Cave diving is a very equipment and technique-intensive form of diving, it is also very demanding with regard to the diver’s mental stability. No amount of open water training can prepare you for the conditions encountered in the mine/cave environment and most accidents have happened to unqualified divers simply because they thought they could just “go in a little bit”.
It is critical to understand that UK cave diving has extremely different conditions to those found in warm water caves in countries such as Mexico, Sardinia, Portugal, Spain, Malta and Florida, to name some. An Intro or even a Full Cave qualification earned overseas is a good start, but venturing into UK mines and caves should be approached gradually, and in company with experienced team members who know the site.
The minimum entry level to join the UKMC is Introductory Cave and/or Mine, or equivalent. This training generally follows an entry-level Cavern or Limited Mine diving course with limited penetration within the natural light zone or from dive base and focuses on the skills necessary to begin diving further into the OHE (Overhead Environment).
This Intro level training is available under slightly different names depending on the qualifying agency. Plenty of agencies offer the qualification, including TDI, IANTD, PSAI, SSI, GUE, NACD, NSS-CDS and RAID, amongst others. Some agencies also offer a specific Mine Diver qualification, which highlights the differences between mines and caves.
Click here to read a blog post from Jon Glanfield about his full mine diver course to understand what this entails.
Any UK based cave instructor should be able to train you for diving in UK overhead environments.
