On our last trip we had a discussion comparing cave diving to regular open water diving.
Cave diving has a deadly reputation, but, in all honesty, I've never been scared of it. I did cave dive twice in small sea caves and found it a pretty chill experience. Open water diving in the same sea outside the cave, on the contrary, tends to freak me out even after completing my 100th dive.
So my arguments were that cave diving is generally safer because it lacks the hazards of the open ocean: strong currents, storms, boat propellers, dangerous marine life, unreliable visibility, weird water conditions like downcurrents, etc. An overhead environment can be an advantage because it prevents you from shooting to the surface 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.
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. In the meanwhile, in the open ocean, you may be caught in a strong current and drift away and never be found again.
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).
Anyway, I would live to hear your opinion on what you personally find safer and why?
