Recently, I finished my NSS-CDS full cave certification in the incredible caves on Abaco island as part of my year of adventure as the 2013 North American Rolex Scholar. I met up with cave instructor Brian Kakuk who runs a company called Bahamas Underground. I had signed up for a 10 day course to go from zero to hero, all the way from a cavern diver to a full cave diver capable of advanced decompression. And I couldn’t have picked a better place to do it.
Gorgeous crystal structures meet gin-clear water. The historical significance of these places is absolutely astounding. The walls are adorned with fossils that speak of a different time on the island. Reach a few feet beneath the thick peat layer and discover bones of an ancient past, well preserved in the anoxic environment. Brian took me to an area of the cave that actually has a complete crocodile skeleton… there aren’t any crocodiles on the island! Words can’t really describe these places, they are areas that need to be experienced firsthand to grasp the full beauty of them. They’re even astounding topside!
I can’t speak enough about how mind-blowing these places are but I will try to move on. On top of some incredible dives, it was also great for my progression as a diver. I thoroughly enjoyed the technical aspect of the dives and the training exercises. My personal favorite drill was trying to find a lost line with a complete loss of visibility. Brian and I would shut off our lights and then he would proceed to spin me around and upside down, pulling me across a room and then setting me down who-knows-where. I would then follow a procedure to try to find the guideline (a line run so that a diver is able to find their way out of the cave) somewhere in the cave. A very challenging but fun task.
After 10 days of training, I took the final exam, full of questions and essays to ensure proper comprehension of the subject. Drum roll please…. I passed!
Huge thanks to Brian Kakuk, this guy is awesome and I would highly encourage anyone interested in cave diving to check out his business, Bahamas Underground. Here is a video I made that shows a little bit of the diving but definitely doesn’t do it justice. Follow along on my year-long adventure by subscribing to the blog!
