What exactly makes cave diving so risky, even if you have experience or are with a guide?
In: Other
Confined spaces are easy to get turned around in.
Undisturbed bodies of water have huge layers of silt on the bottom that get stirred up and prevent seeing ANYTHING around you.
Lower threshold for claustrophobia and panic when you’re suited up for diving.
Combine all three and you have a recipe for disaster. People have been known to even rip off their dive masks and lose their respirator because it gets so bad, even in open water if you go too close to the bottom.
It’s tough to imagine unless you’ve been diving, but when I was doing my open water test for scuba certification part of the testing was navigating using only our wrist compasses to find the dive instructors. We were in a shallow section of the lake, about 6-7 feet deep, but one instructor sat still in a spot while the others swam around and stirred up the bottom. They had those of us getting certified try to find him using predetermined headings from around the lake and swam around blind for probably 20 minutes. It didn’t count for our certification, they just wanted us to see how easily you can get turned around and lost when you can’t see at all. It’s spooky.
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