Why cave dive, when all there is to see is wet rocks?

People often ask "Why cave dive, when all there is to see is wet rocks?" The answer is that it’s the closest thing to being an astronaut, suspended in space in an alien landscape. The Mayans believed cenotes were gateways to the afterlife, and made sacrifices to them. They were the center of life. In northern Florida, we find stone tools and arrowheads in springs as the fresh water sustained life since the beginning of time.

I’m sure you’ve all seen photos of the warning signs placed by the cave training agencies in cave entrances depicting the grim reaper. The fact is, divers cannot survive in this environment without cave diving training.

The two main destinations for cave divers in N. America are N. Florida, and Mexico. Florida offers everything from huge caves with often roaring flows like Ginnie Springs to tiny side mount or no-mount passages, like Shangri La, and enormous no-flow caves like Hole in the Wall in Merritt’s Mill Pond.

Merritt’s Mill Pond in Marianna, Florida is a very unique, most beautiful body of water in Florida. A Disneyland for cave divers it offers at least seven diveable caves, and likely more to be discovered.

This presentation will discuss the importance of cave training, whether divers intend to cave dive or just expand their skills. Technical considerations in using closed circuit rebreathers in cave diving, sidemounting, and scootering will also be covered. But mostly, come and enjoy true tales about the beauty and thrill of cave diving.

Bio

William Graham lives in Bay Shore, New York and is an avid diver and surfer. His passions in diving are the shipwrecks of the east coast and the Florida caves. An avid amateur photographer since childhood, he enjoys trying to capture the otherworldly beauty of cave diving so we can all have a glimpse. An attorney in private practice by day, Bill holds certifications in cave diving, closed circuit rebreathers, and mixed gas decompression diving. When not practicing law, he can often be found wreck diving and surfing in Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and cave diving in Marianna, Florida.