Add Technical Procedures to Cave Diving
IANTD Technical Cave Diver is the technical version of the Cave Diver pathway, intended for divers who are ready to combine overhead cave procedures with technical gas and decompression planning. The IANTD HQ course page identifies the combined Cave Diver & Technical Cave Diver program, while an IANTD licensee page gives the technical route more directly: safe cave diving using open circuit, with EANx and oxygen used for cave exploration and decompression. This is a serious overhead technical course, not an introductory cave class.
The course is aimed at divers who already understand cave procedures and have the gas training to handle technical obligations. The technical cave route requires Introductory Cave Diver or higher, or equivalent, plus Advanced EANx Diver or higher, or equivalent. The IANTD HQ page lists minimum age 18 and uses the IANTD Cave Diver or Technical Cave Diver Student Kit depending on the route. Students should expect the instructor to verify experience and readiness carefully before training.
Training includes academic sessions, confined-water sessions, and overhead dive sessions. At Extreme Exposure in High Springs, Florida, the course should develop technical cave planning, gas selection, decompression awareness, guideline procedures, team communication, emergency management, and disciplined exits. It belongs in both Cave Diving and Technical Diving categories because the environment removes direct ascent while the technical component adds gas and decompression complexity.
