Photo by Mikhail Vedyokhin · CC BY-SA 2.5
Stage Cave Diver
Specialty course introducing stage cylinder use for extended cave penetration and longer bottom time while maintaining safety margins. Stage diving teaches divers to safely deploy, manage, and recover decompression gas cylinders staged in the cave at strategic points, enabling access to deeper and more remote cave passages. The course covers gas management strategy, stage drop/recovery procedures, decompression planning with stages, and extended dive time management.
What it costs
No centre in the directory publishes a price for this exact certification yet. What follows is what the same training costs elsewhere.
Same training under a different agency
9 centres
A separate set of centres, teaching Stage Cave under a different agency. These are not the same certification — the standards and the card differ — but they cover the same depth and scope, which is why centres price them alike. Every row here names whose rating it is, and none of them is counted above.
- $825total
- $1,000total
Charged by the day or dive rather than as a course price:
- $275per day
- $295per day
- $295per day
- $300per day
- Under The JungleMexicoStage CaveTDIprivate$345/day→ $1,725 for the 5-day minimumper diver in a group$295/day→ $1,475 for the 5-day minimum each$345per day
- Go Dive MexicoMexicoStage caveTDIprivate$330/day→ $1,650 for the 5-day minimum2+ divers$300/day→ $1,500 for the 5-day minimum each$330per day
- $400per day
- €1,000total
Same tier, agency not stated
2 centres
These centres publish a price for Stage Cave, but their own wording does not say which agency's certification it buys — many teach several and name the card only once you enquire, and some price one course for either agency. The figure is comparable; the certification is not identified, so we do not guess at one.
- $600total
Charged by the day or dive rather than as a course price:
- Protec MexicoMexicoStage Cave1 student$440/day→ $1,760 for the 4-day minimum2+ students$390/day→ $1,560 for the 4-day minimum each$440per day
- Protec MexicoMexicoMulti Stage Cave1 student$470/day→ $2,820 for the 6-day minimum2+ students$420/day→ $2,520 for the 6-day minimum each$470per day
These prices are not like-for-like. Two centres can charge very differently for the same certification because they include different things. One price may cover twinsets, stages, deco gas and cylinder rental for every training dive, a dedicated classroom for the theory, boat or transport to the site, and the agency's registration and materials; another may be tuition only, with all of that charged separately — or the other way round, with a centre bundling in extras the first leaves out. Class size, whether the course is one-to-one, and how many days are allowed for it move the figure too. Check what each centre's price includes before comparing them, and confirm with the centre before booking.
Consumables are usually extra. Sorb, helium, O₂ and other fills, park and cenote fees, certification fees and rental are commonly charged on top.
Packages combining several certifications, upgrades from an existing one, and open-ended day rates are excluded — none of them is the standalone price of this course, and including them would move the figures away from what a new student can actually book.
Prerequisites
NSS-CDS Cave Diver certification (or equivalent), minimum 50 logged dives total. Minimum 18 years old.
Standards
What a diver must demonstrate to pass this course — not always published by the certifying agency.
Demonstrate mastery of stage cylinder use: proper stage rigging and gas compatibility, safe deployment and recovery procedures at depth, strategic stage placement planning, gas management calculations with stage cylinders, proper turnaround point decisions with stage gas accounting, decompression planning with multiple gas supplies, all foundational cave skills with stage configuration, and emergency procedures specific to stage dives. Execute minimum 4 dives with stages over 2+ days, accumulating minimum 240 minutes bottom time, at depths to 40 m/130 ft.
Instructors Teaching This Course
Mexico
United States
Dive Centres Offering This Course
Mexico
We're still building out the directory country by country, so this list isn't every instructor or dive centre teaching it in the world — more locations are coming soon.
Common questions about NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver
What are the prerequisites for NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver?
NSS-CDS's standards require: NSS-CDS Cave Diver certification (or equivalent), minimum 50 logged dives total. Minimum 18 years old.
What is the minimum age for NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver?
NSS-CDS's standards state: Minimum 18 years old.
How many dives do I need before starting NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver?
NSS-CDS's standards state: Minimum 50 logged dives total.
What does NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver training involve?
According to NSS-CDS's published standards: Demonstrate mastery of stage cylinder use: proper stage rigging and gas compatibility, safe deployment and recovery procedures at depth, strategic stage placement planning, gas management calculations with stage cylinders, proper turnaround point decisions with stage gas accounting, decompression planning with multiple gas supplies, all foundational cave skills with stage configuration, and emergency procedures specific to stage dives. Execute minimum 4 dives with stages over 2+ days, accumulating minimum 240 minutes bottom time, at depths to 40 m/130 ft.
What is the equivalent of NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver in other agencies?
At the same tier in TecDiveTools' cross-agency comparison: IANTD Adv. Cave - Stage/Multi-Stage Diver and TDI Stage Cave. They cover comparable training, but each agency sets its own standards, depth limits and certification card, so they are comparable rather than interchangeable — check which one your next course accepts.
Where can I take NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver?
1 dive centre and 2 instructors in the TecDiveTools directory teach NSS-CDS Stage Cave Diver, in Mexico and the United States. Each is listed further up this page.