CAVE DIVING - Not Just Your Ordinary Dive

CAVE DIVING

Not Just Your Ordinary Dive

by Dale Bletso

Publication Date: May 1999

It looked like it was going to be a nice day. It was only about 8:00 in the morning and there were no clouds in the sky. The temperature was in the low 80's already; maybe it would be in the 90's soon. I'd have to keep that thought in mind during gear setup. You never want to get overheated before a long dive.

Today's dive would not be particularly demanding by cave diving standards. It would be deep, however, with the majority of the dive being around 120 feet. This meant we would have to do a moderate amount of decompression at the end of the dive (decompression means not being able to surface immediately following the dive, but instead having to remain at a shallow depth for a predetermined amount of time). This allows the nitrogen absorbed in our bodies to be released safely without causing decompression sickness (more commonly referred to as the bends).

While carrying my deco gas and stage bottle to the water, I couldn't help but wonder about the 28 people that were known to have died in this particular cave over the years. Was I crazy as others believed I was for participating in this sport?

My thoughts turned to the rigorous training I had undergone to achieve certification in cave diving. I had done hundreds of dives before and felt competent enough to consider taking classes in this riskier type of diving. While reading the course material prior to enrolling in class, I remember wondering why any sane person would want to engage in such a hazardous activity. Then several times during the practical section of the class, these doubts were further amplified.

My partner and I had practiced for months diving in double tanks and using the skills we knew would be required for the class. We thought we were more than ready for anything the instructor might throw at us. Wrong!! No amount of practice in open water can adequately prepare a person psychologically for the actual cave environment.

Nothing is more humbling than an underwater cave. Knowing that improper kicking or erratic movements can cause silting which will totally destroy your visibility, you are in a constant state of anxiety until you master proper buoyancy control. If you don't perform the skills adequately, the instructor will drill you over and over and over...until you get it right, or decide that cave diving is not your forte! Even during training it is possible to reach penetrations of over 2,000 feet. In the back of your mind, you are always contemplating how you will get back out if you have an equipment failure. This is why during the class redundancy and rescue techniques are hammered into you. You and your partner(s) must be able to handle any emergency that occurs, or someone will not come out of the cave alive. This is a very sobering thought and one that not all divers are able to handle. Cave diving is not for everyone.

During class we learned that there have been about 400 fatalities in caves in Florida in the last thirty years. Of these 400, however, only about 30 were actually properly trained in the methods of safe cave diving. Unfortunately, these statistics do not hinder many divers. I cannot count the number of times I have run across openwater divers (in openwater dive gear, of course) either exiting a cave I am preparing to dive or actually inside a cave after our team enters. A well-known expert in cave diving has stated that cave diving presents a deceptively easy way to die. How true that is without proper training!

The number one rule for cave diving is proper training. Without it even the most experienced openwater diver, or instructor, is asking for problems (potentially life-threatening ones). The second rule is that you must maintain a continuous guideline to the surface. You must be able to get out of the cave in zero visibility. The third rule is to properly manage your air supply to allow for emergency scenarios. The fourth rule of cave diving is to not exceed the depth for which you have received training. The last major rule is to carry adequate lighting - a minimum of three lights per diver. The trained cave divers, who have died while diving, have all broken one of these cardinal rules.

So why was I standing here about to enter this alien world again? Why does man have a desire to go to the moon? Why do people hang-glide? Why parachute out of a plane that is working perfectly? There are as many reasons for these sports as there are participants.

For me, cave diving offers rewards that exceed the risks involved. Some of these rewards include the solitude inside the caves, the absolute beauty of what nature can create, the glimpse into the past in areas that contain fossils, and the chance to test your own abilities. Other benefits of cave diving are constantly calm seas, no overcrowded dive boats, normally good visibility, and divers of relatively the same experience level. In a real jam, you can feel confident in receiving help from any other cave diver you encounter.

Back to my upcoming dive... We're all geared up and have entered the water and performed our pre-dive safety checks. Laying out our primary line, we start into the cave. Once again, we find that an openwater diver has been there before us. The visibility is almost zero at the entrance. Pushing through this annoying area, we find ourselves in the beginning of the system. For the first 300 or so feet, it resembles a subway tunnel. The visibility remains low, and I wonder again why openwater divers are even allowed access to this area.

Reaching the gate that bars access deeper into the cave, we recheck our gauges and air supply. Even now the dive can be cancelled for any reason by any team member. I notice as I fumble with the lock that nitrogen narcosis is indeed a factor with which we must contend at this depth. We pass through the gate and make our final tie-off to the permanent line in the cave. We exchange OK signals and continue the dive. Finally the visibility has increased to the point where we can see as far as our lights will penetrate.

As we pass under the first low restriction, we find ourselves in a room that appears to be at least 40 feet across and about 5 feet in height from floor to ceiling. Due to the clarity of the water, it takes on a blue-green glow as the red, orange and yellow wavelengths of our lights are absorbed by the water. The floor has changed from loose sand to a clay/sand mix and appears as though it is very fragile and could easily be damaged. We continue the dive.

The character of the cave has completely changed at this point. Instead of a simple tube, we enter a series of small rooms with low ceilings where the techniques we learned in class are put to the test. Looking back, I am pleased to note that we have not stirred up any silt to detract from our return trip. Further back in the system, we come across a catfish that seems to have lost his way. Maybe he will follow us back out on our return trip.

Suddenly, the small rooms opened into a vertical crack. The floor to ceiling height is perhaps ten feet now, but we can reach both walls if we extend our hands. I never cease to be amazed at how quickly and drastically caves can change in just a few hundred feet. While caves in Florida do not have stalactites and stalagmites, they do have interesting patterns carved by water flow over millennia. Reaching the end of the vertical crack, we look down and see another low restriction. Although this looks interesting, we will have to pass on it for today. I have reached my air turnaround point.

I signal my partner that it is time to go and he confirms that he understands my message. Turning, we reluctantly leave the area. There is a slight current to assist us on our exit so we don't have to work as hard as we did upon entering. We pick up our stage and deco bottles, exit through the gate, and carefully lock it behind us. During our decompression stop, I reflect on the dive. Wow! It was great! Rejuvenated and exhilarated, I am fully reminded why I take the risks involved to engage in cave diving.

Note: Sadly, we learned later that someone died in the cave that same day. As usual, it was an openwater diver with no cave training.

Dale Bletso is a Full Cave Diver and Co-owner of Airheads Scuba in Brooks, Kentucky.