Scuba cave diving is a microcosm in the world of scuba diving a bit apart. Often regarded as one of the most dangerous sports in the world, practiced by atypical people, often strong and seemingly unmanageable; Underground diving requires in reality rigor, responsibility, camaraderie and humility in the face of risks. It is practiced at the crossroads of two worlds, that of underwater diving and speleology, making the speleonaut a diver by speleologists and a speleologist by divers. It is actually both at once.
Depending on the "origins", the diver will tend to visit submerged areas, while the speleologist will generally attempt to cross an aquatic obstacle (the siphon) to continue its land exploration. In France there is no legal framework for practice. It is not governed by the Sport Code. There is therefore no constraint or taxable hierarchy between practitioners. It is the playground that dictates the limits to this total freedom, which offers opportunities for fabulous innovations. Most tek diving techniques (see article) come from the underground world. Some will wonder why entering such special places. The motivations can be very diverse, but we can distinguish two major ones: walking and exploring places unexplored by Man in order to better know our environment and bring back data (topographical, geological, biological, hydrological, etc.) which Can help knowledge.
In both cases we are in love with this environment, so we will see what it has so special. It should be noted that underground diving is practiced in limestone massifs called Karsts (sometimes also in lava tunnels), where water has cleared its way through time and dug natural underground networks. The sites can be varied and range from underwater rivers such as those of Cassis (see article), to the small siphons that drown caves in the bottom of hole, passing by the beautiful resurgences like that of Fontaine de Vaucluse or the fairy Cenotes of Yucatan in Mexico. One can observe very pretty geological forms under ground called concretions. Stalactics, stalagmites, columns, draperies, gourds and eccentrics are natural gems that surely you would like.
