Sidemount cave diving training configuration used during IANTD cave courses in Tulum cenotes
IANTD Certified Programs

Mexico Overhead Diving CAVE DIVING TRAINING IN TULUM

Professional IANTD cave diving training in Tulum for certified divers. Structured overhead environment courses progressing from Cavern Diver to Intro to Cave and Full Cave certification in Mexican cenotes.

Cave diving training is advanced scuba instruction for overhead environments conducted under IANTD standards in the cenotes of Tulum, Mexico.

What Is Cave Diving Training?

Cave diving training is advanced overhead-environment instruction designed to prepare divers to safely explore flooded cave systems beyond the daylight zone. Unlike recreational or cavern diving, cave training focuses on precision buoyancy, guideline navigation, gas management, emergency protocols, and strict team procedures in environments where direct ascent to the surface is not possible.

Proper cave training is not optional — it is essential. Every level builds progressive skills that allow divers to operate safely, methodically, and confidently in increasingly complex cave systems.

Who Is Cave Diving Training For?

Cave diving courses are designed for experienced divers who are comfortable with advanced buoyancy control, situational awareness, and disciplined procedures. Most students begin cave training after gaining experience in recreational, cavern, or technical diving, and progress through structured levels based on skill, not speed.

Cave Diving Training Levels Explained

Cave training follows a progressive pathway that introduces complexity gradually. Each level expands penetration limits, navigation techniques, and task loading:

  • • Cavern Diver: Training within the daylight zone, focusing on buoyancy, propulsion, guideline use, and emergency awareness.
  • • Intro to Cave: Limited penetration beyond the cavern zone, emphasizing gas management, stress control, and precise team communication.
  • • Full Cave Diver: Advanced navigation, jumps, circuits, complex emergency scenarios, and extended penetrations.

Why Tulum Is a Global Reference for Cave Diving Training

The cave systems of the Riviera Maya are considered among the best training environments in the world. Tulum offers exceptional visibility, stable water temperatures, extensive cave networks, and year-round access to sites ranging from simple caverns to highly complex cave systems. This allows divers to train progressively in real-world conditions under controlled supervision.

Certification Path

IANTD Cave Diving Courses

This training follows a strict progressive certification path — levels cannot be skipped. Courses may be taken individually only when prerequisites are met, or combined as a continuous training progression.

This structure ensures divers acquire the required skills and experience before advancing to deeper overhead environments.

Our curriculum is designed to build your skills progressively. We don't fast-track — we train for competence, control, and survival.

Once certified, you can put your skills into real-world practice with guided cave diving for certified cave divers — apply your cave training with guided dives in the most iconic cave systems of the Riviera Maya.

The IANTD cave diving path progresses from Cavern Diver to Intro to Cave, and culminates in Cave or Technical Cave Diver certification.

  • Cavern Diving light zone

    Cavern Diver

    The entry point. Learn line protocols, reel use, and emergency procedures while staying within the light zone.

    • 4 Days / 8 Dives
    • Max 60m penetration
    • Daylight zone only
    View Details
  • Intro to cave diving

    Intro to Cave

    Go beyond the light. This course introduces single mainline penetration, gas management (1/6th rule), lost diver, and lost line drills.

    • 2 Days / 4 Dives
    • Beyond light zone
    • Single continuous line
    View Details
  • Technical Cave diving deep

    Cave or Technical Cave Diver

    Advanced overhead training. Choose between complex navigation mastery or extending range with stage bottles and decompression.

    • 4-5 Days / 8-10 Dives
    • Complex Nav / Decompression
    • Technical configuration
    View Details

Cavern Diver

Cavern Diver is the entry-level cave diving certification that teaches safe overhead diving within the light zone.

The foundation of overhead diving. This course develops the mindset and skills required to safely dive in an overhead environment while remaining within the light zone. It is the Intro to Cave Diver certification .

Course Curriculum & Core Skills

Theory & Land Drills

  • Psychology of cavern diving
  • Equipment configuration (Sidemount/Backmount)
  • Propulsion techniques (Frog kick, helicopter turn)
  • Guideline use and reel handling
  • Communication (Light signals & Hand signals)
  • Following guide lines with and without vision

In-Water Skills

  • Buoyancy and trim precision (+/- 50cm)
  • Valve drills and regulator switching
  • Out of air emergencies (sharing gas)
  • Following the line with no visibility
  • Running primary lines and making tie-offs
  • Emergency exit procedures

Prerequisites

  • Advanced Open Water certification or equivalent
  • Minimum 25 logged dives
  • Good buoyancy control is mandatory
  • 18 years of age or 15 years of age with a guardian or parent authorization

Cavern Diver course details

Course Format

  • Duration: 4 Days
  • Dives: Min. 8 Dives
  • Max Depth: 30 Meters
  • Penetration: Max 60m
Price per Day $300 USD
Book Cavern Course

Intro to Cave Diver

Intro to Cave Diver is the first full overhead cave diving certification, allowing penetration beyond the light zone using a single continuous guideline.

Leaving the light zone behind. This course builds on the Cavern Diver certification and introduces full overhead cave diving using a single continuous guideline. It prepares divers for Cave Diver training .

Course Curriculum & Skills Development

Theory & Planning

  • Advanced gas planning (Rule of Thirds/Sixths)
  • Stress management in overhead environments
  • Cave conservation and ethics
  • Accident analysis. Survival and problem solving
  • Navigation on a single line
  • Lost line and lost diver procedures

In-Water Skills

  • Lost line drills in zero visibility
  • Lost buddy procedures
  • Light failure drills (exit in darkness)
  • Emergency exit drills (zero visibility)
  • Entanglement procedures
  • Complex valve failures

Prerequisites

  • Cavern Diver certification
  • If combined with Cavern course: Advanced Open Water + 50 logged dives
  • 18 years of age or 15 years of age with a guardian or parent authorization

Intro to Cave Diver course details

Course Format

  • Duration: 2 Days
  • Dives: Min. 4 Dives
  • Gas Rule: 1/6th Rule
  • Environment: Full Overhead
Price per Day $300 USD
Book Intro Course

Cave Diver

IANTD Cave Diver certification authorizes advanced cave diving with complex navigation, including jumps, circuits, and traverses, within no-decompression limits in full overhead environments.

The IANTD Cave Diver certification focuses on advanced cave diving techniques in full overhead environments, including complex navigation with jumps, circuits, and traverses. This level authorizes divers to plan and execute cave dives within no-decompression limits, using a single or multiple guidelines, and represents the final non-decompression cave certification within the IANTD cave training progression. Decompression procedures are not included at the Cave Diver level and require Technical Cave Diver training.

Course Curriculum & Skills Development

Complex Navigation

  • Protocols for Jumps and Gaps
  • Permanent vs. Temporary lines
  • Visual referencing & marking T-intersections
  • Circuit and Traverse logic
  • Gas management for complex profiles & gas matching

Advanced Scenarios

  • Gas sharing through minor restrictions
  • Zero visibility exit from jump lines & T's
  • Valve management in confinement
  • Navigation drills. Circuits and Traverses

Prerequisites

  • Intro to Cave Diver certification
  • If combined with Intro to Cave certification: Advanced Open Water + 100 logged dives
  • High level of comfort in double tanks/sidemount
  • Must be minimum 18 years of age

Cave Diver course details

Course Format

  • Duration: 4 Days
  • Dives: Min. 8 Dives
  • Navigation: Complex (Jumps/Circuits)
  • Configuration: Sidemount or Doubles
Price per Day $300 USD
Book Cave Diver

Technical Cave Diver

IANTD Technical Cave Diver training authorizes cave diving with decompression procedures, including the technical use of EANx and oxygen for decompression in full overhead environments. Divers already qualified as IANTD Technical Divers must complete only the cave portion of the program.

This course represents the highest level of IANTD cave diving training and focuses on extended range exploration, stage cylinder management, and advanced decompression strategies in overhead environments, including the technical use of EANx and oxygen for decompression.

Divers already certified as IANTD Technical Divers are required to complete only the cave portion of the program to qualify as Technical Cave Divers.

Course Curriculum & Skills Development

Stage & Gas Management

  • Rigging, carrying and dropping stages
  • Gas switching protocols & team matching
  • Accelerated decompression planning
  • Oxygen tracking (CNS/OTU)
  • Extended penetration logistics

Technical Execution

  • Stage regulator failures
  • Sharing gas with stage bottles
  • Restrictions with additional tanks
  • Decompression station management

Prerequisites

  • Intro to Cave Diver certification (minimum)
  • Advanced EANx Diver or equivalent
  • Must be minimum 18 years of age

This course may be taken directly after Intro to Cave as a combined Cave + Decompression program, or as a technical extension for already certified Cave Divers.

Technical Cave Diver course details

Course Format

  • Duration: 4 Days
  • Dives: Min. 8 Dives
  • Equipment: + Stage Cylinders
  • Penetration: Extended Range
Price per Day $330 USD
Book Technical Cave
Prerequisites

Cave Diving Training Prerequisites

What you need before enrolling in cave diving training.

Cave diving is an advanced form of technical diving that requires precise buoyancy, trim, propulsion techniques, and disciplined equipment management. Before enrolling in cave diving training, divers must demonstrate solid in-water control and appropriate configuration.

  • Experience

    Advanced Open Water certification and at least 50 logged dives before enrolling in the Cavern Diver course .

  • Control

    Ability to hover within ±50 cm, maintain trim, and perform frog kick propulsion.

  • Gear

    Sidemount or backmount configuration with DIN valves suitable for cave diving.

Cave diving training session demonstrating buoyancy control and equipment configuration during a zero visibility exit
Transparency

Training Rates

Clear pricing based on daily instruction. We believe in value-driven training with no hidden costs for instruction.

Daily training rates for cave diving courses offered by Wolff Diving Tulum
Type of Training Price per Day 1 Diver Price per Day 2+ Divers Minimum Training Days
Cavern Diver $300 $260 4
Intro to Cave Diver $300 $260 2 - (6 Combined Cavern + Intro)
Cave Diver $300 $260 4 - (10 Combined Cavern+Intro+Cave)
Technical Cave Diver $330 $300 4 - (10 Combined Cavern+Intro+Cave)
* Prices are per day of instruction. IANTD certification fee not included ($50 USD, paid directly to the agency).