Why Cave Dive?

[JahJahwarrior]

Saw the video "Water's Journey" or whatever it's called, I'm always mucking up the title, in a high school class. Thought that was incredible. Took OW at Manatee Springs, and was told you could drive a schoolbus through most of the passage between Catfish and Manatee, and from that moment on, I just had to get cave certified. It was my goal, so I quickly moved into technical gear and doubles.

I kind of always had the goal of exploring and mapping. I've done a little bit of both so far, and there is something cool about going to bed knowing that in between waking up and going to bed, you saw something that no one else on the face of the planet had ever seen before, and that you'd drawn a map of it. Maybe nobody else cares, but it makes me feel good.

Also, it's just amazing. So many people have no clue the worlds that are down there. Blows my mind, almost every cave so far has been my favourite cave that day. It's easy to please me, every cave is so incredible to me.

 

[Rhone Man]

...because it is less likely to avoid your life insurance policy than commiting suicide in a more obvious manner?

 

[ScubaSam]

I had zero interest in caves when I first got OW. I'm not a cave diver yet but I want to train for caves because of the cenotes.

My first visit to the cenotes was in Aug 2008, they stole my heart and since then I've returned to dive them every year.

 

[Cave Diver]

I had zero interest in caves when I first got OW. I'm not a cave diver yet but I want to train for caves because of the cenotes.

My first visit to the cenotes was in Aug 2008, they stole my heart and since then I've returned to dive them every year.

 

[TSandM]

There IS something enthralling about swimming a passage, and knowing that, with the percolation and the silt on the line, that no one has been there in a long time. I've never had the experience of being somewhere where no one has ever been at all, but I can sort of imagine the thrill.

When I was a kid, I loved to hike and boulder. Going up a creekbed and always wondering "what's around the corner". Cave diving has a lot of that. You see all those jump lines, and wonder, "Where does that go?" Sometimes the answer is no where much; sometimes it's someplace fabulous.

The great thing about MX is that there is enough, "Wonder where that goes?" to keep me busy for the rest of my diving life.

 

[WyrdNet]

The womb metaphor resonates with me too. I used it in a rather poetic passage in a science fiction story that was published in Analog last year. It's available for Kindle on Amazon, but I'll save you the expense and quote the relevant passage here. (Actually the whole story was informed by my cave diving experience.)

"Sailing is Freudian, I once wrote. You don’t explore, but make love to the sea, caressing her swells, yielding to her seductive currents. But rolling over her sensuous surface is foreplay. To consummate this love, you have to submerge, to fin about inside her. With eyes closed or irises agape, you float in sensory overload, the languages of shrimp, porpoises and propellers as familiar as the mutter of your own bubbles. The buoyancy compensator is an anti-gravity device; with physical bonds unfettered, the spirit roams where it will, the body – astral, flying in a lucid dream, circumnavigating cities of coral.

A cave is the womb of a mountain. You can yodel up a trail with a feather in your cap, warbling of frivolous love for the mountain, or you can enter her intimately, seeking her deepest secrets.

The union of sea and mount is cave diving. The upwelling thrust of the spring tries to deny entry, and you are a salmon, fighting your way upriver to spawn. Between dark walls your senses turn inward, and you can hear your heart beating. It’s not how far in you penetrate, but how far out you get that matters. There must be life after depth.
The cave helps you. Her current siphons you up the canal, head first, panting Lamaze into your regulator. You reel in your line, an umbilical, and in a gush you are squinting in sunlight, dripping, and taking your first unaided breath.

The deepest mystery is this: you enter the watery cave as the love maker, yet emerge as the love child. You learn to walk, and to fly away, seeking unending rebirths, world after world."

- from "Cavernauts" Copyright 2009 by David Bartell

 

[nadwidny]

I got into cave diving because in 1996 I went to a tech conference in Vancouver, BC called Mix 96 put on by what was at that time IANTD Canada. At the conference Donnie Reid and Bil Phillips did a presentation on Yucatan caves. I thought they were very cool so a few years later I got cave certified in Mexico so I could see the decorations for myself.

I still really like looking at the decorations and I find cave diving in Mexico to be way more relaxing than the rest of the diving I do. So it's a nice break.

All this other stuff...whatever. They are just wet rocks in the end. Some just happen to be prettier than others.

 

[kathydee]

Your images/videos of caves were breathtaking – I couldn’t resist. So headed south of the border to see for myself..

The beauty and tranquility was unbelievably mesmerizing. The peace, complexity, precision, and all the challenges of the environment were incredibly engaging.

The exquisite geology parallels my former technical rock climbing experience, only the velvet black tranquil liquid chambers with forever vis and tantalizing haloclines are even more alluring than the big stone…

I haven’t taken a cave class yet, I really need to. But I did spend many days in the caverns with my future cave instructor last June learning skills. I don’t think a day has passed since returning without cave dreams and the longing desire to go back.

Kicking down a line in OW the other day couldn't resist the longing anymore -so booked another ticket.

In a few weeks I’ll go back to the cenotes and my instructor … My only regret is it won’t be for Cave 1 because classmates are not ready.

But I’m patient – the caves aren’t going anywhere.

 

[Travis B]

Why i got in to cave diving:Very similiar to most replies,i was a happy rec diver doing charters every weekend when on one day a group of "techies" were on the charter we took.I was intrigued with thier gear configuration and the equipment they were diving,so the first thing i did when i got home that evening was started to research "tech" diving and "the dark side"
I started diving with some buddies that had been diving doubles and taken the GUE course so of course rite off the bat all my diving focus was to get ready for my own GUE course. My skills were improving as well as my bottom times and of course my gear was expanding.I met a few new divers but continue to dive with the people that got me into "the dark side" and one of the new guys i was diving with was a pretty solid diver and was keen to help a new diver that was keen to learn. After a few dives with him i started to ask were and what training he had. He told me about his intro to tech he was doing with a club but wasnt sastified with the amount of time it was taking to finish the course, then mentioned he went to north florida for his cavern and intro to cave.I asked him what training was the best learning experience for him and he said his cave training,i asked him what would make me the best diver and he said cave diving.
March came upon me and there i was at the airport on my way to florida for my cave training.As we drove to the dive shop i was amazed by the scenery of "cave country" i was already falling in love and i hadnt even been in the water. After 10 days of training and fun dives i had fell in love with the cave system.it was one of the most peacful relaxing places i have ever been, the people were great the instruction was amazing and the general feel of being in that atmosphere had taken my breath away.
Now that i am totaly hooked on caving and cant wait to finish off my full cave on my next trip to north florida every dive i do i compare to the cave, i practice my skills as much as possible(every OW) dive as there is no overhead envoriment in saskatchewan.
All in all my skills have improved as well as my awarness,but i still have lots to learn and lots i cant wait to explore. I am looking forward to my next trip to florida for some more amazing diving and training that will continuosly improve my skills and awarness.i cant wait and now that the candle that has lit a fire under my butt will never stop burning.After beeing in the cave and feeling what you feel as i cant put it into words,i cant wait to conintue to dive caves for as long as possible.
Not sure if i did a very good job describing or explaining why i got into caves,, the main reson was to improve my skills and then i fell in love.