Stupid question from a non-cave-diver

[TSandM]

My husband and I watched the movie, The Cave, last night. It was a pretty awful movie, but a few of the scenes of divers in caves just got to me . . . I told my husband, "I think it would be really cool to dive in a cave." (I like caves anyway, always have.)

My husband said, "Don't be stupid. You don't get to see anything like that. All you get to see is the four inch area that your focused HID light-head illuminates. The rest is just dark!"

Is he right? Or do the lights spill enough so you actually get a sense of the spaces you're in, and get to enjoy the structures? I mean, the photographs are awesome, but those guys are using strobes.

Apologies for asking something so basic . . .

 

[JeffG]

My husband and I watched the movie, The Cave, last night. It was a pretty awful movie, but a few of the scenes of divers in caves just got to me . . . I told my husband, "I think it would be really cool to dive in a cave." (I like caves anyway, always have.)

My husband said, "Don't be stupid. You don't get to see anything like that. All you get to see is the four inch area that your focused HID light-head illuminates. The rest is just dark!"

Is he right? Or do the lights spill enough so you actually get a sense of the spaces you're in, and get to enjoy the structures? I mean, the photographs are awesome, but those guys are using strobes.

Apologies for asking something so basic . . .

I have 5 buddies that took their Cave 1 down in Mexico. They said the water was so clear the other divers looked like they were floating in air.

http://www.mossmanscuba.com/reports.php?report=49

(Check the Report for May 27th, 2005, it has the underwater pics)

 

[WaterDawg]

No, I dive w/ my light focused and its not like your husband says, not all. of course if you silt things up it might be.
but they say a pic is worth 1000 words, so here is the equivalent of a whole volume of encyclopidias

Cave Gallery

 

[MikeFerrara]

My husband and I watched the movie, The Cave, last night. It was a pretty awful movie, but a few of the scenes of divers in caves just got to me . . . I told my husband, "I think it would be really cool to dive in a cave." (I like caves anyway, always have.)

My husband said, "Don't be stupid. You don't get to see anything like that. All you get to see is the four inch area that your focused HID light-head illuminates. The rest is just dark!"

Is he right? Or do the lights spill enough so you actually get a sense of the spaces you're in, and get to enjoy the structures? I mean, the photographs are awesome, but those guys are using strobes.

Apologies for asking something so basic . . .

Some caves...air clear water, huge rooms, fantastic formations, cathedral ceilings, colored clay banks and it seems like you can see forever. A single HID can light up quit a bit but with 2 or 3 divers the effect can really be cool. As WaterDawg says, it's hard to describe in a way that does it justice so check out some picks.

There are certainly caves where you can't see much if anything. Most divers skip those but thy're dived too for the purpose of exploration.

 

[TSandM]

Wow, there are some spectacular photographs there! If that is what the diver's experience of being there is, it sure makes it easy to understand why people want to do that.

 

[Xanthro]

I've done very few cave dives, but I can see why people die in there. Many caves are so beautiful that it's easy to want to push past one's skill level.

If you love above water caves, you'll love below water ones as well.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Wow, there are some spectacular photographs there! If that is what the diver's experience of being there is, it sure makes it easy to understand why people want to do that.

Those photographs are pretty good, but they don't do justice to the actual experience. You have to be there. Like Mike said, one diver can see quite a bit with a can light, but 2 or 3 can definitely light up a room.


Florida springs: TSandM, TSandM...

I think the caves are calling...

 

[Taylor86]

No, I dive w/ my light focused and its not like your husband says, not all. of course if you silt things up it might be.
but they say a pic is worth 1000 words, so here is the equivalent of a whole volume of encyclopidias

Cave Gallery

hahaha love the picture of all the tanks!!! thats awesome

 

[karstdvr]

There are certainly caves where you can't see much if anything. Most divers skip those but thy're dived too for the purpose of exploration.

Those of some of the best,thank goodness most people skip those

 

[plankspanker]

Yeah you definitely see a lot more than a 4 inch spotlight and there is some amazing stuff to see in there.