What do you think of cave/cavern diving?

[Matt S.]

When I was a new OW diver I went to the Mayan Riviera and did some diving. I scheduled cenote dives just because I could, but expected them to be kind of dull. I like looking at critters, and there are no critters in the caves.

Well, I was wrong. As many others have said, the caverns are pretty breathtaking. My two cenote dives really stand out in my memories from all of my Mexico dives.

However, I have no plans to get a cavern certification. I'll just do guided cavern dives on the occasional vacation. And I have zero interest in getting my cave ticket. The level of discipline you need to do cave diving safely is more than I want to deal with. Likewise, I have zero interest in wreck penetration or deco diving.

(That doesn't mean that I don't take OW diving seriously. I do, very much so.)

 

[Teamcasa]

As a very young teenager I was enthralled with the space program and the Mercury 7 astronauts. I wanted to be one of them when I grew up -- but life intervened of course. Well, this is as close to being an astronaut as I am ever going to get.

When you float in a room, you are floating in space. It is like nothing else I've ever experienced.

Me too. But I don't need to be in a cave to have that weightless, floating in place feeling.

 

[fnfalman]

Right now I have a mild, passing interest in cave diving. Maybe later on, when I have more time & money to dedicate to training and gearing up plus travel (not too many caves here in SoCal), I'd give it a whirl. Same thing with wreck penetration.

 

[Rhone Man]

I may have paraphrased it badly. When I get home tonight I'll look up his exact words. I think his core message though was: don't panic, it is often not as bad as it looks.

OK, what he said in relation to getting lost inside a wreck was:

"I would venture to guess that even in the most complicated, broken down shipwreck a diver is never more than a few second, possibly half a minute, from the exit. He is not exploring half a mile of an underwater cavern system. Even a fairly intact freighter cannot be more than 500 feet long, a passenger liner a little longer. But the average penetration is like a fisherman's catch - it grows with the telling."​

Interestingly that appeared in the 1988 version, but when he reissued the book in 2007, that paragraph dropped out.

 

[Kevrumbo]

More accessible, much safer, less equipment intensive, risky & esoteric --and just as beautiful & wonderful a cave exploration here . . . take all the time you want to observe.

Calling out all exclusively Cavehead, Morlock & Troglodyte Divers: Get your head out of the catacombs for once and go revel in the beauty of the open oceans of life (before it's all too soon gone through pollution, climate change and commercial exploitation). . .

 

[Jim Lapenta]

How about adding I'd love to try it but my wife says HELL NO!

 

[DRsharky]

The cave diving is not for everybody. It requires diferent skils, diferent training, diferent equipment, also passion and desire. I cannot say if it's right or wrong, everybody feels different about it.

I personally fall in the category that fits in all above. And I am one of the luckiest cave divers who's got lots of fantastic, not completely explored caves almost on his backyard. I can dive there anytime, even afternoon after my morning ocean dives.
Sorry guys, I just live in paradise

 

[kidspot]

It holds mild interest, but with all the reef around here, and the lack of larger caves I have way too much to explore right here. If I moved to an area with caves I would at least give it a try to see if it were for me, till then I can live without caves

 

[DevonDiver]

I voted for option 1.... but then I began my diving in the UK....where 'caving' seems to consist of slithering through ice-cold mud. Definitely unappealing!

I have many friends who are avid cave divers, so I can only assume that cave exploration in more appealing locations (Florida, Mexico etc) has some big attractions. I've yet to try cenotes diving myself yet, so am left with my UK perspective on caves. LOL

I tech dive on wrecks for the sense of exploration and 'going where none have been before'....so I guess high-end cave diving offers the same buzz?

 

[Kevrumbo]

I voted for option 1.... but then I began my diving in the UK....where 'caving' seems to consist of slithering through ice-cold mud. Definitely unappealing!

I have many friends who are avid cave divers, so I can only assume that cave exploration in more appealing locations (Florida, Mexico etc) has some big attractions. I've yet to try cenotes diving myself yet, so am left with my UK perspective on caves. LOL

I tech dive on wrecks for the sense of exploration and 'going where none have been before'....so I guess high-end cave diving offers the same buzz?

Different kind of buzz . . .how much wonderful marine life has spawned over time on the wreck turning it into a living reef; the history of the wreck especially if sunk-in-action during WWII; the snapshot time capsule artifacts of the ship's engine, machinery, armament, living spaces and cargo material at the moment of sinking; contemplating the life and agony of the seamen aboard in the ship's final moments. . .