TDI Mine

Course Overview

TDI Mine introduces divers to the basic principles of mine diving using a single primary guideline. The official TDI Mine Diver Level I standards describe it as the first stage in the TDI Mine Diver development program, building on Cavern Diver skills and adding procedures required for elementary mine dives. It uses the same principles and materials as Intro to Cave, but it is specific to mines and does not certify divers for cave diving.

The course is for divers who want to apply overhead-environment discipline to flooded mine systems. TDI lists minimum age 18, TDI Cavern Diver or equivalent, or Open Water Scuba Diver with 25 logged dives with additional daylight-zone training requirements if not cavern certified. Divers who plan to go deeper than 18 metres/60 feet must hold SDI Deep Diver or equivalent, or show appropriate experience.

Training covers mine access and hazards, maps, collapse points, sediment, ceiling supports, extraction shafts, entanglement risks, mine or cave etiquette, gas matching, equipment configuration, guideline deployment, line markers, lost line and lost diver drills, air sharing, touch contact, anti-silting propulsion, primary light failure, and site permission requirements. In High Springs, Florida, it is a specialized overhead course for divers interested in mine environments. Successful students should leave with conservative single-guideline mine-diving limits and stronger site-evaluation habits.