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Cave Diving - International differences

The cave diving community is a global one. Cave diving practice can differ markedly by locality. While most cave divers in the US would balk at the use of any sort of floating polypropylene guideline, 6 mm polypropylene line is the norm in UK sumps precisely because it does float - the line is regularly anchored to stones, lead weights, or whatever is needed and the floating keeps it clear of mud and silt. On the continent (Europe), in larger sumps, thinner yet slightly buoyant line is typical. This disagreement illustrates that you must contact your local organization for cave diving to learn from the experience of others - often that experience has been bought with people's lives. Cave diving practices in some localities may be different than those in other parts of the world because those caves require specialized techniques. Always contact someone familiar with a cave before venturing inside it.  Regularity in signs and warnings may also differ around the world. For example, warnings signs are rare in the UK, and are also frequently ignored with fatal consequences.

Cave Diving - Northern Florida, USA

The largest and most active cave diving community in the United States is in the panhandle of northern Florida. The North Floridian Aquifer expels groundwater through numerous first-magnitude springs, each providing an entrance to the aquifer's labyrinthine cave system. These high-flow springs have resulted in Florida cave divers developing special techniques for exploring them, since some have such strong currents that it is impossible to swim against them.  The largest underwater cave in the USA is the Wakulla system, which is explored exclusively by a very successful and pioneering project called the WKPP.  The Florida caves are formed from solid limestone rock, and are geologically young. This makes the cave walls "tougher" than some. In comparison to some other regions, Florida's caves have fewer side passages, so most of the guidelines are simple paths that connect two points with very few permanent tees. When exploring side passages, divers temporarily join sections with jump reels to maintain a continuous guideline to the surface.

Cave Diving - Mexico

Most of the openings to cave systems in Mexico are referred to by their Spanish name as "cenotes".

These cave systems are much older than the Florida caves — they were formed below the Water table, then sea level lowered and parts of them became dry caves, forming Speleothems. Sea level rose again, submerging some of the caves. The caves in Mexico are a rarity for this reason — speleothems form only in a dry cave, but in Mexico they exist underwater.

Because of this geologic history, the Mexican caves are fragile. If a diver accidentally breaks off a stalactite from the ceiling, it will never reform as long as the cave is underwater.

The Mexican caves are also extremely complex, with many offshoots of passages, which require many permanent tees in the guideline. In Mexico it is common to cave dive with a guide because of how easy it would be to get lost, and occasionally even guides have gotten lost in the systems.

Cave Diving – United Kingdom (UK)

UK requirements are generally that all people wishing to take up cave diving must be competent cavers before they start cave diving. This is primarily because most British cave dives are at the far end of dry caves. The number of day lit sumps in the UK is small, perhaps fewer than a dozen with any appreciable penetrable sump behind them.

Some people have come to cave diving directly from the recreational diving community, but they're far in the minority in the UK, and represent only a few percent of the Cave Diving Group (CDG). They have universally become competent and keen dry cavers in the process of learning to cave dive. As is said in the UK, Come on in! The water is horrible, cold and full of mud.

Cave Diving – Australia

Australia also has many spectacular water filled caves and sinkholes, but unlike the UK where potential cave divers need to be competent cavers before they take up the pastime, most Australian cave divers come from a general ocean-diving background after having heard about the "air-clear" water of the sinkholes and caves which are to be found in the Mount Gambier area of south-eastern South Australia. The first cave and sinkhole dives here took place in the very late 1950s and until the mid 1980s divers generally used single cylinders and homemade torches and reels, so most of their explorations were necessarily limited.

A series of tragedies between 1969 and 1973 in which 11 divers drowned (including a triple and a quadruple fatality) in just four karst features - "Kilsbys Hole", "Piccaninnie Ponds", "Death Cave" and "The Shaft" - created much public comment and led to the formation of the Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA) Inc. in September 1973. As a consequence of the CDAA's assessment programs divers were rated at various levels, and today they comprise Cavern, Cave, Sinkhole and Penetration (the latter term has always been a point of contention!).

During the 1980s the Nullarbor Plain was recognised as being a major cave-diving area, with one cave, Cocklebiddy, being explored for more than 6 kilometres, involving the use of large sleds to which were attached numerous diving cylinders and other paraphenalia, and which were then labouriously pushed through the cave by the divers. In more recent years divers have been utilizing powered scooters but the dive is still technically extremely challenging. A number of other very significant caves have also been discovered during the past 10 years or so; the 7+-kilometre long Tank Cave near Mount Gambier, other very large features on the Nullarbor and adjacent Roe Plain as well as a number of specific sites elsewhere, and nowadays the cave diving community utilizes many techniques, equipment and standards from the US and elsewhere. The CDAA still handles the administration of cave diving certification in Australia and mixed-gas and rebreather technologies are also currently being assessed and introduced. All cave diving in the Mount Gambier area as well as the Nullarbor requires divers to be members of the CDAA, whether in the capacity of a visitor or a trained and assessed member.

Click here to read about recreational scuba diving: Cave Diving Training  – or –

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Reference material for this scuba diving related informational article: wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia, scuba diving category

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