Cave instructor course: from Cavern Instructor to Technical Cave Instructor
The cave instructor course is the third path with the Instructor Trainer: from Open Water Scuba Diving Instructor into the overhead environment. The ladder goes from Cavern Instructor through Introductory Cave Instructor to Technical Cave Instructor. The caves of the Riviera Maya are the training ground: nine of the ten largest underwater cave systems in the world. Candidates assist on courses before the instructor course. For candidates who then take the instructor course here, the assists are free.
Why take a cave instructor course here?
Cave instructors are few, and the caves where they can teach are fewer still. A cave instructor rating from here comes from the caves your students will later ask about. Teaching in an overhead environment demands more than diving in it. It takes exact line work, calm problem solving without visibility, and the judgment to say no. The path is long, and every step of it is a dive in a cave.
The ladder
- Cavern Instructor: 2 days, 2 dives plus course assists. Prerequisites: 18 years of age, Nitrox Instructor and Cave Diver. Experience: 150 logged dives of which 50 cavern dives, 25 divers certified.
- Introductory Cave Instructor: 2 days, 2 dives plus course assists. Prerequisites: 21 years of age, Cavern Instructor and Cave Diver. Experience: 200 logged dives of which 75 cave dives, 3 Cavern courses taught.
- Technical Cave Instructor: 4 days, 2 dives plus course assists. Prerequisites: 21 years of age, Advanced Nitrox Instructor and Technical Cave Diver. Experience: 150 cave dives, 10 courses taught.
- Rate: $428 per day in a group of two or more, $478 individually.
Assists before the course
Candidates assist on courses before their instructor course. For candidates who then take the instructor course here, the assists are free.
Applicants must
- Be a certified Open Water Scuba Diving Instructor
- Meet the prerequisites of the rating they apply for, listed above
- Be physically and mentally fit; obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for prescription drugs or any medical condition that may pose a risk while diving
How the course runs
Each instructor course combines a review of the standards and procedures of the level with a written exam. The candidate also plans lessons and gives lectures. In the cave the candidate demonstrates the skills of the course at presentation level. Then the candidate teaches and evaluates them under the eyes of the Instructor Trainer. The course assists are real courses with real students, so the candidate takes a growing share of the teaching. Training sites follow the rules on cave training sites of CREER. CREER is the regional cave diving committee of Quintana Roo (Comité Regional de Espeleobuceo, Ecología y Regulación). Exercises without visibility and lost-line drills take place only on the listed lines. https://creer-mx.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Rules-on-Cave-Training-Sites-vs061220.pdf.
Rules of the course
- Medical: every participant completes and signs the standard Diver Medical Participant Questionnaire before the activity. A YES answer to any question in its final section requires written approval from a physician before diving. Without it the guest does not dive.
- Liability: every participant signs the standard diving General Liability Release and Express Assumption of Risk before the activity. Without the signed form the guest does not dive.
Your Instructor Trainer: Alexander Vronsky
Instructor Trainer and Course Director.
Alexander trains cave and technical divers, rebreather divers and the instructors who teach them, year-round, in the cenotes and caves of the Riviera Maya, home to the longest underwater cave systems in the world.
Cave and technical instructor trainer: Cavern to Technical Cave, Technical to Master Deep. CCR instructor: Dual CCR and Dual CCR Cave; GBM CCR from Nitrox to Trimix 100; S7 CCR from Nitrox to Helitrox; CCR Cave, CCR Technical Cave and CCR Expedition Cave on GBM, S7, SF2, JJ and Fathom. Authorized dealer for S7 and GBM rebreathers.
Elected representative of CREER, the regional cave diving committee of Quintana Roo (Comité Regional de Espeleobuceo, Ecología y Regulación).
Alexander teaches the cave and technical courses himself, in English and Russian.
An engineer by training, Alexander ran large-scale technical and broadcast operations in telecom and for the Olympic Games before diving became his profession. That experience shows in how every course here is planned and run.