Ban's Tec
Registered
During a trip to Khao Sok National Park with we had the opportunity to go and explore some uncharted areas. The experienced team was all Full Cave and Tec Deep certified. Most of the team had been to Khao Sok several times before; previously completing TDI Cavern, Intro to Cave and Full Cave. Everyone said there was nothing new to find here, well our story goes to show with a little effort comes great reward!
We have been looking for new caves before and have progressively, through process of elimination covered more and more area. The research to find the site consisted of a visual assessment of the geological formations above the water line and consultation with local guides. We used a long tail boat as our dive platform.
Wearing full tech rig and specialized cave equipment we performed our pre-dive checks. The team then agreed on the mission and dive formation which included a vertical survey of the wall looking for any promising penetration options. The team descended and performed the final 6M check and carried on down to our planned depth and commenced the search.
At 18mtrs the team found a restriction in the wall that appeared to open up. Turn pressures were agreed upon and a primary tie-off secured outside the entrance with direct access to the surface. Secondary tie-off placed just within the entrance, team members all verified the tie-offs and gave the OK to proceed. After 5mtrs of penetration the main chamber opened up. A sharp turn to the right led us in to a restriction which carried on for another 7mtrs before it turned in to a dead end. The team turned the dive, returned to the primary tie off and continued their search of the wall.
After exiting the restriction we continued the wall search, with the team at there respective search depths. 25m along the dive wall the first prominent opening presented its self. With a gauge check completed the turn pressure for the entry was agreed. Primary and secondary ties off established and verified by the team a right hand search of the cavern began. It became clear very quickly that the cavern would split off into two large caves.
We proceeded on with the right hand search and within minutes were past the natural light zone. The dimensions of the main chamber were approximately 25m horizontally with a 15m rise at the back, to put this in lay mans terms you could have fit three articulated trucks inside. This solution cave had a number of different formations including, stalactites, stalagmites, flows stone, lime stone flow steps to mention a few. The marine life consisted largely of; cat fish, cray fish and snake head fish.
After securing and leaving the virgin permanent line in Truckers Cave we made our exit and proceeded to lay more virgin line in the next cave called Feathers.
Feathers cave was different in size and shape and had good opportunity for restriction training. Once we had laid 50m of permanent line in feathers cave we hit our turn pressure and made our way back to the primary tie off. We then carried out a series of conservative stops on our accent to successfully complete the dive.
In summary the dive was a personal success for all members of the team. Since no new caves have been discovered in Khao Sok in years there was a huge feeling of achievement for the dives. The whole trip was a truly amazing experience and many thanks to the dive team and surface support for making it possible.
Written by:
Chris Davey and Lasse Wahlquist
Dive Team:
Lasse Wahlquist (SWE) PADI MSDT, TDI Full Cave, Tec 50
Chris Davey (UK) PADI DM, TDI Full Cave, Trimix
Jason Shaddox (USA) PADI MSDT, TDI Full Cave, Tec 50
Dave Polley (UK) Tec Trimix Instructor, TDI Full Cave
We have been looking for new caves before and have progressively, through process of elimination covered more and more area. The research to find the site consisted of a visual assessment of the geological formations above the water line and consultation with local guides. We used a long tail boat as our dive platform.
Wearing full tech rig and specialized cave equipment we performed our pre-dive checks. The team then agreed on the mission and dive formation which included a vertical survey of the wall looking for any promising penetration options. The team descended and performed the final 6M check and carried on down to our planned depth and commenced the search.
At 18mtrs the team found a restriction in the wall that appeared to open up. Turn pressures were agreed upon and a primary tie-off secured outside the entrance with direct access to the surface. Secondary tie-off placed just within the entrance, team members all verified the tie-offs and gave the OK to proceed. After 5mtrs of penetration the main chamber opened up. A sharp turn to the right led us in to a restriction which carried on for another 7mtrs before it turned in to a dead end. The team turned the dive, returned to the primary tie off and continued their search of the wall.
After exiting the restriction we continued the wall search, with the team at there respective search depths. 25m along the dive wall the first prominent opening presented its self. With a gauge check completed the turn pressure for the entry was agreed. Primary and secondary ties off established and verified by the team a right hand search of the cavern began. It became clear very quickly that the cavern would split off into two large caves.
We proceeded on with the right hand search and within minutes were past the natural light zone. The dimensions of the main chamber were approximately 25m horizontally with a 15m rise at the back, to put this in lay mans terms you could have fit three articulated trucks inside. This solution cave had a number of different formations including, stalactites, stalagmites, flows stone, lime stone flow steps to mention a few. The marine life consisted largely of; cat fish, cray fish and snake head fish.
After securing and leaving the virgin permanent line in Truckers Cave we made our exit and proceeded to lay more virgin line in the next cave called Feathers.
Feathers cave was different in size and shape and had good opportunity for restriction training. Once we had laid 50m of permanent line in feathers cave we hit our turn pressure and made our way back to the primary tie off. We then carried out a series of conservative stops on our accent to successfully complete the dive.
In summary the dive was a personal success for all members of the team. Since no new caves have been discovered in Khao Sok in years there was a huge feeling of achievement for the dives. The whole trip was a truly amazing experience and many thanks to the dive team and surface support for making it possible.
Written by:
Chris Davey and Lasse Wahlquist
Dive Team:
Lasse Wahlquist (SWE) PADI MSDT, TDI Full Cave, Tec 50
Chris Davey (UK) PADI DM, TDI Full Cave, Trimix
Jason Shaddox (USA) PADI MSDT, TDI Full Cave, Tec 50
Dave Polley (UK) Tec Trimix Instructor, TDI Full Cave
