Cave Diving Under Budapest

Budapest – Hungary

Cave Diving Under Budapest 

As a PADI Dive Instructor, I’ve taught scuba diving around SE Asia for several years. I’ve met and dived with people from all over the world. Some are dive pros working like me and others are dive students and qualified divers. I’ve dived with people from as far away as Brazil, Russia, Japan, China, Australia, Israel, South Africa, USA and most European countries to local Asians from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Curiously, in recent years, Bali has attracted large numbers of Hungarian divers coming to tour the ‘Island of Gods’ and to go diving on Bali’s stunning reefs. Partly their arrival is due to a few key Hungarian dive pros who began working in Bali. I befriended two Hungarian dive instructor colleagues during my three dive seasons teaching there.

CAVE DIVING – Molnar Janos Cave – Budapest

One of those Hungarian friends told me about some very unique cave diving under the city of Budapest. He showed me photos and videos of his diving adventures in the Molnar-Janos Cave System, which really made a huge impression on me.

First of all, there aren’t many cities in the world where people dive under the city. Secondly, divers to Molnar-Janos have to enter the cave system via a manhole, which is barely big enough for a diver to squeeze through while wearing his/her dive equipment and double tanks. Within minutes, divers are descending a tight pitch black hole to reach the cave system below, which is full of water, also in pitch blackness. Brsheeowww- it gives me the willies just thinking of it.

entry point of Molnar Janos Cave – Budapest

You see, cave diving, of all the types of recreational diving, is one of the most dangerous by far. The danger is primarily a result of the overhead environment. From inside a cave, divers cannot make a direct, easy or quick ascent to the surface if needed. And that goes against one of the primary safety standards involved in recreational diving. According to standards, at any point during a dive, divers can ascend to the surface at a safe pace, reaching the surface within 30-60 seconds.

Such an unplanned ascent might be desirable or required if a diver were running low on air, felt panicky, ran into a stinging marine creature or had some other mild injury (both highly unlikely and rare occurrences). But simply having the ability to ascend at any time makes many divers feel calm and secure.

That important safety regulation goes out the window when cave diving. If a diver should need to surface while cave diving, he would first have to exit the cave. That makes the ascent much more stressful and time consuming.

Budapest Cave Diving – CAVE DIVING – Molnar Janos Cave – Budapest

Several other factors make cave diving more dangerous than other recreational diving. There’s the risk of getting lost because of the darkness and multiple tunnels and caverns. Deep and/or long caves are dark, requiring divers to carry lights. Even though everyone carries back up lights, there’s the possibility of light failure. Cave bottoms are often silty, so if a diver accidentally kicks the silt with a fin or otherwise bumps the bottom, the silt could quickly cloud up the water reducing visibility to nearly zero.

Cave diving also requires a lot more equipment and special procedures to use them properly. Cave divers usually carry double tanks instead of one, perhaps even a third tank. They each take a light and a back up light. They carry ropes to mark their way so as not to get lost.

double scuba tanks preparing for cave diving at Molnar Janos Caves – Budapest

Because of the potential dangers involved, cave diving requires special training, procedures and licensing. Generally speaking, basic divers should not be lead through caves.

In reality, dive guides sometimes bend this rule a bit when a cave, cavern or tunnel has very little overhead roof and is clearly illuminated by sunlight. I have to admit that I’ve dived through caves on several occasions, even while guiding certified divers, when the conditions offered little risk. For example I’ve entered the edge of high-ceiling caverns so we could peer inside. I’ve guided divers through short, wide, high-ceiling ‘cave tunnels’ where we could clearly see the other end in broad daylight.

Molnar Janos Cave entry – Budapest

So I’m not entirely adverse to cave diving, given easy conditions. But the underground cave diving in Budapest sounds entirely too creepy for the likes of me, instructor or not. I suppose I’m slightly claustrophobic when it comes to tight dark spaces, especially tight dark spaces underwater. Eeekk!

Would I ever try diving the Molnar-Janos cave with my well-experienced Hungarian dive pro friend? Not likely. But if I ever decide to give it a go, my friend has graciously invited me to stay at his apartment in Budapest. It’s hard to pass up a great chance like that. I would most definitely like to explore Budapest, dubbed one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Perhaps my friend wouldn’t hold me to the dive if I went to visit him in Budapest?

How about you? Would you like to dive the Molnar-Janos cave system? Clearly this is a dive only for experienced divers trained in cave diving. And those who are not claustrophobic. If this strikes your fancy, though, check out Budapest dive centers or feel free to contact me to put me in touch with my dive friends there.

Apparently, most visiting divers stay at the Csaszar Hotel since it’s only 100 M from the cave entry point. If you’d like to cut costs, other options include couch surfing, renting an apartment or youth hostels. If you’re going all the way to Budapest to dive, you really ought to stay at least one week there to check out the city. Perhaps you could stay at Csaszar Hotel the nights before & after your dive then switch to other accommodation.

——————————————————————————————————————–

QUESTIONS: 

Have you done any cave diving? What did you think of it? 

If not, would you like to? Why or why not? 

——————————————————————————————————————–

You might also like to read: 

Guide to Scuba Diving in Malaysia 

Guide to Scuba Diving in Thailand

(* Flckr CC photo credits: tauchsport-steininger   /  marcomartinscosta *)

——————————————————-————————————————————————-

You might also enjoy:

Five Great Scuba Diving Destinations Around Europe That I’m Itching to Explore LIBERTY SHIPWRECK DIVE SITE PHOTO GALLERY: CLOWNFISH- aka ANEMONE FISH River Cruises in Europe