Everytime I see the movie Sanctum I vow to never go cave diving. There is nothing more terrifying as a scuba diver than to watch an air-related problem happen in an overhead environment. If you sever a hose under “normal” circumstances it is dangerous, but miles deep into a cave without a bailout bottle? It is deadly. Now, I know Mr. Alister Grierson has to keep us on our toes so we cannot help but sit through his entire movie, and so maybe all of the scenes are not 100% accurate, but even in real life there is no debating that cave diving can be extremely dangerous, even for experts. The film has a number of very accomplished cave divers in it as “dive doubles” for the actors. Agnes Milowka was the dive double for the characters Jude and Victoria. She was a recognized cave diver and author of numerous articles on technical diving and cave exploration. She was definitely an expert in the field but she died in 2011 after running out of air in a cave system in South Africa. Freak accidents happen and, when the surface is accessible, there are options, such as doing an emergency swimming ascent for which there is no guarantee you will survive, but at least you have the possibility. In a cave, if you run out of air, no matter how experienced you are, death is imminent.
So, everytime I see Sanctum I say I will not dive in a cave, but the reality is I have been in overhead environments. Technically speaking you need a special certification for overhead environments but dive charters sometimes take advantage of the fact that the definition of a cave is a bit vague. There are caves, caverns, cathedrals, swim-throughs, etc. but sometimes they become one-in-the-same. I have entered “swim-throughs” where I could not see the other side so I had to trust that my divemaster was taking “through” and not “into.” I have swam around “cathedrals.” I have swam into “caves.” For me, the caveat has always been I will go in if I know and am not far from my way out. But, if given the opportunity to dive the Cenotes in Akumal, Mexico, where you follow a guide into an amazing “cavern” system full of otherworldly structures, would I likely throw that caveat out the window? There are many divers like Agnes Milowka who are technical divers and going into caves is their forte. Why do something so dangerous? I cannot speak for all divers but for me it is the thrill and the opportunity to see structures and life that cannot be seen anywhere else.
So, to go into a cave/cavern/cathedral or not to go into a cave/cavern/cathedral? I cannot tell you what the best decision is for you, but for me, as with any dive, I will prepare as best as I can and then trust my intuition. As divers we are always training. If we have an interest in overhead environments, we get as many specialty certifications as we can and then gain our experience appropriately. We do not go into an advanced environment if we have not dove the basic environments first. Then,we trust our guts. If we do not feel good about a dive we do not get in the water. As scuba divers we are thrill seekers. I will say no to caves every time I see Sanctum, but perhaps I will inevitably not be able to resist the promise of beauties I have never seen.
