Apprentice Cave Instructor

About the Course

Registration as a Cave Divemaster also qualifies candidates with Open Water Instructor certification as instructor interns. This is someone who is working with at least one Instructor Trainer toward becoming an Apprentice Cave Instructor.

The key element in this process is observing, assisting with or co-teaching several Apprentice Cave Diver courses.

We also encourage candidates to work with more than one single instructor. Candidates who do so seem to perform markedly better at their instructor evaluation.

Periodically, the Section will hold a two-day Instructor Development Course (IDC). This is analogous to an IDC or ITC in the open-water world. It counts as one of the required internships. Candidates who attend these programs also tend to perform better at their evaluations.

Once candidates meet the internship requirements and gain the approval of their sponsor, they are ready for their final evaluation. Our preferred method for doing this is to have them teach an entire Apprentice Cave Diver course under the direct supervision of two qualified evaluators.

Prerequisites

Be at least 21 years old
Current membership in the CDS
Be certified to the full Cave Diver level or equivalent by a widely recognized training organization
Have at least 100 non-training-related cave dives past initial Cave Diver certification to begin the process; 200 is required for Instructor levels
Be a current Open Water Instructor or equivalent in Active status by a widely recognized training organization (Divemaster or higher for Cave Divemaster certification)
For Apprentice Cave Diver Instructor, have been teaching scuba for at least one year and have certified a minimum of 40 divers to the Open Water Diver level or higher

Time Frames

There is no specified minimum number of days, dives or minutes of bottom time. However, completing the entire process leading to full Cave Diver Instructor certification generally spreads across several months.

Pricing