All beginning scuba divers are taught in their instruction that they should not go into environments like caves without proper training. Yet it happens more than we might expect, and, sadly, it often leads to tragedy. Ironically, a number of people to whom these tragedies occur are the open water scuba instructors who taught their students not to go into caves without cave training.
The purpose of this thread is to explore the reasons why this happens. Anyone can participate meaningfully. Newly-minted divers can describe the kinds of warning they received or didn't receive. People who have been tempted can talk about the allure of that temptation, whether they submitted to it or not. Experienced divers can relate events they have witnessed that shed light on this. Anyone can give opinions about what can be done to help deal with this. People who are not sure what kind of training is needed or why it is needed can ask questions.
Even though this constitutes advanced diving to be sure, I am putting it in the Basic Diving thread because I want to include all divers in it and get everyone's perspective. I also would like this to serve as something of a warning to new or less experienced divers who might feel that temptation some day.
As for me, when doing OW dives, I always sought out the ones with swim throughs, and I just loved going through them. I did some supervised cavern diving in Mexico and loved it. Other than that, I never ventured into a cave, but I have to admit that I also never really had the opportunity. Who knows what would have happened had I had the chance to venture--oh, just a few feet--into a benign looking cave before I had my training?