Finally I did some cave diving. After a long break (and a long break in diving at all).
Here in Poland Molnar Janos is a famous cave. It should be famous also around Europe, as it's a unique place. To start with the bigging. It's a cave with thermal waters.
The earliest information about the caves is from 1858. János Molnár, a pharmacist, investigated the dry areas of the cave and analysed the water of the spring. He examined the healing effects of the water. The actual cave research began in the 1930s and in the 1950s divers dived there for the first time. Later on in 80ties and 90ties exploration went even further, resulting in discovering new parts of the cave.
This is why now the cave is divided in two - the "old" one and the "new" one.
Explored parts of the cave equals around 400 square meters. The lenght of goldline placed is 8 kilometers. But, as Hungarians call it - Molnar Janos is like a piece of cheese - with a lot of holes, so even from the furthest point you can be back within 15 - 20 minutes.
On top of this there is a CO2 Chamber where you can decent to the surface. Till spring this year the chamber was filled with CO2, but lately a hole was drilled, pipe placed and now you can breath there. The depth is 6 meters, so the CO2 chamber is a perfect place for the last deco stop - where you can deco and talk
I wanted to dive there for quite a bit of time. Thanks for the internet I contacted a great guy (some of you may know Roland diver from Rebreather World). Roland is absolutly incredible!!!! When I was in Budapest for few days in June we met with Roland and Attila. Attila is a guide in Molnar and I think that none knows this cave better than him. Unfortunately Attila mainly speaks only Hungarian, so Roland was our translator.
We discussed the first details and rules of diving Molnar. Then finally the timing was set - end of August.
So - there were 3 of us. Car packed and we started the trip to Budapest.
We did few dives in Molnar. As I know my limitations (GDI don't worry!!!!) before hand I asked if we could be split into to groups - more and less experienced cave divers. I'm certainly the second group. So my dives were a bit shorter in time that others and a bit shallower, with short deco.
But what is the most funny about the place is that the cave is exactly in the city centre - close to Margaret Bridge:
frankel leo ut, budapest - Google Maps
From the street you would never suspect that behind a metal gate there is a cave, which is, BTW, under supervision of Hungarian Ministry of Environment as well as UNESCO.
Behind the gate there are ruins of an ancient Turkish Bath which is used as a change room.
There is also a small lake around
View from the street
View from inside
And top of the bridge was a place we prepared our gear
The entrance to the cave is on the ground level, coverd by another metal gate. There stairs take you to the entrance. Here I'm depositing our stages (which we will take with us into the cave).
This is a map f the cave. The red lines are the area we explored. Still most of the cave is waiting for us. And it's only 12 hours drive from Warsaw. So for sure we will be back there.
Here in Poland Molnar Janos is a famous cave. It should be famous also around Europe, as it's a unique place. To start with the bigging. It's a cave with thermal waters.
The earliest information about the caves is from 1858. János Molnár, a pharmacist, investigated the dry areas of the cave and analysed the water of the spring. He examined the healing effects of the water. The actual cave research began in the 1930s and in the 1950s divers dived there for the first time. Later on in 80ties and 90ties exploration went even further, resulting in discovering new parts of the cave.
This is why now the cave is divided in two - the "old" one and the "new" one.
Explored parts of the cave equals around 400 square meters. The lenght of goldline placed is 8 kilometers. But, as Hungarians call it - Molnar Janos is like a piece of cheese - with a lot of holes, so even from the furthest point you can be back within 15 - 20 minutes.
On top of this there is a CO2 Chamber where you can decent to the surface. Till spring this year the chamber was filled with CO2, but lately a hole was drilled, pipe placed and now you can breath there. The depth is 6 meters, so the CO2 chamber is a perfect place for the last deco stop - where you can deco and talk
I wanted to dive there for quite a bit of time. Thanks for the internet I contacted a great guy (some of you may know Roland diver from Rebreather World). Roland is absolutly incredible!!!! When I was in Budapest for few days in June we met with Roland and Attila. Attila is a guide in Molnar and I think that none knows this cave better than him. Unfortunately Attila mainly speaks only Hungarian, so Roland was our translator.
We discussed the first details and rules of diving Molnar. Then finally the timing was set - end of August.
So - there were 3 of us. Car packed and we started the trip to Budapest.
We did few dives in Molnar. As I know my limitations (GDI don't worry!!!!) before hand I asked if we could be split into to groups - more and less experienced cave divers. I'm certainly the second group. So my dives were a bit shorter in time that others and a bit shallower, with short deco.
But what is the most funny about the place is that the cave is exactly in the city centre - close to Margaret Bridge:
frankel leo ut, budapest - Google Maps
From the street you would never suspect that behind a metal gate there is a cave, which is, BTW, under supervision of Hungarian Ministry of Environment as well as UNESCO.
Behind the gate there are ruins of an ancient Turkish Bath which is used as a change room.
There is also a small lake around
View from the street
View from inside
And top of the bridge was a place we prepared our gear
The entrance to the cave is on the ground level, coverd by another metal gate. There stairs take you to the entrance. Here I'm depositing our stages (which we will take with us into the cave).
This is a map f the cave. The red lines are the area we explored. Still most of the cave is waiting for us. And it's only 12 hours drive from Warsaw. So for sure we will be back there.