My first cavern experience was heavy with anticipation. Although I have been diving for years, the prospect of breathing underwater, underground with a large chunk of earth between me and the sunshine had my heart pumping. I’m currently in Freeport on Grand Bahama Island training with Cristina Zenato of UNEXSO.  She has been teaching a cavern course for me this weekend and I am very thankful for the chance to try something so unusual.

Recreational scuba is a sport I believe almost anyone can enjoy! Whether you’re a photographer, spear fisherman, researcher, or once-per-year resort diver the ocean is a rewarding place, often very forgiving and bountiful in its beauty and wonder. You can use any equipment you like and create whatever type of plan works for you. There are relatively few rules that must be followed and when something goes wrong, there’s a very simple fix. Point your fins down and safely swim up! The cavern environment requires a different approach. Protocol and procedure are long-established creating uniformity and precise utilitarianism from divers head to toe. There is a religion to the precision and a simple justification for every decision. Do this to stay safe and return alive! Don’t do this and the consequences can be serious, immediately! In the dark, under a rock, spooling out a bunch line while kicking around without gills has its challenges.

Our lesson on gear configuration alone took several hours. Inside a cavern is not the time/place for carelessness or experimentation. D rings, bungees, buckles and clamps are arranged and rearranged until everything is reachable and frill-less. A cavern diver is both streamline and tool-laden. Simple back-inflation harnesses keep all bulk and buoyancy behind the diver. Essential gear (light back-up light, cutting device, safety reel, pocket, slates) is clipped and then double secured with a bungee cord until every attachment is in place. Gear was put on, then taken off many times until my buddy, Eddy, and I understood the rationale for each placement and the details passed Cristina’s rigorous inspection.

The entrance to Ben’s cavern sits innocently in a roadside pull-off (the kind with the point-of-interest or historical significance marker signs back home). This area is part of Lucayan National Park and monitored by park security staff throughout the day. Few divers have permits to enter the caves. I felt very special when the guards knew our truck when we hit the parking lot and immediately welcomed us for a day of diving. Swimming is prohibited in the cavern so I’m sure many others who have arrived ready for a dip have received a less hearty welcome. A plank walkway guides visitors past informational placards through the bushes until you reach a spot where the whole ground seems to have just caved in. Looking across the landscape it would be easy to miss but there’s a large hole in the shrubbery, an entrance to this underground world. Standing at the end of the walkway, a spiral staircase invites visitors down to a viewing platform about 20 feet below. The topside world feels closely linked within the cavern. Bright sunshine illuminates the chamber and a tree grows across the rock pile and into the sun. Standing on the wooden platform I was still wrapping my head around stepping past the “No Swimming” sign to explore the grey green water. Cristina briefed the site while fruit bats with tiny babies wiggled on the ceiling.

 

 

Donning full hooded wetsuits in the hot Bahamian sun encouraged alacrity and soon we were stomping gear-laden along the path back to the cave. I had a good laugh when a tourist asked my favorite question “So, you going diving today?” No sir, this is the new fitness program called SaunaScuba. Gear up to take a hike clad in black neoprene and watch the pounds shed right off. And just in time for bikini season! I was thankful for all the neoprene when I climbed down into the cavern’s 74 degree water.

Careful consideration of your buoyancy is of ultimate importance in the cavern environment. Systems like Ben’s cavern contain both freshwater and saltwater but do not flow which means particulate matter rests on rock surfaces and can be easily dislodged. Perfect neutral buoyancy hovering is required with arms ahead of shoulders, knees above hips and feet directly above knees. Imagine hovering like Superman, but not releasing this flight for an hour. Fin movements are small and controlled so that you can pause midwater at any moment.

There is a lot to think about in the overhead environment! Watch the line, control the light, monitor the cave, regulate your air, maintain body positioning, regulate your own mental game to stay simultaneously intensely focused and globally aware, and communicate with your team without losing track of any of the previous variables. I’m very glad I have another day of training to practice these skills in new caverns!

The cavern itself was beautiful! Descending from open water I felt like I was entering another world. It was a reflexively foreign feeling leaving the bright light of outside life behind. Curiosity pushed me forward out of the comfort of the open water and into the overhead cover. As darkness descended, new forms and new shapes brought the cavern to life. Stalactites and stalagmites grow from cavern walls and columns appear from the ebony darkness. In the lower saltwater layer of Ben’s cavern the rocks were shades of brown and heavily pocked. Higher in the cavern exposed to fresh water, the rock formations glowed white and blonde yellow. Although Cristina may have been here only days before, I felt like I was peeling back the darkness for the first time. I felt I was observing something prehistoric as a column reflected back my torch light seemingly from within. Moving away the glow lingered as my eyes’ contrast returned. One of the most beautiful things I noticed was our bubbles trapped along the top of the cavern. Dispersing into the highest pockets and cracks they mirrored back the blackness all around. It looked like a ceiling of spilled ink, shifting and spreading with every exhalation. Simply gorgeous!

 

Cavern diving is different from cave diving because you will always remain within visual contact of the surface light. There was a homecoming to the sunlight’s glow as we frog-kicked back into open water. A small family was waving from the platform as three moon-men surfaced in the pool. My first overhead diving was intense and exciting! Tomorrow is another day of training and I have lots to work on! Thank you to OW-USS and Cristina Zenato for allowing me to develop new skills and stretch my understanding of diving in this way.