What Do I need to Know?

There are three basic types of underwater caving:

• cavern diving- 300 feet into a cave or the area lit by sunlight
• cave diving- beyond the entrance zone
• sump diving- an area of water-filled passage in an otherwise air-filled cave

Having an open water certification, or even some advanced open water training will not prepare you to enter an underwater cave.

Required Cave Diving Skills

• Proper use of all specialized caving equipment
• Proper use of guidelines
• Proper emergency procedures
• Proper finning technique to prevent kicking up silt
• Stage diving
• Dive planning

Required Cave Diving Equipment

• At least three dependable underwater lights
• Diving guideline on a reel
• Submersible pressure gauge
• Backup second stage
• Backup regulator

References

Cave diving is a very dangerous activity requiring advanced training and equipment beyond what is required for regular scuba diving. This site is not designed to teach you all the techniques involved in cave diving. Below is a very good link to help you learn more.

Links

National Speleological Society – Cave Diving Section https://nsscds.org