Course deposit and payment policies

Course deposit

• Your enrollment in any course is not considered firm until we receive a deposit equal to one half the total course fee.

• Deposits are payable directly to your instructor. You may make payment by means of cash, check or Paypal.

• If you cancel, bear in mind it is unlikely we will be able to find someone to fill the dates we have set aside for you. This costs us money. Therefore, all deposits are nonrefundable.

Balance due

• The balance of any course fees are payable at or before the start of the course.
• Balance payments may be made by cash or Paypal.

What your course fee does and does not include

Course fees generally include the following:

• Your instructor’s time, up to the maximum time allotted for the course
• eLearning course fees

Course fees do not include:

• Transportation to and from dive sites
• Meals and accommodations
• Dive site admission fees
• Use of equipment
• Gas fills
• Certification card processing
• Your instructor’s time past that normally slated for the course

What if you need additional time?

As you’ve already read, Cave and Tech Diver training is not like so many recreational Specialty Diver courses, where you get a trophy just for showing up. There are very specific performance requirements you must meet. Additionally, you have to inspire confidence in your instructor that he can count on you to dive safely and conscientiously, and not put yourself or others at risk.

Most students can do this within the time normally allotted for each course. Occasionally, we have students who need additional days of training beyond this. When this happens, we are usually able to make students aware that they are not making sufficient progress before the allotted time is up. When this happens, students have two choices:

• Sometimes, students take this as a sign that perhaps cave or technical diving is not for them, and bow out.

• Most of the time, however, students will opt to invest the additional time needed to address whatever problems they are having especially when the required time is only an extra day or two.

When both the student and the instructor agree that the problems can be solved with additional days of training, we go ahead and schedule them. Often we will give the student “homework” — skills he can work on someplace other than in a cave — before returning to complete the course.

There is, of course, a charge for this. Time we spend working with problem students is time we can’t be working with anyone else. Currently, the charge for remedial instruction is $300 per student, per day.

Of course, you will know what this is going in, so there won’t be any surprises.