GENERAL INFO FIRST:

To go from zero technical experience to Full Cave takes about 14 days, depending on the diver. It’s not recommended to do all the courses back-to-back if you can avoid it – but if that’s the only way you can make it work we are happy to accommodate. Training is charged on a per-day basis, and is 10% more for private students. Depending on the course length, you are looking at $3,000 – $4,000 USD in total for training. Course length varies with student’s starting level and speed of progression. Check out my clever infographic about the progression of cave training!

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UTJ-trained cave diver Rory O’Keefe exploring Chindzonot.

UTJ-trained cave diver Andy Preas on a post certification photoshoot.

The fact that you are reading this probably means that you already have heard about Under the Jungle, and a little bit about our training style and philosophy. Still, as our prospective student, I want to go over this with you to make sure your goals and style as a student will match our instructional style!

Our goal as training center is to create excellent cave divers who are confident to dive independently (with a similarly trained buddy, but no guide or instructor) immediately after certification. Training divers to this level is absolutely not the industry standard in the Riviera Maya, and most dive centers train cave divers to be comfortable being guided, but not to strike off on their own. You do not need a guide to dive most of the caves in the area.

To get you to the point where your are confident to dive independently requires a significant amount of work and commitment, both on the part of the instructor and on your part – these are not easy classes and our training days are usually an intense 10 hours, combining theory, land drills, and in-water instruction. Additionally, students will need to review theory and procedures in the evenings in order to succeed in the training.

The course durations given in the write ups below are minimum days of training for excellent, experienced, technical divers, and assume long days. If you are not experienced in technical diving, or simply prefer a more relaxed schedule, you can book more days or even plan on half days to let the information settle in and be less tired.

It’s important to understand that certification is not guaranteed in technical diving. We will do everything in our power to get you through the course, but you are paying for days of training, and you basically get as far as you get. You may need more days or you may move very quickly through the training. It all depends on you. All our courses are private unless you bring a buddy you want to dive with or request a buddy. This allows up to tailor our courses to your schedule, needs, and learning style.

Our training program works! We have a growing group of former students that live in the area that regularly dive together, and an international community of alumni that meet up around the world to dive caves. We connect everyone through a private Facebook group, so you can find buddies with similar training even if you don’t know any cave divers. We support our former students with tank rentals, gear storage, and most importantly, dive site advice when they are in the area.

We provide exclusive opportunities for our former students to participate in science, exploration, and mapping projects, and we hope to offer global travel opportunities in the future. Your certification is just the beginning!

The course structure listed in the following sections is stepwise, and this is a general overview. There are links to the specific course write ups on the website as well as links to the syllabuses that are online so that you can look them more over in detail.

If you can break up the courses into steps and do a few trips with practice in between, that is the best possible option for your learning and training. Even better, if you can dive independently with a buddy in between steps (or do some guiding diving if the buddy doesn’t work out) you will come into the next level much stronger! That said, if your preference is to go straight for full cave, or you simply do not have the flexibility in your schedule to make multiple trips, we are happy to accommodate you.

Under the Jungle’s former student Amanda Abramson on a photoshoot at Nohoch Nah Chich.

UTJ alumna Arya Hintsala at Cenote Dos Pisos.

The prerequisite courses for cave and cavern training are either Intro to Tec (in backmounted doubles) or Expert Sidemount in sidemounted doubles. These two courses cover all the basics of control such as advanced trim, advanced buoyancy, kicking techniques like the frog kick and reverse kick, and equipment specific basics such as air shares, valve shuts downs, and other emergency skills. Importantly, they also teach our checks/pre-dive procedures and vital theory that students should master before starting cavern. If you feel you have mastered all the skills and theory in the syllabus, we can do a check out/shake out day to run through all the skills and make sure we are on the same page. You will also need to be nitrox certified, as that is the standard gas we use at the shop.

Under the Jungle alumni Troy Wooster, Nick Wheeler, and Nikolas Tkachenko in Cenote Pet Cemetery.

Rory O’Keefe, trained by Under the Jungle, at an exploration site in Yucatan.

➡️ NITROX

• • Done as an half day add-on to cavern tours/fun dives

  • $150 USD including TDI e-learning and certification fees

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF NITROX DIVER CERTIFICATION

➡️ INTRO TO TEC (BACKMOUNT)

• • Minimum of 4 days in double tanks

  • Does not include TDI E-Learning ($75 USD through the shop)

  • Daily price includes tanks with 32% nitrox, weights, certification fees, transportation from the shop to the cenote and back, and possible pick up from your lodging depending upon where you stay

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF TDI INTRO TO TEC CERTIFICATION

➡️ EXPERT SIDEMOUNT

Expert sidemount is our signature sidemount course, aimed at preparing sidemount divers for cave training. This course goes well above the information covered in a recreational sidemount course. You can start having never sidemounted before, or move into it from as a recreational sidemount diver

• • Minimum of 5 days

  • Does not include TDI E-Learning ($75 USD through the shop)

  • Daily price includes tanks with 32% nitrox, weights, certification fees, transportation from the shop to the cenote and back, and possible pick up from your lodging depending upon where you stay

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF EXPERT SIDEMOUNT COURSE

    ✅ CLICK TO VIEW SIDEMOUNT COURSE SYLLABUS

    ✅ CLICK TO VIEW SIDEMOUNT COURSE EQUIPMENT LIST

➡️ CAVERN DIVER

In my opinion the cavern course is actually the most difficult course we teach. Yes, you are “only” in the cavern zone, but this is the course where you learn all the basics of overhead diving, like line work, zero visibility techniques, understanding the cave, reading maps, etc. This course has a steep learning curve. Our cavern training is very detailed and intense, with the goal of getting you to cave-level base skills before we ever take you into the cave. It makes sense – we want you to be solid because even though cave training is still “just” training, real-life situations could happen, and we want you to be prepared!

• • Minimum of 5 days

  • Does not include TDI E-Learning ($75 USD through the shop)

  • Daily price includes tanks with 32% nitrox, weights, certification fees, transportation from the shop to the cenote and back, and possible pick up from your lodging depending upon where you stay

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF TDI CAVERN DIVER COURSE

    ✅ CLICK TO VIEW CAVERN COURSE SYLLABUS

➡️ INTRO TO CAVE DIVER

Believe it or not, I think Intro to Cave is actually easier than cavern for a well-prepared student. It’s still a big mental leap, however, as you put all your new skills to work in the cave, and learn extra cave-level skills like lost line, lost diver, and line repair.

• • Minimum of 3 days

  • Does not include TDI E-Learning ($75 USD through the shop)

  • Daily price includes tanks with 32% nitrox, weights, certification fees, transportation from the shop to the cenote and back, and possible pick up from your lodging depending upon where you stay

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF TDI INTRO TO CAVE DIVER COURSE

    ✅ CLICK TO VIEW INTRO TO CAVE COURSE SYLLABUS

➡️ FULL CAVE DIVER

Full Cave is where you learn new skills like complex navigation down side passages as wells as traverses and circuits. You can dive to a full 1/3rd of your tanks, you learn to manage restrictions, and you can do simple decompression if already certified.

• • Minimum of 5 days

  • No additional e-learning required

  • Daily price includes tanks with 32% nitrox, weights, certification fees, transportation from the shop to the cenote and back, and possible pick up from your lodging depending upon where you stay

    ✅ CLICK TO READ FULL DETAILS OF TDI FULL CAVE DIVER COURSE

Bre Kramer did her sidemount cave crossover with Under the Jungle.

Steve Hofmann on a photoshoot after finishing his Intro to Cave Course with UTJ.

“UTJ Alumna Arielle Ginsberg at Cenote Dos Palmas.

If you are doing training with us, you are basically going to want to just crawl into bed and sleep at the end of the day, so look for places that will work well with that. Our number one suggestion is to look for lodgings in Puerto Aventuras, which is a very short trip away. This will allow us to provide transportation and will limit the time you spend on the road (more diving less driving).  Our favorite place in Puerto Aventuras to put divers is Villas Picalu. 

You fly into Cancun (CUN) and from there it’s about 1.5 hours down to cave country and the shop. We can help you with reasonably priced airport transfers, or you can also rent a car if you want independence during your trip (driving is pretty easy here, there is one highway).