Cave Diver — Educator — Explorer
I am Skanda Coffield-Feith, a CAVE, TECHNICAL, and REBREATHER diving instructor. I am based in Tulum, Mexico, a ten-minute drive from the world's longest underwater cave systems. I am originally from Melbourne, Australia, but my first dive was in Koh Tao, Thailand (2006), where I took my OW Course and was immediately hooked. I spent some years diving in some of the best locations around South East Asia as a recreational diver before discovering that I could dive in Melbourne. While diving in my hometown, I was introduced to technical diving and heard about cave diving from another member of the University Scuba Club I was part of. During a trip to Mount Gambier, I was introduced to the famous Australian caves and decided to became a CAVE DIVER. In 2014 I made it to Mexico for the first time, and completed OW Scuba Instructor Training, while at the same time finished Full Cave Diver training. After spending nearly six months staying in Playa Del Carmen and doing as much cave diving as I could, I was thoroughly hooked. A second trip in 2015 opened up the possibility of living and working in Mexico. Since 2016 I have lived in Tulum, making cave diving a full-time occupation. I have been guiding, and teaching during this time, as well as diving here. I have also cave dived in Florida, Madagascar, France, Sardinia, mines in Belgium, Hungary, Romania, and Bosnia. Over the years, I developed my teaching, gaining experience training students through the cave levels (as I continued my instructor training) and learning from my mentors at ProTec Dive Centers. This has allowed me to draw on my background and education as a secondary school teacher and my passion for cave diving exploration. I teach OPEN CIRCUIT CAVE COURSES up to CAVE DECOMPRESSION, CAVE SURVEY and CAVE DPV, as well as CCR TRAINING on the KISS SIDEWINDER. Understanding certification is just the beginning, I can guide certified divers to the limits of their certification. Mentoring and coaching days focusing on a particular skill or training area can also be arranged. When I am not teaching, I am out in the jungle exploring new cave systems, if not actively hiking around, I spend many hours resurveying existing cave lines. I have also been involved in remarkable exploration projects in Mexico, and Australia, and I am always looking for the next project!
