Sump Diving in Tennessee: Exploring the Unknown

Come along with us as we take some cave divers back to this spring cave over in Sequatchie County, Tennessee that we have been working on as a project cave for a few years. We first visited this cave back in 2016 when I visited it on a weeknight trip. A good friend of mine said we needed to visit it as it's normally full of water and we were in a drought at that time. When I first went in and I saw the sump, I immediately knew we had to bring some cave divers back to this cave to further explore it. Due to the tight squeeze at the entrance, we also knew we had to get divers in there before the water levels came back up. Within a month, Jason was back over there to survey the dry part and had cave diver Chris Garguilo from Virginia who first dove it. Chris was able to make it approximately 300 feet through the sump and reported he had come out into dry cave passage. Because he was wearing dive gear and not normal cave gear, he did not go very far into the dry passage and reported it went for at least 100 feet or more.

Years went by as Jason and I worked on other cave survey projects and searched for another cave diver to come along that could continue to push this cave. We knew there had to be more cave there and it was just waiting to be discovered. Also in the meantime, another good friend of ours was doing some dye trace studies in the area and he was able to connect this spring with multiple water sources within the cove. This also proved what we already suspected, there was more cave there and the potential to connect to another nearby cave as it was proven hydrologically to do so in that study.

In the fall of 2023 we had another drought so decided we would modify the entrance of the cave to make it a bit easier for the cave divers to get their tanks in and out of the cave anytime of year. It would also allow the cave divers the option to visit when the water is up and flowing out of the spring. After we modified the entrance, we also installed a dive line so it would not have to be done later by the divers.

In September of 2024, we finally were able to get a team of two divers: Robby Jones and Joseph William Firkaly-Paciera III to continue the exploration and survey at this cave. In this video we show their dive as well as what they discovered when they came up into that dry passage. Please note all underwater dive video by Joseph William Firkaly-Paciera III.

A visit showing the cave while it is in drought conditions in September 2023:    • An Underwater Cave During A Tennessee...  

Our video of when we modified the entrance:    • Epic Cave Modification: Hilti Gas Pow...  

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Music used in video:
Six Seasons by Unicorn Heads
Dreaming in 432Hz by Unicorn Heads
Spirit of Fire by Jesse Gallagher