Is cave diving safer than Open Water

[NW Dive Dawg]

Any dive with planned decompression is not an open water dive! You have a physiological rather than physical ceiling.

All dives in open water are open water dives.

 

[arew+4]

All dives in open water are open water dives.

Disagree, the body of water maybe open water, but a planned decompression dive is out of the scope of OW/AOW training.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Disagree, the body of water maybe open water, but a planned decompression dive is out of the scope of OW/AOW training.

Well that changes this entire discussion.......

Cave diving without proper equipment and proper skills is also out of the scope of Cave training.......but it's still cave diving if a diver dives into a cave.

 

[arew+4]

Can we all agree that there are more hazards involved in a 60 minute no decompression dive in a cave, than a 60 minute no decompression dive in open water?

 

[Subcooled]

So my arguments were that cave diving is generally safer because it lacks the hazards of the open ocean: strong currents,

There can be strong currents in caves. Caves are often formed by running water.

storms,

No storms in caves, but the tide may affect some caves, blue holes. That could get you killed.

boat propellers, dangerous marine life,

No such things in caves...

unreliable visibility,

Oh... Ever heard of silt? Visibility can be totally lost, and many have died.

weird water conditions like downcurrents, etc.

A freeflowing BCD inflator that gets you pinned in an A-shaped crack in the ceiling where you cannot access your cylinder valves might qualify as an ... up current? A friend of mine almost died.

An overhead environment can be an advantage because it prevents you from shooting to the surface

True. I've been there bouncing around the ceiling. Experienced some equipment problems. Quite annoying. But see above.

in a bout of panic. So, if done properly, cave diving in a spring is safer than diving in a sea because there are fewer things you cannot control.

The risks are different. I am not qualified to assess which one is more dangerous an environment.

I realize there are hazards specific of cave diving like silt outs, but, as longs as you can breathe and stay on the line, you always know the way out.

Yeah. Unless the current stops you from doing that. There can be collapses too (although those are extremely rare). Various forms of (at least temporary) entrapment are a possibility, too. Line traps and the like.

In the meanwhile, in the open ocean, you may be caught in a strong current and drift away and never be found again.

Horror!

Another advantage of cave diving in terms of safety is the fact that cave diving courses put great emphasis on safe diving techniques and are thus much harder than your typical OW where they take you down to 100 feet after your 6th OW dive for your AOW course (which I find ridiculously dangerous).

True!

Anyway, I would live to hear your opinion on what you personally find safer and why?

Safety does not depend on the environment. It depends on your mindset.
Although, thalassophobia is healthy

 

[Subcooled]

Is this a serious question? Are you HONESTLY arguing that cave diving is SAFER than open water diving?

At first, I would agree. It's a ridiculous idea to even claim that cave diving is safer than ocean diving. Please note my terminology. Ocean diving, not open water diving. Things are not that simple, however.

One third of my dives are cave dives, mine dives and ice dives and the only dive that nearly got me killed was an open water dive. It's not the environment that kills you, it's what you are not prepared for. I wasn't prepared for the propeller sounds.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

One third of my dives are cave dives, mine dives and ice dives and the only dive that nearly got me killed was an open water dive. It's not the environment that kills you, it's what you are not prepared for. I wasn't prepared for the propeller sounds.

Not sure what that has to do with the OP’s question regarding cave diving being less dangerous than open water diving. Of course open water diving CAN be dangerous and is not risk free. The question had to do with the relative risks of the two types of diving.

 

[Subcooled]

All dives in open water are open water dives.

Open water = no ceiling.
However, for some people open water diving equates diving that's allowed for "PADI Open Water Divers".

To all: State your definition.

 

[Subcooled]

Not sure what that has to do with the OP’s question regarding cave diving being less dangerous than open water diving. Of course open water diving CAN be dangerous and is not risk free. The question had to do with the relative risks of the two types of diving.

I believe that the relative risk depends on what you are prepared for.

Cave diving comes with many serious risks, but so does open water dives in oceans. About 3% of my dives are at sea. Hence, I do not know the environment, and it almost ended badly. I always felt safe in caves and all was well, but at sea I experienced unexpected things (sea sickness, time pressure, surface current, fear of propellers, no navigational aids, ...)

Thus I must say that I feel safer in a cave - because I know the risks. I am emphasizing the human factor here.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Can we all agree that there are more hazards involved in a 60 minute no decompression dive in a cave, than a 60 minute no decompression dive in open water?

Depends on the open water and the cave conditions.... But generally yes. All things being equal, if two people do an open water dive where there is a cave option, and one enters the cave and the other doesn't....... then yes..... the gal or guy that entered the cave has the more dangerous dive.

Another factor that might be considered is that cave divers ALWAYS have a fully redundant gas supply and most NDL open water divers don't.