I found this article on divingindepth.com and thought I would share. I was wondering how accurate and up-to-date this information was and if there were more records than this.
Cave Diving Records
Largest Underwater Caves (Total Surveyed Passage)Deepest Underwater Caves
- Sistema Ox Bel Ha, Tulum Mexico: 134, 048 meters with a maximum depth of 110 feet
- Sistema Sac Actun, Akumal, Mexico: 61,941 meters with a maximum depth of 82 feet
- Sistema Nohoch Nah Chich, Akumal, Mexico: 61,143 meters with a maximum depth of 235 feet
- Cenote Dos Ojos, Akumal, Mexico: 56,6971 meters with a maximum depth of 391 feet
- Leon Sinks Cave System, Florida: 30, 480 meters with a maximum depth of 240 feet
- Wakulla Springs Cave System, Florida: 42,100 feet with a maximum depth of 300 feet
Deepest cave dive by a Woman
- Zacaton, Mexico: 1,148 feet deep, Jim Bowden
- Fontain de Vauluse, France: 1,033 feet deep
- Boesmangat, South Africa: 1,016 feet deep
In October 2004, Verna van Schaik from Gauteng, South Africa set a world deep diving record by diving to a depth of 725 feet (221 m) at Boesmansgat cave.
Longest Solo Swimming Dive into a Cave
Sheck Exley, 1989, Chips Hole cave system, Florida, solo swimming penetration of 10,444 feet
Longest Solo Scooter/DPV Dive into a Cave
Gilberto Menezes (Brazilian), September 20, 2004, Bananeira Cave, state of Bahia in Central Brazil, Solo scooter/DPV penetration of 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) in the upstream sump of the cave system. The dive lasted 11 hours 23 minutes and was stopped in going passage. The Bananeira sump starts 400 m inside the cave and comprises a narrow passage 3 m wide and 2 m high in average with a silty floor. Although the water is warm (c. 25 ºC), visibility is never more than 3 m being only 1.5 m during the 2004 dives. The underwater passage is generally shallow in the first 3,500 m (25 m maximum depth) becoming gradually deeper until a short loop at around 6,000 m penetration brings the depth to 50 m. The dive was stopped in the ascending portion of the loop at 20 m depth. In his longest push two Submerge Inc. UV-42 scooters (specially adapted with 65-amph @ 24-volts NiMH batteries enabling a total range of about 10,000 m per scooter!) were used. The dive used conventional (open circuit) apparatus and a total of 33 tanks were either used or were in place at the sump during the longest dive. Trimix 25/50 was used from the surface to 25 m depth (up to 5,800 m penetration). Trimix 16/70 was used from 25 to 50 m in depth (from 5,800 m to 6,400 m penetration). Nitrox 70 was used for decompression from 12 m to 7 m in depth (3,000 m to 1,800 m penetration) and pure oxygen was used at 6 m depth (1,800 m penetration) and 3 m depth (1,500 m penetration).
Longest Cave Penetration Dives (scooter/DPV and swim)
Scooter/DPV:Swim:
- Gilberto Menezes, September 20, 2004, Upstream sump of Bananeira cave, state of Bahia in Central Brazil, 21,000-foot penetration scooter/DPV dive at a maximum depth of 164 feet
- WKPP divers, 2000, Wakulla Springs cave system, Florida, 19,000-foot penetration scooter/DPV dive at a maximum depth of 300 feet
Longest Cave Traverse (distance from one cave entrance to another)
- Sheck Exley, 1989, Chips Hole cave system, Florida, 10,444-foot solo penetration swim dive
WKPP divers, May 29, 1999, Leon Sinks Cave System from Big Dismal to Cheryl Sink, Leon County, Florida, 14,000-foot scooter/DPV traverse at a maximum depth of 220 feet
