My father used to be a technical cave diver. There are plenty of beautiful diving places inland. For example the Dubnik opal mines, which are not so far from Budapest.
I'm proud of him, but I'm very glad that he's not doing it anymore. If something happens or if someone panics down in the cave then it's easy to stir up the mud and loose your guideline. It takes just a moment, but when it happens it is super serious and dangerous to everyone in the expedition.
Cave diver here, the article asserts how rare warm caves are but I think that is a very European mindset.
The Mecca for cave diving is in the Yucatán and surrounding areas and the caves there are exceptionally warm. The surface water can be chilly, coming in around 21c at one of the many cenotes (sinkholes, which are the entry points into the system) as rainwater fills them, but the further into the cave you penetrate you will eventually cross the halocline, at which point deeper = warmer ocean water. It’s quite unintuitive but delightful to warm up after a 2+ hour dive. It’s common for divers to go deeper, pull their wetsuit open a little to fill it with warmer water (24c+) and then rise up back to the planned depth.
Cold cave diving is a very different experience and is usually found in Florida and Europe. Don’t recommend.
I found Florida's caves positively delightful at 21 C; never felt the need to dive dry.
I am envious of the speleothems in Yucatán cenotes. Florida's caves are all phreatic, so you don't get any real decoration beyond scalloping. Still fun to dive, just not much to see aside from water, wet rocks, and a line. And not even that if you blow the viz.
I'm wary of cave diving because of the safety issues, but this feels like one I would do. With the fairly controlled environment, warm waters, and guide lines, it feels like about the safest cave dive you can do!
You've got to be extremely detail oriented, precise, and disciplined to do it right. I've got a friend who does it and I support him on his dives(hauling gear, etc) but I have zero interest and am not cut from that kind of cloth. Give me tight, muddy, cold, AIR FILLED caves any day though.
My father used to be a technical cave diver. There are plenty of beautiful diving places inland. For example the Dubnik opal mines, which are not so far from Budapest.
I'm proud of him, but I'm very glad that he's not doing it anymore. If something happens or if someone panics down in the cave then it's easy to stir up the mud and loose your guideline. It takes just a moment, but when it happens it is super serious and dangerous to everyone in the expedition.
Cave diver here, the article asserts how rare warm caves are but I think that is a very European mindset.
The Mecca for cave diving is in the Yucatán and surrounding areas and the caves there are exceptionally warm. The surface water can be chilly, coming in around 21c at one of the many cenotes (sinkholes, which are the entry points into the system) as rainwater fills them, but the further into the cave you penetrate you will eventually cross the halocline, at which point deeper = warmer ocean water. It’s quite unintuitive but delightful to warm up after a 2+ hour dive. It’s common for divers to go deeper, pull their wetsuit open a little to fill it with warmer water (24c+) and then rise up back to the planned depth.
Cold cave diving is a very different experience and is usually found in Florida and Europe. Don’t recommend.
I found Florida's caves positively delightful at 21 C; never felt the need to dive dry.
I am envious of the speleothems in Yucatán cenotes. Florida's caves are all phreatic, so you don't get any real decoration beyond scalloping. Still fun to dive, just not much to see aside from water, wet rocks, and a line. And not even that if you blow the viz.
I'm wary of cave diving because of the safety issues, but this feels like one I would do. With the fairly controlled environment, warm waters, and guide lines, it feels like about the safest cave dive you can do!
Only in my most terrifying nightmares do I find myself cave diving. Kudos to those who enjoy it.
You've got to be extremely detail oriented, precise, and disciplined to do it right. I've got a friend who does it and I support him on his dives(hauling gear, etc) but I have zero interest and am not cut from that kind of cloth. Give me tight, muddy, cold, AIR FILLED caves any day though.
I’m detail oriented which is exactly why I’m unwilling to bet my life on not missing a detail.
how much safer is normal cave spelunking? I hear about accidents pretty often with that too, or getting into a crevice you can't back out of...
Much safer. Spelunking can be fairly safe if done with caution and an experienced team. Cave diving causes fatalities even among experts.