As canyoning around the world is growing, more people than ever before are turning to qualifications to up-skill and progress their career as a canyon guide. Demand for qualifications is higher than ever before. We're going look at the most popular canyoning associations and compare them from the perspective of an aspiring canyon guide.

The following associations we are going to look at are;

• UKCA (UK Canyoning Association)
• ICO Pro (International Canyoning Organisation for Professionals)
• NZOIA (New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association)
• CIC (Canyon Instructor Course) 
• ACA (America canyoneering association) 
• CGI Canyon Guides International 
• FFME - (federation française montagne escalade)

(if you would like another association assessed, leave a comment below)

To make an assessment of the qualifications, we will look at the following factors of each associations highest qualification;

1. Recognition - How many countries is the qualification valid and recognised in.
2. Longevity - How long is the qualification valid for before reassessment or refresher is required. 
3. Achievability - How difficult is it to achieve and does it require a long training pathway.
4. Additional Benefits - Do they offer members benefits such as personal insurance or gear discounts. 
5. Price - How much does the qualification cost, including membership fee.

We aim to obtain the information directly from the associations however if we don't get a response we will do our best to get the information from alternative sources. 

This may take some time to gather information so if you're interested in finding out the result, click subscribe and you'll get an email when we've posted the results. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or think something could be done differently, let us know below.