By Natalie Gibb A quick googling of “scuba diving reels” results in over 1,330,000 results. There’s an overwhelming number of options, and one might assume that if a commercial dive gear company makes the effort to design and manufacture a reel or spool, that it would be good. Sadly, this is not the case, and there is a great deal of cheap junk available, and even some of the quality reels are not appropriate for cave diving. Here’s a reel deep look into features and considerations when selecting a cave diving reel. Reels vs spools Those who are not familiar with cave diving ja ..read more

No fanfare. No quest for glory. Just the unshakable conviction that a fetid pond would open onto the heavens Cristina Zenato embarks on her quest to make an interstellar connection Words and Photography by Cristina Zenato The foul smell from the little pond reaches my nose as I settle the tanks on the water’s shallow rocky edge. It is created by the lush half-submerged vegetation brewing under the hot Bahamian sun, mixed with some other ingredients that I am not keen to discover. This cave entrance is known as Mermaid Pond and it sits right in the middle of the native settlement known as Hawks ..read more

Exciting and astonishingly beautiful, the cenotes and caves of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula have carved out a booming industry, and offer a truly unique perspective for divers Words and Photos by Natalie Gibb Cave diver Bre Kramer floats through the magnificent light beams at Cenote Ponderosa. Photo: Natalie Gibb Flooded caves. For the uninitiated, they are the stuff of nightmares, conjuring visions of terrifying black tunnels and claustrophobic spaces. Yet divers who have visited the Mexican cenotes speak of their experiences with different adjectives – describing otherworldly beauty, unimagina ..read more

By Natalie Gibb Remember your P’s: Proper planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance. Photo: Natalie Gibb Where I live in Mexico, the caves are shallow, delicately decorated, and welcoming. The caves are so shallow, in fact, that most of the time decompression status is not an issue. The water is so clear and warm that divers can swim for hours following the line in a comfortable, easy environment. Yet these same conditions lead to sloppy dive habits. I find many divers fall into complacent behaviour, and just swim along the guideline until they hit thirds, without a proper plan ..read more

To accompany our Fall issue’s incredible feature by Becky Kagan Schott, the Seiko short film can be seen in all it’s underwater glory, right here: Built from the start for superior operation in the most hostile environments, Seiko diver’s watches were an immediate favorite for high-intensity exploration, becoming essential equipment for the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) within a year of their 1965 introduction. It was in these frigid waters that the superbly rugged timepieces became legendary for reliability in extreme conditions, taking their place as the watch of choice for ..read more

By Natalie Gibb Venturing into the “dark, dangerous and claustrophobic” world of cave diving can be a daunting prospect, make sure you choose your instructor wisely. Photo: Natalie Gibb Claustrophobia. Darkness. Danger. These are some of the words I often hear associated with cave diving, but if you talk to actual cave divers, most speak about the activity in entirely different terms. They’ll talk about rooms filled with delicate stalactites, hanging from the ceiling like icicles. They will share the lure of elaborate passageways, snaking under the Earth’s surface and the beautiful mystery of ..read more

Words and Photography by Jill Heinerth Photo: Jill Heinerth In 1992, Editors Valerie Grey and Joe Prosser published the NSS Cave Diving Manual, which guided my education as a cave diver. Even before my first training class began, I knew I would seek out the location on the back cover of the book. I had never seen anything as beautiful. Years passed, but I never forgot about that image, depicting the immense formations found in Crystal Cave, Bermuda. The site was first discovered in 1905 by two boys who squeezed through a small hole in the ground to retrieve a lost cricket ball. The landow ..read more