Cave Diving

[soggybadger]

Hi folks. Without trying to start an argument please could someone explain the appeal of cave diving to me. I understand if it is exploration of an unknown cave for the purposes of mapping or research etc but why dive a cave that has already been mapped? Is this a personal challenge kind of deal or is there something to it that has to be experienced to understand? Thanks. Iain.

 

[PfcAJ]

Its fun to look at stuff, and caves are neat.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Hi folks. Without trying to start an argument please could someone explain the appeal of cave diving to me. I understand if it is exploration of an unknown cave for the purposes of mapping or research etc but why dive a cave that has already been mapped? Is this a personal challenge kind of deal or is there something to it that has to be experienced to understand? Thanks. Iain.

as stated above some people just find them neat. One could argue that if you have seen one decent reef you have seen them all so why go back...because some people just find them cool to look at. Divers can vary greatly in what they like to dive. Some like wrecks, some like reefs, some love ocean, some like fresh water, some like caves....etc. Personally, I find all diving fascinating. As far as cave diving, I think it is really neat and have penetrated some short passages. I do not know how I feel about long passages where one could have the potential to get lost, but that is getting into some pretty technical type diving anyways.

 

[Chris H]

I tried to approach my cave class without preconceived notions about what it was going to do for me or what I would see. When I finished, I had seen some really beautiful places that not a lot of people get to see. I don't have much desire to be a cave explorer, but I'd never turn down the chance to dive a place like Ginnie Springs or the like.

 

[Storker]

I know a couple of cave divers and really understand the fascination. However, I'm not willing to put in the hours of training required to be safe while cave diving, so I stay in open water.

It's all about how much you're willing to commit.

 

[Phil_C]

I guess it is horses for courses - wrecks really do not float my boat (except for the wildlife on them) but to dive some nice underwater reefs or canyons with plenty of fish and marine life - well air permitting I could stay all day and study the ecology.

I am not cave trained, but have ventured in to some short overheads that probably fit the definition of cavern, and again I can see the fascination of being able to study the different flora and fauna present in them.

In complete contrast I have no inspiration to explore a new cave - I will leave that to someone with a more adventurous spirit, and then one day if I ever get properly trained I might venture in when I know what the inside looks like (because someone else has mapped it), and know that I am not going to find myself in some silty, tight passage that is going to put me at risk for just being there.

Dive safe -

Phil.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

People do it for different reasons. Some like the challenge, others the scenery ... which can be as spectacularly beautiful in its way as the finest reefs ... while for others it's simply the type of diving that's available locally to them. And there are many other reasons, just as there are in other kinds of diving.

I did it just enough to begin to understand ... to start getting good enough to experience the thrill of seeing a dark opening and going in "just to see where it goes". It's a kind of feeling you just can't get in open ocean diving.

Nothing in all my other diving experiences quite matches the experience of making your way through a tiny passage that opens up into a room the size of an airline hangar, with massive columns rising up off the floor and delicate soda straw formations ornamenting a ceiling high overhead ... or fluted wall decorations that look like statues created by demented artisans.

It beckons ... come see my secrets. The call is almost irresistible ...

.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[boulderjohn]

There is a common response to this question that some people see as a put down, but it is not a put down at all:

You either get it or you don't.

Maybe it's Freudian, but for some people the mere act of swimming through something along those lines is exhilarating. Other people don't get that feeling. Neither is right or wrong--it's just how you feel. Cave divers cannot explain why they feel that way, and a non-cave divers cannot explain why they don't.

A few years ago, I was diving a shallow area in Seattle, in the total open water, and my dive buddy was a cave diver, as was I. She was from the area and was showing me around. As we swam, we started to pass a section of large concrete sewer pipe, and she couldn't resist--she had to go through it. It's just in the blood.

A few weeks ago I was part of a group exploring a cave, and I ended up doing a very mundane task that was nothing about exploration. The entrance to the cave was almost straight down before tapering off a little. It was extremely tight, with loose rocks and banks of very fine clay. Passing through it, both on entry and exit, was a challenge that usually resulted in a a lot of silt. We had dug out the very top a bit already. On our last dive of the day I went in to create as much havoc as I could so the silt would have time to settle before the next day. I went in carefully to about 130 feet, moving critical rocks out while I could still see. I hit my maximum planned depth (about 130 feet) and then began to move back upward, tearing out the banks of clay as much as I could and throwing it all behind me as I slowly exited. The silt I was creating eventually overtook me, of course, so all I could see was the very faint glow of the cave entrance above me. I will bet that sounds like pure Hell to most people, but for me it was one of the most fun dives of my life. That's just me.

 

[boulderjohn]

Just so you don't think everything is like I described, here is a video showing what it can be like. I only did one of the caves in this video (Dan's Cave), but it is the most beautiful place I have visited in my life.

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

There is a common response to this question that some people see as a put down, but it is not a put down at all:


A few weeks ago I was part of a group exploring a cave, and I ended up doing a very mundane task that was nothing about exploration. The entrance to the cave was almost straight down before tapering off a little. It was extremely tight, with loose rocks and banks of very fine clay. Passing through it, both on entry and exit, was a challenge that usually resulted in a a lot of silt. We had dug out the very top a bit already. On our last dive of the day I went in to create as much havoc as I could so the silt would have time to settle before the next day. I went in carefully to about 130 feet, moving critical rocks out while I could still see. I hit my maximum planned depth (about 130 feet) and then began to move back upward, tearing out the banks of clay as much as I could and throwing it all behind me as I slowly exited. The silt I was creating eventually overtook me, of course, so all I could see was the very faint glow of the cave entrance above me. I will bet that sounds like pure Hell to most people, but for me it was one of the most fun dives of my life. That's just me.

Makes my heart race just reading this, but then again so did watching videos of drift diving with no floor a year ago...