Diving in a Cave

A few of us went diving in a cave somewhere in the area of Bau, Kuching the day before. Yes, we dived in a cave. A high-ceilinged cave, with a small body of water from the entrance halfway into the cave. This was no cave diving in the normal perception.

It was raining heavily in the morning before we went up to the cave in four vehicles. Some were worried about the weather, some were worried about the darkness underwater, some were worried about the cold water, but mostly, at least for me, I was more worried about the mountain rush of flood that was known to sweep people away.

The rain stopped when we reached the cave, which was situated off road, some distance away into the bushes. There was a trail for a single car to pass through, which was both rocky and muddy. Trees and underbushes had overgrown over the track, hitting the windscreen everytime we passed. I drove my Pajero as slow as I could, while CS and Angel chatted. Angel was all bubbly with excitement. It had been a while since I last saw her this elated.

We parked in a small clearing just outside the cave. Then, we changed and got our gears ready. I was a little slow and unorganized. It had been two months since I last dived. You get a little rusty after a while.

The cave was a lime-stoned cave, with high-rising walls that reached about eight metres in height. The walls were rough and red, with different rock formation. When light was shine upon them, it glittered with gold colours. It was once a gold mine.

The water was right at the entrance. When disturbed, the sediments at the bottom would muddied it. The sediment particles were red, like the walls. They were not exactly mud, nor sand, or even silt. I would just call them red sendiments for the time being.

With our fins and torch in hand, we wadded into the cold water. David was our guide, and he brought us in. Everyone was rather disorganised in the first place. It was dark, and the visibility rather bad. Everybody tried to stick together, which in the end caused us all to bump together, like a school of big fish.

The water was swallow, 4 to 5 metres deep at most. Thus, it was important that we keep ourselves buoyant and not disturbed the sediment bed. Lights were shining everywhere from torches and camera flashes (we brought underwater cameras). There was nothing much on the bottom except for rocks and sediments and a few near transparent fishes. These fishes were so small and thin, that it made you think of those who were never fed enough. The fishes were non-responsive when the lights were shone on them. They were either not used to having to run from danger, or they were just too starved tired to give you a damn.

It was not long before we came to the end of the water body in the cave. From the shore up it was another long passageway deep into the darkness. We could still see light from where we entered the water. There was a bend halfway down the cave, but it was not so steep that it blocked out the light.

The few of us took a few pictures at the end of the water body before we submerged again and dived our way back. We were getting colder by the minute. At one point, my light went out. It was not just mine. A few of us suffered the same fate underwater. The light would come again when we surfaced, and off a little while later underwater. We were guessing that it was the cold that turned the lights off.

This was not exactly cave diving. But it was really a unique experience, and a good introduction if one was interested in cave diving. I won't mind trying another cave dive, but not this cave anymore.