GUE Cave Diver 3

Plan Expedition-Level Cave Dives

GUE Cave Diver 3 is advanced cave training for divers preparing to plan and execute extended-exposure cave dives at depth. GUE describes the course as developing proficiency while using approved rebreathers, DPVs, helium-based and oxygen-enriched gas mixtures, and multiple stage and decompression cylinders. The class is built around serious exploration logistics, not simply making cave dives longer or deeper.

The prerequisites are extensive because the course assumes high-level technical, cave, and rebreather competence. GUE requires Cave Diver 2, DPV Cave, and CCR or PSCR certification, with CCR students holding CCR Technical Diver Level 2 and CCR Cave, and PSCR students holding PSCR certification. Applicants also need significant post-certification Tech 2 or CCR-T2 dives, 50 Cave 2 dives in the approved rebreather configuration used for training, 25 DPV Cave dives, 500 non-training dives after autonomous scuba certification, and substantial drysuit experience.

Course outcomes include extended exposure cave planning, hypoxic gas protocols, gas and oxygen management, extended decompression, accelerated and omitted decompression strategies, multiple stage and decompression cylinder management, mixed rebreather team logistics, DPV considerations, habitats, surface support, in-water support, and unconscious-diver recovery. GUE describes Cave 3 as normally four days, with at least four dives including trimix experience dives and 30 hours of instruction. In High Springs, Florida, this is appropriate only for highly experienced cave divers pursuing demanding exploration objectives.