cruisegal-

We have the Rico Rock 5ft. hybrid cave and jump from it all the time into 8' deep water. Agree with goodtimes, no shallower than 8' for jumping feet first.

Hope this helps!

thanks for the input. what do you think about how far out the pool needs to go to safely jump, is 20ft enough?

A good PB should be able to help you with your questions. Is your grotto going to be placed along the narrow width of the deep end (end) or along the longer length (side) of the pool? If it's to be along the side, I'm sure you've already considered this...you'll need to keep in mind that at some point in the deep end, you will begin your upward grade towards the shallow end, so you will need to consider placing the rock grotto far enough into the deep end so that jumpers reach the deepest part and not the slant. For comparison, I believe that diving board length is around 20 ft, give or take a foot or two depending on the degree of the transition from deep to shallow that the PB requires and the maximum depth of the pool.

It would have to be on the side because we are going to have and auto cover at the deep end.

cruisegal,
Rocks placed at the end of a pool fall under the same standards as diving boards(Type I, Type II, Etc.).
A five foot high rock grotto is not covered under any residential standard that pertains to diving. It is strictly forbidden and divers will use it at their own peril.

The one I'm interested in has a 3 feet jumping height, not 5. Is there anywhere online that the depth standards for jump/dive rocks are posted? Such as 5ft deep at 20ft from the wall, 8 ft deep 5ft from the wall...

cruisegal-

Here's the standards.

Hope this helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Residential Diving Envelope Standards