The first recorded death of a diver in a water-filled cave in the United States occurred in 1955 at Radium Springs in South Georgia. Since that time there have been over 300 recorded deaths of divers and even instructors in our beautiful underwater caves. The greatest contributing factor in these tragedies is lack of cave diving training.
Water filled caves and all overhead environments present a unique set of hazards that most SCUBA divers are not prepared for. From lessons learned from these tragedies we have developed protocols, techniques, equipment, and training programs to allow divers to safely enter caves and overhead environments. Cave diving requires very specialized equipment 
where redundancy is vital. It requires an advanced skill set involving precise buoyancy control, special propulsion techniques, and guideline skills, just to name a few. Training courses are available to interested divers who wish to learn the skills to safely dive in overhead environments and the Cavern Course is the first step. Without proper training and equipment venturing into underwater caves and any overhead environment is like playing a game of “Russian Roulette” and “There is nothing in any cave worth dying for.”
All divers should be warned of these hazards and in the Spring of 2016 the ADM Exploration Foundation produced a powerful new video for SCUBA instructors to use as a tool to warn divers of the dangers. The Florida Dive Connection team is proud to have been involved with the production and our goal is for every SCUBA diver to see this video and stay safe. Please share it and encourage instructors to show it to all new divers.