By Natalie Gibb A quick googling of “scuba diving reels” results in over 1,330,000 results. There’s an overwhelming number of options, and one might assume that if a commercial dive gear company makes the effort to design and manufacture a reel or spool, that it would be good. Sadly, this …

Exciting and astonishingly beautiful, the cenotes and caves of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula have carved out a booming industry, and offer a truly unique perspective for divers Words and Photos by Natalie Gibb Flooded caves. For the uninitiated, they are the stuff of nightmares, conjuring visions of terrifying black tunnels …

By Natalie Gibb Fourteen years ago, the cave diving scene in Mexico looked a lot different than it does today: large, gruff men lounged on the tailgates of their pickup trucks, balancing backmount double tanks against the walls of their truck beds while they regaled each other with tales …

Words by Natalie Gibb Are you cave diving as much as you would like? Unless you are fortunate enough to live in a location with local cave diving, it’s safe to say that the answer this year is a resounding “No!” Even in less apocalyptic times, cave divers can …

  An apocalyptic nightmare is threatening dive sites in Tulum. The project, known as the ‘Tren Maya’ in Spanish, is an ill-conceived, poorly planned project to create a train corridor along the paradisiacal Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. It has already grossly disrupted tourism and resulted in the …

Technical & Cave Diver, Speaker, Entrepreneur How long have you been diving?  My first scuba experience was as a teenager. Although I have always been on the water, it wasn’t until my early twenties that I started my journey in the underwater world.  You were an Olympic diver, right?  …

By Natalie Gibb I cave dive every day. Flooded caves are one of the most difficult dive environments on the planet, and my job requires monitoring a variety of factors all at once: navigation, control, my buddy, and host of factors such as dive time, depth, time to surface, no-deco …

Words by Jill Heinerth There is a stone embedded in the pavement of my old Florida home, the embossed message reads “Gravity Sucks.” It is a humble reminder that I find my grace underwater. Frankly, I am a bit awkward on land, having flipped my van, crashed my motorcycle, …

Cave divers don’t get more passionate or curious than DIVER’s newest subterranean columnist… By Natalie Gibb Most people have never considered diving underground into a flooded cave. It’s not an activity that shows up on their radar. The fact that I do this for a living makes meeting people …

Explorer, Conservationist, Shark Professional, Writer How would you describe yourself? A passionate and dedicated individual with a desire for exploration, education, and conservation.  How long have you been diving? I have been diving for 24 years, and as a professional for the last 23. What made you want to …

In Orda of priority it’s No.1 Text by Bogdana Vashchenko / Photography by Victor Lyagushkin  – The Orda cave revolutionized cave diving in Russia. In every respect it’s a ‘dream’ compared to other sumps in the Russian Federation, and it also claims some bragging rights on the world stage. Extending more …

Announced a week ago at the TekDive USA show in Miami, the new Edge / Hog Gear sidemount system created a wee bit of interest to say the least. Little is officially known at this point, but that hasn’t stopped people getting excited at the prospect of a new, …