What are facts about caves?

Answer 1

They are interesting and exotic trips into the bowels of the earth, and are not for the timid or faint of heart, should Never be entered alone, should Never be entered without proper equipment and should Never be entered without well supervised advanced training. Even more exotic and risky is cave diving which should Never, Never be entered alone, should Never, Never be entered without proper equipment and should Never, Never be entered without full certification by a qualified instructor in cave diving.

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I'm not sure what you mean by "advanced" training. The first few trips undertaken by novices do not involve advanced skills such as Single Rope Techniques (SRT: abseiling and its reverse, "prusiking" - one "s", named after its Austrian inventor, Karl Prusik). You can't enter a cave as a complete beginner with "advanced" training because that axiomatically involves high general caving skill gained only by experience!

Actually I have met few cavers who had the formal training you imply, except in short SRT courses in surface venues, most by peers within their clubs, not formally-qualified instructors. That's because there are no "qualifications" in caving, though there are in teaching caving.

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I would add to cave diving that you should be proficient in caving before learning to cave-dive. Whilst there are water-filled caves enterable from their resurgences (springs) you need to understand what you in in, and the objective hazards it presents, before trying it. Also of course, unless you know how to negotiate caves, how would you negotiate any "dry" passage beyond the "sump"? Cave-diving is a specialist extension to caving, not a "sport" of its own, and even among experienced, skilled cavers, few have the desire or nerve to take it up.