GUE Cave 1 & Cave 2 · Puerto Aventuras, Mexico

GUE Cave Diving in Mexico

Cave 1 and Cave 2 training for divers who want to develop their skills, judgement and teamwork in the overhead environment.

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Cave diving is more than learning to navigate a cave

GUE Cave training develops the skills and knowledge needed to operate effectively as part of a team in an overhead environment. It also gives experienced divers an opportunity to refine the fundamentals they already have.

I've been cave diving for more than 20 years, with more than 1,500 cave dives involving exploration, mapping, underwater photogrammetry and archaeological projects.

I'm based in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, and work with Zero Gravity Dive Center to provide GUE Cave 1 and Cave 2 training in the Riviera Maya.

The progression

Technical Fundamentals → Cave 1 → Cave 2

Each stage builds on the skills, knowledge and experience developed at the previous level.

GUE Cave 1

Your first step into GUE cave diving.

Cave 1 is not an introduction to diving. It assumes that you already have a solid foundation in the water and are ready to apply those skills in an overhead environment.

GUE Cave 1 requires Technical Fundamentals and a minimum of 100 logged non-training dives following completion of autonomous scuba diver certification.

If you're interested in cave diving but haven't completed Technical Fundamentals, that is the place to start. Course prerequisites can change, so check GUE's official Cave 1 course page before making travel or training plans.

Explore GUE Cave 1 training in Mexico

Developing your cave-diving skills

Cave 1 teaches the skills needed to operate effectively as part of a team in an overhead environment, including navigation, guideline management, gas management, team procedures, emergency procedures and dive planning.

But learning to cave dive isn't just about adding new skills. Cave 1 is also an opportunity to polish and improve the fundamentals you already have. Buoyancy, trim, propulsion, awareness and teamwork all become more important when there is no direct ascent to the surface.

The course brings these skills together, helping you develop the control, awareness and team skills needed to become a capable cave diver.

Not ready for Cave 1 yet?

Technical Fundamentals is the required starting point. If you're interested in how experience and readiness relate to progression into more demanding diving, I've written more about it here:

How Many Dives Do You Really Need Before Technical Diving?

Equipment matters

Talk to me before you buy anything significant.

GUE training uses a standardised equipment configuration, but that doesn't mean you need to own a particular brand. The important thing is whether the equipment can meet the requirements and work properly within the configuration and team procedures used on the course.

If you're planning Cave 1 or Cave 2, contact me before buying or changing significant pieces of equipment. I can help you understand what you need, what you may already have that will work, and where a different choice might make the course easier.

Read the full GUE equipment guide →

Why train in Mexico?

The Riviera Maya offers an exceptional environment for cave-diving training, with an enormous variety of flooded cave systems and conditions.

But the attraction isn't simply the caves themselves. I'm based in Puerto Aventuras, and Mexico is where I do much of my own cave diving.

I work with Zero Gravity Dive Center, the support base for DIR-Mexico. Zero Gravity provides equipment, mixed-gas fills and on-site accommodation, making the logistics of a serious training trip much simpler.

World-class cave systemsAccess to a wide range of cave environments across the Riviera Maya.

Dedicated diving supportEquipment, gas and local infrastructure through Zero Gravity.

Stay and diveOn-site accommodation makes it easy to combine training with additional diving before or after the course.

GUE Cave 2

The next step after Cave 1.

Cave 2 builds on the skills and experience developed during Cave 1. The course introduces greater penetration, more advanced navigation, enhanced team awareness and more complex problem solving, including the use of bottom and decompression stages.

GUE requires a Cave 1 certification and at least 25 non-training Cave 1 dives following Cave 1 certification. The current standards also require 15 of those dives to have been completed in natural overhead environments.

Cave 2 isn't simply Cave 1 with longer dives. The experience between courses gives you time to develop judgement, familiarity and confidence before adding further complexity.

Explore GUE Cave 2 training in Mexico

Training with John

Cave diving has been a major part of my diving for more than two decades, taking me from regular cave diving into exploration, mapping, underwater photogrammetry and archaeological projects.

That experience has given me the opportunity to work in a wide range of cave environments and with divers at very different stages of their development.

That experience is useful, but I don't expect students to arrive as finished cave divers. I expect them to arrive ready to learn.

You should expect clear, constructive feedback, a strong focus on fundamentals and an emphasis on taking responsibility for your own diving and your contribution to the team.

The aim isn't simply to complete the course. It's to leave the course a better cave diver than when you arrived.

Planning your next step?

Whether you're a Technical Fundamentals graduate considering Cave 1 or an experienced Cave 1 diver looking towards Cave 2, get in touch. Tell me where you are with your diving, what you've done so far and what you want to achieve.

Don't see a date that works? Published classes are only part of the picture. If you have a particular course or timeframe in mind, get in touch. Classes can often be arranged around your availability.

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