Cave and Cavern Directory

[Walter Pickel]

I have made some recent changes in structure to the Cave & Cavern Directory. I have had flags allowing a user to filter the directory based on country (US, Mexico, The Bahamas, etc) but I never really liked the implementation (not sure I do now either).

Now, the flags are across the top middle of the page and are also available on the system pages as well. Simply click the flag of the country you would like to see. Please let me know if this is even helpful.

Currently, there are over 600 cave systems listed. Just today, I added 8 for Portugal.

I appreciate everyone adding condition reports as this is what really makes the site meaningful to me and others as well.

As always, please let me know if there is a feature you are interested in and not available on the site.

[metaldector]

Walter, I always liked your site and the flags will be helpful. Makes an easy visual sorting system. I'd just like to say I have dived all of these caves, it's something to dream about.

[Walter Pickel]

Walter, I always liked your site and the flags will be helpful. Makes an easy visual sorting system. I'd just like to say I have dived all of these caves, it's something to dream about.

Many thanks...I have been focusing (lightly) on adding information for other countries recently. I should have a fair amount of numbers, maps, etc. up this weekend.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Did you ever get those other pictures I sent you awhile back?

[Walter Pickel]

Did you ever get those other pictures I sent you awhile back?

I did...I was looking at them today and reminded myself to put them up. I will today.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

LOL, aight I know I'm a PITA.

[mag3]

I have made some recent changes in structure to the Cave & Cavern Directory. I have had flags allowing a user to filter the directory based on country (US, Mexico, The Bahamas, etc) but I never really liked the implementation (not sure I do now either).

Now, the flags are across the top middle of the page and are also available on the system pages as well. Simply click the flag of the country you would like to see. Please let me know if this is even helpful.

Currently, there are over 600 cave systems listed. Just today, I added 8 for Portugal.

I appreciate everyone adding condition reports as this is what really makes the site meaningful to me and others as well.

As always, please let me know if there is a feature you are interested in and not available on the site.

Walter - I also appreciate the site. As an Intro student, I'm in need of a lot of info on caves, and the maps, videos and other resources on your site are worth much in re: my education.

To that end, and realizing this is is most likely a "Herculean" if not an "Impossible" task, can you ever foresee the possibility of there being a "rating" system for caverns/caves, similar to the "diamond" system for Ski slopes? The objective would be to provide advice to either a student or new cave diver at whatever level as to the difficulty factor(s) for a particular cavern/cave and whether or not it is "recommended" for their level of training/experience.

So far, throughout the training process, I've gained a lot of information about all the major caves etc. that are not safe for me to dive and require advanced training and skills etc.., but not so much about what caves are safe to dive at a given training level (hopefully, Intro for me shortly). I look at all the caves on your site, but have no idea if any in particular would be safe for me as a potential Intro diver, except where there's a comment as to difficulty or a specific "access policy" (eg. Wayne's World, etc.)..... or, perhaps by nature of their depth, flow, or geological attributes (tunnels, restrictions etc.) seem too dangerous to me, intuitively.

Maybe something like (and assuming all dives are conducted within the established limits of the given training level):

1 - Safe for Cavern Divers.
2 - Requires at least "Intro" level (and, optionally X dives after Intro level cert.).
3 - Requires at least "Apprentice" level (and, optionally X dives after Apprentice level cert.).
4 - Requires at least "Full Cave" level.
5 - Requires Full Cave with at least X number of dives minimum.
6 - Requires Full Cave, Trimix, DPV and/or other advanced training.
7 - Specific Policy in effect - see details.

I know... I know.... The permutations to consider are mind boggling as is, perhaps, the ability for the community to arrive at a "consensus" rating for each site.... But this kind of info on your website would be very valuable to someone like myself that wants to dive the right places at the right times / training levels....

If I only knew what those places were......

Just a thought....

Thanks much.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Best thing to do is ask on specific sites I'd imagine... nobody has been to all of them.

Some of those places can be tame at times, and pretty friggin scary at others. Some are just scary all the time. If you need someone to tell you your own limits, you might want to steer clear from them all together? Its not like a ski slope where you have to get to the bottom of the mountain after your start... If you find a restriction, depths, bad visibility, that will put you over your own personal limits of being able to dive it safely for you and the cave, turn around. I guess an extreme siphon(read as Spring Creek or similar) might be pretty much the same as going down a mountain... but you really never make it to the 'bottom'

[murfef]

I think he might mean something along the lines of planning a trip. Of course once you're there you could make a decision but that could be at the cost of a lot of money/time off etc. for a lot of us. If I knew ahead of time that it was considered by most to be above my skill level, I wouldn't plan a trip there. It probably would be difficult to get a general concensus put together though. It seems like it would be a good idea if it was possible to create.

[flyczek]

The rating idea is kind of a neat concept, but why not just ask some people on this forum or look up some trip reports before planning a long journey to cave country?

Of course, YMMV, like SuPrBuGmAn said, some systems, nay, almost all systems can vary greatly (flooding, water levels, line condition) or be radically different depending on where you plan your dive to.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to DeepSea for hosting this site. It has come in handy many times for trip planning or researching a cave that I may be interested in diving for the first time. Of course, this is only step one in the process. Talking to other cave divers is key.