Is this considered cave diving?

[kayakguy]

Here is the scenario. I am in no way experienced enough to do this dive, but it is a future goal. There is a "large" lake about three miles from my house, however it is about 1.5 miles into a wild cave system.

Is this considered a cave dive? really it is just an arbritary question. I am curious how you all would define it.

I have no idea about the cavern system under the water, in fact I am just about positive that no one has ever done a dive in there. It is extensive enough that there are reports of large(12"-18") fish in the water that can be seen with lights.

In whitewater boating we classify our river difficulty on several factors one of wich is remoteness. I think this would be an expert only dive strictly due to the lack of help in a reasonable time. Any thoughts on this?

For clarity sake let me say: I have not personally seen the body of water although I have located the proper passage to the lake. I have several reliable first hand accounts of the lake. I now have a map of the known dry passages of the cavern, it is about 5 miles in mapped size.

 

[H2Andy]

the lake in question has an actual surface, correct?

that surface just happens to be inside a large room underground (for simplicity sake)

if yes, that's not a cave dive. a cave dive is where you are diving with rock above your head and you can't reach the surface directly

as to the remoteness factor, yes, that certainly will complicate things enormously, including transporting your gear to and from the dive site, and having quick access to medical assistance if anything goes wrong

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I agree with Andy. More like a lake dive in a cave. However there may be a full cave system there. I'm not certed for cave either and even though I'd like to do a cavern/intro class my interests like in wrecks. But I would think that there are a number of cave divers who'd like the chance to do a possibly virgin system. There may be one where you are talking about. I'd keep this under your hat (location) until you can get a team together to check it out. Sounds like fun. Except there are sometimes monsters. I saw "The Cave"! Have fun.

 

[kayakguy]

I would also consider it a lake in a cave, at least until a further cavern system is found. I was just curious what others thought.

As for keeping it under my hat, you can bet I am. I don't mind sharing but the thought of being the first person to ever lay eyes on something is pretty enticing.

Plus other than one narrow section that requires scooting/crawling the passages are huge, so gear hauling would be reasonable. The cavern itself is incredible with 40' waterfalls ect. We just ran out of time before we reached the lake do to having to check different passages.

We also have some blue holes in the area. Approximately 20' across and frigid year round. The locals refer to them as bottomless, and many a teenager has dropped a weighted rope in trying to find it. The thing that worries me about diving these is the chance of finding a strong siphon in a confined area.

Has anyone done any dives like these?

 

[Dive-aholic]

The lake in the cave is called a sump. It's likely that there is a cave system beyond the open water. The problem with this dive is, depending on how large the lake/sump is, that you could inadvertantly find yourself in an overhead environment without realizing it. Sumps can be extremely silty and you could also find yourself in a no vis situation. Without the proper training and procedures, it can be a very dangerous dive. Also, 1.5 miles is a long way to haul gear! There's a sump about an hour from my house that's 900' back into the system. I'm just waiting for my trilam to arrive so I can go check it out. I don't really want to haul my compressed neoprene suit out of there when it's soaking wet!

 

[scott&sara]

I agree with these guys... but there may be a cave dive down there!!! I am in SE Viriginia and always looking for a cave dive closer than FL or Mexico.

Fill me in as to the local and maybe we can plan an exploratory trip there soon.

 

[MikeFerrara]

The lake in the cave is called a sump. It's likely that there is a cave system beyond the open water. The problem with this dive is, depending on how large the lake/sump is, that you could inadvertantly find yourself in an overhead environment without realizing it. Sumps can be extremely silty and you could also find yourself in a no vis situation. Without the proper training and procedures, it can be a very dangerous dive. Also, 1.5 miles is a long way to haul gear! There's a sump about an hour from my house that's 900' back into the system. I'm just waiting for my trilam to arrive so I can go check it out. I don't really want to haul my compressed neoprene suit out of there when it's soaking wet!

A lake in a cave is not called a sump. A sump is when the ceiling of the cave goes from being above water to being below. All my limited amount of dry caving wasn't so dry since so much of it is wading or swimming through stream, pond or lake with air over the water. When you get to the sump, you can't go any further without scuba.

 

[Dive-aholic]

You're right. I didn't think about that because I haven't seen any cave lakes that weren't sumps.