE THEORY
• Advantages and risks of stage cave diving
• Stage bottle and regulator configuration
• Choosing the best gas management plan for a given cave dive
• Physiological and physchological aspects of stage cave diving
• Emergency procedures for stage cave diving
• Review of decompression theory and it’s importance in stage cave diving
• Managing restrictions with a stage
• Conservation considerations for stage cave divers
• Easy recalculation of thirds using a stage
• Plan stage dives as a team taking into account depth, team size, dive conditions, etc⇒ STAGE CAVE COURSE SKILLS
• Rigging and marking your stage cylinder
• Predive checks including stage cylinders
• Static stage drops and retrievals
• Swimming stage drops and retrievals
• Out of air scenario management for stage cave diving
• Zero visibility line following and tank retrieval skills
• Managing restrictions with a stage bottle with and without visibility
• In water recalucation of thirds to visit another section of the cave on the way out
• Emergency decompression planning and management
