Cave diving pioneer the late Sheck Exley from Florida, USA, introduced the concept of Accident Analysis in order to develop cave diver rules of survival and training standards, and to curb the flood of deaths in the sport - 26 divers died in caves in Florida in 1974! In his seminal work, Basic Cave Diving - a blueprint for survival, Exley came up with the five minimal rules for safe cave and cavern diving from closely examining the mistakes of those divers who did not survive:

1. Be trained in cavern or cave diving and dive within the limits of your training.
2. Always run a single continuous guideline from the open water.
3. Always reserve at least two-thirds of your beginning gas supply for the exit.
4. Do not dive too deep. Stay within your training, experience level and ability.
5. Always use a minimum three lights per diver.

There have been 17 deaths of divers while cave diving in Australia between 1969 and 2025. The majority of these occurred between 1969 and 1974 - 11 fatalities in total. This was before cave diver training and standards had developed and become recognised by the diving community to safely participate in the sport. The 10 incidents that led to the passing of the 17 divers will be examined in this series of articles. From the analysis of each, others may learn and not make the same mistakes of the past.

Case 1: Kilsbys Sinkhole 1969

Case 2: Piccaninnie Ponds 1972

Case 3: The Death Cave 1972

Case 4: The Shaft 1973

Case 5: Piccaninnie Ponds 1974

This series of articles chronicles the history of exploration in Tank Cave (a work in progress):

Tank Cave ... the exploration continues - Tony Richardson - September 1994

Brief Exploration and Mapping History of Tank Cave - Phil Prust - January 2002

Brief History of Tank Cave - Peter Horne - August 2007

1961: First dive in Cocklebiddy by divers from Western Australia Speleological Group (WASG). Managed to establish that there was a submerged tunnel, 200 metres from the cave entrance, but were unable to swim much distance due to lack of gear.

1972: First large scale expedition. Adelaide divers were Ian Lewis, Phil Prust, Dave Warnes and Bob Turnbull while Bob Lea, and Ron and Denyse Doughton were from Sydney. Several hundred metres of line were laid in a northward direction.

In 1971-72 the first diving Nullarbor Caves Expedition took place with Phil Prust, Dave Warnes, Ian Lewis, Bob Lea, Bob Turnbull, and Ron and Denyse Doughton from Sydney. The divers were supported by dry cavers from CEGSA, WASG, Rover Scouts and others. A total party of about 60!, although not all were out on the Nullarbor at the same time. The 10 known caves with lakes were systematically dived and a total of 500 metres of underwater passages were found. These caves included Weebubbie Cave, Cocklebiddy Cave, Pannikin Plains Cave, Tommy Grahams Cave, Murra-El-Elevyn Cave and Mullamullang Cave.

Dave Warnes has been cave diving for about 50 years. At age 75 he is the oldest active cave diver in Australia.

Dave started cave diving in the Lower South East in the 1960's. He sat on the steering committee for the development of cave diving standards after a series of cave diving fatalities in the late 60's and early 70's. Dave was elected the founding president of the Cave Divers Association of Australia and holds life membership with that organisation. He was responsible for discovery and exploration of a number of caves in the Lower South East and on the Nullarbor.

Cocklebiddy LakeThe current era of diving on the plain was ushered in during 1972 with Ian Lewis and other South Australians systematically diving in some of the then 10 known caves with lakes. A total of 500 metres of underwater passages were found but limited organisation prevented further exploration. It must be added that at this time, the largest penetration dive attempted in Australia had been carried out by the Underwater Explorer's Club of Tasmania in Kubla Khan, a distance of 502 metres.

Over the Christmas-New Year of 1973/74 the second Nullarbor cave diving expedition proceeded to dive in all the remaining wet caves except Winbirri, which couldn't be found. At this stage the divers were using only single tanks, 6 volt sealed beam lights and reels which could only be described as archaic. However, the two divers, Ian Lewis and Keith Deckers, were still able to add 1300 metres more to existing caves and, in particular, the spectacular Tommy Graham's system.

The newly formed Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA) held two conferences early on in its history to educate divers on all manner of topics related to cave diving.

Conference 1 - August 1977:

• The First Years of the Cave Diver Testing Program
• Summary of Cave Diving Deaths in Australia
• Penetration Diving on the Nullarbor
• Cave Diving Light
• Guideline Reels
• The Geology of Caves
• Mapping of Underwater Caves

Download the Conference 1 Occasional Paper

Conference 2 - September 1979:

• Fossils from Fossil Cave
• Diving for Fossils
• Safety with Belay Techniques and Laddering
• Hydrogeology of the Mount Gambier Region
• Cave Diving at Jenolan Caves
• August 1979 Cocklebiddy Cave Diving Expedition

Download the Conference 2 Occasional Paper