info@underthejungle.com
FULL CAVE AT A GLANCE
• Course Duration: 5 Days Min
• 32% Nitrox Fills Included
• Certification Fees Included
• Equipment: Backmount or Sidemount with Double Cylinders
PREREQUISITES
• Age: 18 Years Old
• Number of Dives: 100 Logged Dives
• Certifications: (1) TDI Intro to Tec or Similar in the Equipment Configuration to be Used for the Course (2) TDI Intro to Cave
• TDI Full Cave Can Be Combined With the Prerequisite TDI Cavern Course and/or the TDI Intro to Cave Course.
WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS CERT
Certified TDI Full Cave Divers are allowed to plan and execute cave dives within the following guidelines:
• Max Depth on Air Is Limited to 130 ft/40 m
• Restrictions Allowed — No Equipment Removal
• Penetration Up to 1/3 Starting Pressure
• Jumps, Gaps and T Intersections Allowed
• Complex Circuits or Traverses Allowed
• No Stage Diving or DPVs
• No Decompression Unless Trained
CAVE TRAINING PATH
FULL CAVE DETAILS
Restriction ahead? Go through it. See a jump line that you’re interested in? Grab your spool and check it out. The TDI Full Cave Course is the certification that gives divers their freedom back. At this level, a diver can basically go where he wants and do what he likes in the cave, within a few basic guidelines – he must limit his gas to 1/3 of his starting pressure, he can’t remove gear to pass through restrictions, and he isn’t allowed to use tools such as stage bottles or DPVs . . . yet. As always in life, new freedoms are paired with new responsibilities. The Full Cave Course will introduce you to the refined dive planning, expanded awareness, and new techniques required to safely execute dives involving complex navigation and restrictions. This course will exponentially increase your underwater range in caves and give you access to the majority of cave dives in Mexico.
WHERE WILL I DIVE DURING THE FULL CAVE COURSE?
During the TDI Full Cave Course, you’ll experience sites with restrictions, jumps, t-intersections, and complex navigation such as circuits and traverses. Some of systems you’ll visit will be familiar, such as Tajma Ha and Ponderosa, where you will finally have the opportunity to explore the jump lines you saw during the Intro to Cave Course. Other dive sites will be new – one of our favorite sites for practicing complex navigation and restrictions is Minotauro. If time permits, we like to do a fun graduation dive for the last dive of the course, somewhere decorated where divers can finally relax and put their new skills to use without worrying about drills and practice scenarios. The choice of graduation dive depends upon the student’s skill level and what he wants to see . . . there are so many options! Dive theory is covered at the classroom at Under the Jungle, land drills are made in our garden or at the cenotes, and any confined water review work needed will be made in the cenote head pools.
WHAT WILL I LEARN DURING THE FULL CAVE COURSE?
The Full Cave Diver Course intoduces new dive theory, land drills, and in-water skills.
⇒ FULL CAVE COURSE THEORY
• Full Cave Diver limitations and responsibilities
• Introduction to complex navigation, including jumps, gaps, restrictions, and t’s
• How to plan and execute complex circuits and traverses
• Line marker choice, use, and considerations
• How to safely plan dives combining multiple complex navigational elements
• Risks and considerations of restrictions, and how to manage them safely
• Discussion of issues related to decompression diving in the cave environment
⇒ FULL CAVE COURSE LAND DRILLS
• How to make jumps and cross t’s using team diving protocols
• How to cut and repair guidelines, in the event to an entanglement or missing line
• Review of line following procedures and referencing, with and without visiblity, as needed.
⇒ CONFINED WATER SKILLS SESSIONS (AS NEEDED)
The first day of the Full Cave Course may include a skill review in the open water if the diver is taking Full Cave as a stand-alone course, including:
• Guideline deployment and retrieval
• Zero visibility line following practice circuit
• Fundamental skills review
⇒ FULL CAVE DIVES AND SKILLS
Several new skills are added at the Full Cave Level:
• Planning and executing dives involving complex navigation as a team
• Air sharing exits as a team over complex navigation
• Planning and executing dives through restrictions as a team
• Zero visibility and zero visibility air sharing exits across complex navigation and through restrictions
• Planning and executing complex circuits an/or traverses as a team
Skills covered in Intro to Cave will also be reviewed and practiced during the Full Cave Course:
• Predive checks and planning procedures
• Air sharing practice before every dive
• Primary reel placement and retrieval
• Line following and referencing including team positioning and placement in the cave
• Simulated gear failures including mask and light failures, valve shut downs, freeflows, etc.
• Loss of gas and air sharing simulation while exiting the cave
• Zero visibility and zero visiblity air sharing exits
• Neutrally buoyant, no-contact, properly positioned safety stops
• Lost line and lost diver drills
