While in Greece, we stumbled on the Final Darkwater Freedive Situation.
Matt Longbottom and I were waiting out the final 2 days of a freediving time out after everyone else had left. We determined to explore a muddy cave shut to the assign we were staying.
It modified into out to be one of many pause freedive internet sites on the earth.
My title is Marcus Greatwood I’m a breath-possess photographer. I’ve been teaching and filming Freediving for 20 years. I’ve held data, coached 6 world data, speed an unlimited membership, taught hundreds of of us, and introduced many of them around the world. For the previous 10 years, I in point of fact maintain in actuality knowledgeable in Unsuitable Location Freediving:- exploring on a single breath.
There are a pair of candidates for the Final Dive Situation – mostly in Shaded Water, (underground lakes) the assign the notify, complete darkness retains the water impossibly determined.
What makes The Final Freedive pickle?
- Crystal determined water
- Technical glean admission to
- Deep ample (nonetheless no longer too deep)
- Swish vistas under & above the water
The Caves of Kefalonia
The initial plot became to dive The HMS Perseus, a spectacular British WWII submarine wreck off the south cruise of Kefalonia, with 6 skilled NoTanx participants.
On arrival we were worried by the devastation from the worst hurricane to hit the Ionian islands in 800 years, boats were sunk in ports, and well-known towns left without water or electrical energy for days. The ensuing awful visibility within the sea rendered filming virtually useless.
Kefalonia is traversed by huge flooded subterranean passageways (Karns) which maintain, at quite loads of facets, collapsed growing cenotes same to those stumbled on in Mexico. Several of these maintain change into our favourite sad water dive internet sites, which now we had been exploring for quite loads of years.
Within the course of the week we visited “The duckpond”, the final fragment of the limestone tunnels that leads out to the sea. An unassuming entrance outcomes in a series of low ceilinged caverns embellished above and under the water with fabulous speleothems which belie the historically low water ranges – stalactites can’t develop underwater.
As a senior-level neighborhood, we were ready to explore extra, pushing on to airspace that we known as the Toblerone, “factual a straightforward” 20 meter swim true into an unlimited gloomy cavern lined with Stalactites.
After everyone left, Matt and I stayed an additional couple of days to camouflage a local buddy of ours some caving ways. I had noticed a muddy gap a pair of years earlier which we conception would possibly per chance per chance be a kindly speak to exercise abseiling and ascending on a single rope.
Muddy Hole
This dry gap requires a 30m abseil true into a chamber, at which level there is a boulder choke (natural useless cease). After I arrived, I looked by way of a runt gap and saw a shard of water extra under. I conception nothing of it. When Matt abseiled down to me he determined to trot by way of the runt gap to explore.
At this level, all the pieces modified.
He swore.
A Lot.
Followed by “you maintain to behold this Marcus”
At his behest, I slipped by way of the letterbox crack on the bottom of Muddy Hole… and entered true into an unlimited chamber at ceiling height. It became actually covered in huge white speleothems, stalactites, and curtains, that fell from the ceiling and partitions as much as 8m excessive.
What we had stumbled on, by accident, became an fabulous cave, visited by handiest a handful of cavers since 1970.
As caving goes this became JACKPOT.
Nonetheless even more ravishing, dramatic & sharp became the lake of crystal determined water on the bottom of the scree slope 25m under me.
The lake became azure blue in my headtorch, main off in each directions by way of carefully embellished tunnels to the left and kindly.
There became diminutive doubt we HAD to return encourage to dive, the next day became our final day on the island.
The Dive
Attending to the water takes the kindly share of 2 hours, at which level now we desire to swap caving instruments for freediving equipment, put collectively the underwater cameras, torches, and video lighting fixtures earlier than coming into the water.
To direct we were mad is a noxious understatement, at water level we would possibly per chance per chance behold true into a tunnel on the left. Lined with huge stalactites, columns, flowstone, and curtains. As we moved into the tunnel it opened true into a chamber 10m huge and 5m excessive, the gin-determined water dropping off some 15m under us. This Nationwide Geographic agreeable chamber had handiest be visited by a pair of cave diving groups – nonetheless that they had entered by way of a prolonged underground tunnel (with less complicated glean admission to for scuba).
I had ache keeping the digicam standard as we swam around a kindly circle of stalactites reached down from the ceiling to create a cage on the outside, the gateway of which enticed you in. In locations, the formations slid effortlessly by way of the outside of the water falling into the sad depths under. The 2nd chamber became formed of pristine ice white flowstone, flecked gloomy by the few bats that had made it to date underground.
We dived, filmed, and stared in silence on the fabulous assign. We returned to the well-known chamber and determined we quiet had time to behold if we would possibly per chance per chance enter the kindly-hand tunnel.
To sever rapid.
We would possibly per chance per chance…Truthful.
We needed to duck below 100 razor-interesting stalactites, whose issue had been terminated by the water. (Stalactites can’t develop underwater, as they’re formed by drips depositing their mineral hundreds as they plunge, which implies these tunnels were as soon as dry or no lower than the water level became drastically lower)
Completely a freediver would possibly per chance per chance enter this passage.
And the passage continued, an increasing form of stalactites inserting meters prolonged to contact the water, our motion dominated by a head size course by way of the maze.
We knew were the well-known of us ever to maintain entered this chamber.
And the passage continued.
A complete of 4 particular particular person chambers, each more kindly-looking out than the final, hidden for hundreds of years in complete darkness stable by a calcium portcullis or pure, glistening white.
Below us, we would possibly per chance per chance behold the deep tunnel and cave line traversed by the mettlesome scuba divers from one more entrance some 200m away, nonetheless they would possibly per chance per chance on no account surface right here.
Taking a peep from below the outside 1000 scimitars hung down to the outside. We identified a stable surfacing level, handiest then would possibly per chance per chance we safely plunge down into the void under, our chosen exit needed to be lit by our buddy or there became no way we would possibly per chance per chance maintain positioned it from under.
Excitement, adrenaline, chilly, and the physicality had taken its toll on us, our breath-holds were rapid, our dives truncated. We returned to the beacon of gentle we had left at our entry level and slowly climbed out of the water. We knew we is more than doubtless effectively on our way dwelling to England within 24h so took a pair of moments to grab the spectacular assign as we donned caving harnesses and started the prolonged climb out.
A in point of fact kindly expertise. One which I maintain compelled to fragment with others by way of Caving, SRT, and sad water coaching.
THE ULTIMATE FREEDIVE LOCATION.
