New opportunity to explore the world's longest caves

Listen to this article The underwater world still holds many secrets for divers. It seemed that all caves and interesting diving sites were already discovered. It turns out that they are not! There is a place that has caused a great stir, and it is thanks to a Pole. It was Krzysztof Starnawski who discovered

ByAdam Sieczkowski

Published: October 4, 2010 - 00:00

Updated: February 9, 2023 - 01:33

Listen to this article

The underwater world still holds many secrets for divers. It seemed that all caves and interesting diving sites were already discovered. It turns out that they are not! There is a place that has caused a great stir, and it is thanks to a Pole. It was Krzysztof Starnawski who discovered the possibility of a new exploration of the longest caves in the world.

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San Actun and Dos Ojos are Mexican underwater cave systems. They rank second and third on the list of the longest in the world. Additionally, they are quite deep, as their main sequences are 100 metres underwater. They have still not been explored in their entirety. This may change thanks to Krzysztof Starnawski’s expedition, who intends to mark out new passages there. So far, divers have been exploring the underwater trails of the caves along marked routes. If the Pole’s exploration is successful, the system’s route may extend up to 233 thousand metres! Starnawski’s main task is to break through the 30-centimeter-long clamp that will connect the two caves together. This exploration, unfortunately, is very risky and requires excellent preparation of the divers, because they will have to spend nearly two hours underwater at a depth of 70 metres. In addition, the divers will have to break through a wall, which adds to the difficulty of their task.

As Starnawski himself emphasises, it is a challenge because staying under water for so long and at such a depth is something incredible. You can’t even compare it to breaking records in terms of the depth of immersion.

Krzysztof Starnawski’s expedition will certainly succeed, and thanks to this, divers will have the opportunity to dive in the longest cave in the world. At the moment it is OX Bel Ha, which also lies in Mexico. It is 180 thousand meters long. Thanks to the Pole, the world of underwater places to explore will become longer, giving divers new opportunities to explore it.

The film shows Krzysztof Starnawski in the Dos Palmas cave.