Cave diving is a type of technical diving in which specialized SCUBA equipment is used to enable the exploration of natural or artificial caves which are at least partially filled with water. It is an extension of the more common sport of caving, but is much more rarely practised because of the skills and equipment required, and because of the high potential risks.

Despite these risks, water-filled caves attract cavers and speleologists due to their often unexplored nature, and present divers with a technical diving challenge. Caves often have a wide range of unique physical features, such as stalactites and stalagmites, and can contain unique flora and fauna not found elsewhere.

How do you cave dive?

No, you can’t learn to cave dive simply by reading what you find on the Internet. Even if this website contained all of the academic information presented in a complete Cave Diver course, it would still be no substitute for the guidance and experience provided by a skilled cave diving educator.

Nevertheless, you can begin to get a feel for the kind of information covered during Cave Diver training by reading the following articles on our web site cavediving.com.

Equipment Comparison
The thing that immediately distinguishes recreational divers from cave divers is their equipment. Bear in mind, it takes a lot more than just highly specialized equipment to be a cave diver. Nevertheless, equipment is a significant part of what we do.

found on cavediving.com

Swimming with dolphins and Diving with Wild dolphins can be an exhilarating dolphin encounter or down right frustrating. These fascinating marine mammals move at the speed of light (in water obviously) and can disappear in an instant. Trying to keep up with a pod of dolphins while pushing an underwater camera housing is exhausting to say the least so when a good dolphin encounter occurs it’s a rare moment to be savored and etched onto your memory. Luckily enough I have been able to swim with these bottle nose dolphin and common dolphin a few times in my life as well as having seen humpback and spinner dolphin from the surface. The best dolphin experiences have without doubt been off South African coast and Mozambique.

photography by Andrew Woodburn
found on www.woodburnphoto.co.za

Stop what you’re doing for a moment and take a look at these hauntingly beautiful pictures of underwater sculptures by artist Jason de Caires Taylor. The sixty-five sculptures, covering an area of 800sq metres, are sited in the clear shallow waters of Moilinere bay in Grenada, West Indies.
The underwater sculpture park was created back in 2006 and was designed to create artificial reefs for marine life to colonise and inhabit. Exposed to the ecological processes the sculptures become home to coral and marine life and slowly transform over time.

“The experience of being underwater is vastly different from that of being on land. There are physical and optical considerations that must be taken into account. Objects appear twenty-five percent larger underwater, and as a consequence they also appear closer. Colors alter as light is absorbed and reflected at different rates, with the depth of the water affecting this further. The light source in water is from the surface, this produces kaleidoscopic effects governed by water movement, currents and turbulence. Water is a malleable medium in which to travel enabling the viewer to become active in their engagement with the work. The large number of angles and perspectives from which the sculptures can be viewed increase dramatically the unique experience of encountering the works.” Says Jason de Caires Taylor’s website.

found on beforeiforget.co.uk

“Oceans” and “The Cove” took decidedly different paths on their way to being screened at the 2009 Tokyo International Film Festival. “Oceans,” from French directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud, a film which is at turns a breathtaking nature documentary and an exhortation to protect the beauty and majesty of the sea, was a natural choice to open the world’s only environmentally minded film festival. “The Cove,” on the other hand, almost did not make the cut despite its previous festival successes, including the Audience Award at Sundance. The film, directed by famed National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, also stresses ecological responsibility but does so by exposing the shady slaughter of dolphins by fisherman in the Japanese fishing town of Taiji. Hit the jump to explore the deep blue.

found on collider.com

Modern science shows that sea turtles have been swimming the Earth’s oceans for well over 100 million years–even pre-dating many dinosaurs. In addition, the turtle is an important symbol in the mythologies of many indigenous cultures, usually representing creation, longevity, and wisdom in these belief systems. Turtles are thus truly ancient beings-both in geological and mythological terms. As integral parts of the marine ecosystem, turtles are also useful indicators of the vitality of the overall marine environment.

Ever since I saw the Luc Besson film called Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue) I have been a devotee of the sport known as Competitive Apnea. What sounds simple in theory is actually one of the most physically extreme challenges the human body can undertake.

Found on seekextreme.com

It is speculated that diving for sponges is the oldest profession on the Greek island of Kalymnos. It brought development to the island on both economic and social levels.

There, a crew would set out in a small boat. A cylindrical tool with a transparent bottom was used to examine the floor of the ocean for sponges. When one was located, a diver would jump out with a skandalopetra. This was a heavy stone which was used to aid the swimmer in reaching the appropriate depths. At the bottom of the floor, he cut the sponge and returned to the surface.

found on livingheritage.com