ProTec Sardinia — Cave & technical diving training centre, Italy

ProTec Sardinia is a cave and technical diving training centre at Cala Gonone, on the Gulf of Orosei on the east coast of Sardinia — one of the richest concentrations of accessible underwater caves in the Mediterranean. The centre bills itself as “Europe's cave training facility”, and the curriculum backs the claim: a complete cave progression, full technical and trimix training, closed-circuit rebreather training, sidemount, wreck and the recreational courses that feed into them.

The school is based in Hotel “La Playa”, with dedicated rooms for its divers: a workshop corner for charging lights and changing hoses or a pressure gauge, a classroom with laptop, flatscreen and whiteboard, and a compressor room holding the gases and the cave and technical equipment the training needs.

The cave curriculum runs Essentials Training → Cavern Diver → Intro to Cave Diver → Apprentice Cave Diver → Cave Diver → DPV Cave Diver → Multiple Stage Cave Diver → Sidemount Cave Diver → Technical Cave → CCR Cave.

The centre describes the full Cave Diver course as by far the greatest challenge in the advanced training programme, and for many divers the start of a series of cave training levels. Prerequisites listed for it include a minimum age of 18 and IANTD Intro to Cave Diver or equivalent. On completion a diver is trained and qualified to explore the cave environment safely.

Rebreather (Kreislauftauchen): SF2 Air Diluent, CCR Mod 1 (Megalodon / Inspiration), CCR Cave and CCR Maintenance.

Technical diving: Essentials Training, Advanced Nitrox, Technical Diver, Normoxic Trimix and Hypoxic / Full Trimix.

Sidemount: Open Water Sidemount, Technical Sidemount and Sidemount Cave — taught in the centre's own “Toddy style” sidemount configuration.

Wreck: Basic Wreck, Advanced Wreck and Technical Wreck.

Recreational and professional: Open Water, Nitrox Diver, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, Dive Master and Instructor Training. Private training is also offered, and the centre publishes a course and event calendar.

ProTec publishes its own site list, which is unusually specific for a training centre and tells you what the training actually runs on.

Caves: Utopia, Del Fico, Bel Torrente, Cala Luna, Bue Marino. Caverns: Grotta Utopia, Grotta Del Fico, Grotta Smeralda, Grotta Bel Torrente, Grotta Galleria, Grotta Cala Luna. Wrecks: Nasello (-34 m), KT12 (-34 m), Ugo Bassi (-90 m). Open water: Ponte di Brooklyn, Il Porticciolo, Occhi della Civetta, Acqua Dolce, I Basalti, Baco di Osalla.

The centre also runs exploration projects — Project Utopia, Project Bel Torrente, Project Grotta del Fico, Project Cala Luna, Project Grotta Sifone and Project Grotta Maseduoe — under the SKEP banner.

Thorsten “Toddy” Wälde is the owner and CEO, a full-time instructor living and working in Sardinia year-round. German by origin, he has spent many years in the diving scene, working as a manager, instructor and guide in the Red Sea, the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Maldives, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. He lived and worked in Mexico for several years, where he built his technical diving knowledge, and his interest in cave diving and exploration took him to deep sinkholes there. The wider team listed includes Claudia Decandia, Bruno Spagnuolo, Brian Starnes and Melissa Bezaz.

Accommodation is at Hotel La Playa, built in 1976, with 13 rooms, a pool, restaurant, bar and terrace; the family cooks, with a new menu each day.