When is a cave a cave?

[tstormdiver]

When in Sipadan, there is what they call a "Turtle Cavern" very close to the arrival area of the Island. On one day the DM of the boat announced that he would take everyone in there to see the turtle skeletons within. The cavern was at about 65ft of depth. I did not have my light or a reel with me that day & refused to go in. I caught a lot of flak over that from those in my group on the boat, but not having the proper equipment, I wasn't going to do it. I just hung out at the entrance,..... waiting. In the end everyone came out & was fine. When the head instructor leading the trip (a cave diving instructor), was quite upset when he found out (he was in another boat with more of our group that day). He basically informed tose that went in that they put a bullet in the chamber, spun it, pulled the trigger & got lucky. A couple days later when my instructor was on the boat it was announced that we would go to the cavern again for those that didn't get to go the first time, plus the head instructor wanted to get some video footage of the cavern. I had my light & a cavern reel, that day. I tied it off at the entrance & went in with my instructor & the DM. About 3/4 of the way in, my spool ran out (at 140ft). I just waited there. My instructor went on another 50ft or so & video'd the skeletons. We kept in sight of each other & in communication through our lights. In a few moments he came back & we headed out. To see the skeletons you had to go about 200f into the cave. Yes, you could barely make out the entrance from there, but that's a long ways to take untrained people just to see some turtle skeletons.

 

[leapfrog]

Sounds like a nice place, can you give us the name of the island?

Menorca. West coast & north coast.

 

[LiteHedded]

Yes there are, and I have got many!

lol
Touché Chad

 

[Zeke XA3]

I did my first ever cavern dive this weekend, and the first thing I said to the instructor when I got out was: "That wasn't a cavern, that was a f*$%&# cave!"

It had an exit at either end, so technically it was a swim through (although you cannot actually exit the far end because of the surf), and there was another shaft providing light in the middle, but there were two decent sized patches of no ambient line between them.

I still don't see what cave divers see in it. By coincidence there was a nice big jewfish living in the cave to look at, but other than that it seems like a lot of effort to look at rocks.

Its simple, bud cave diving is not for you Your main interest is something else, maybe fish or wecks

As a marine geologist i love looking at the caves and figuring out how they were formed by looking at the layers or peiceing together fallen parts. And the pychological rush from being in some cave is something else too!

 

[TSandM]

Like so many other things in life, cave diving is either your thing or its not. I knew, from the first video I ever watched, that this was something I HAD to do if I possibly could. On the other hand, I've watched dozens of wreck diving videos, and still have a hard time understanding why people go to the lengths they do to go down and look at twisted, rusting metal -- and especially why anybody wants to go inside it.

However, I wouldn't make any judgments about the allure of cave diving based on a long salt water swim-through -- even if you were in the dark a bit, that's not much like what real honest-to-goodness cave diving is like.

 

[leapfrog]

On the other hand, I've watched dozens of wreck diving videos, and still have a hard time understanding why people go to the lengths they do to go down and look at twisted, rusting metal -- and especially why anybody wants to go inside it.

Gold doesn't rust.

 

[PA/NJdiver]

You will learn how to dive then! I guess we need to get Stacey on here to speak up about who did the silting. Before the dive I said "It will be nice to see Telford again, it has been a long time" After the dive I said "bleep, bleep, bleep James, I did not see a bleep thing"

Hope you have got your ratio deco down to memory, cause we will not be able to see the bottom timers when you get done destroying the place.

I believe it was Chad & his team that did the silting up

Stacey

 

[contender]

I believe it was Chad & his team that did the silting up

Stacey

Not the kind of help I was wanting :mooner:, however it was Myself and the rest of the team doing a zero vis exit because of James. I will cut you some slack though because I know your skills are up to par.

 

[LiteHedded]

this telford story gets better every time I hear it

 

[Texasdivechick]

I just saw my first cavern at Vortex this past weekend. Like the OP, I only have my AOW, BUT... I also have logged 140 dives and some of my primary dive buddies are cave divers/ instructors. I have practiced working on my trim and frog kicks with these buddies for 2 years and feel confident that my buoyancy is spot on in most situations. That said, I ventured about 20-30 feet into the cavern zone at Vortex, during full daylight, with a dive light (though I didn't use it), and with two of my most trusted and experienced dive buddies (though these guys were not cavers but each have 300-400 dives). I would never, ever promote going into any type of overhead environment, even a sunken bus in a quarry, to anyone. My dive buddies and I discussed beforehand what our limitations would be and we trust each other skills enough that we weren't going to silt out the entrance for anyone else or change the plan mid-dive, like deciding to go sightseeing around the corner, etc...). It was an awesome experience to see the cavern and freshwater eels under the ledges. I also thoroughly enjoyed the long swim through tunnel at Vortex and was proud of myself that I never broke trim, touched the bottom, or silted the path behind me. I personally think that peeking into the edge of the cavern is a judgement call. Some divers just don't use good judgement and end up getting killed. By barely entering the cavern zone at Vortex did I go beyond my certification level? Well, technically, yes. However, I felt that I had enough skills, information about the cavern, and redundant gear to safely check out the entrance to the cavern with very little risk. Do I feel that I have the skills to go into a high-flow/tight restriction/ full cave? Oh, hell no. Not even close. Experiencing the cavern dive did make me realize that someday I do want to get fully cave certified. The little bit of cavern that I saw was beautiful and peaceful and so quiet. I was definitely in the "zone" during those dives. Completely and totally at ease and motionless. I loved it.
To the OP, if you are hesitant in the slightest if you and your buddy are ready to see a cavern, then don't do it. There is plenty of other stuff to see in open bodies of water.