Exploration and discovery are among the most wonderful experiences in the world, just as humans have aspired to fly since ancient times.
Cave diving fulfills the desire to explore—every dive could take you to places never before reached by mankind.
— Wang Yuan, founder of China’s technical diving organization WUD
Photo provided by Wang Yuan
A world belonging to only one in ten million
Compared to the increasingly mainstream sport of diving,“cave diving”can be considered an upgraded version of extreme sports. Whether in terms of difficulty or equipment, it takes things further, no longer accessible to the general public. Among Earth’s 7 billion people, only a very small number are qualified to enter this silent and dark world.
Photo provided by:Wang Yuan
A former criminal police officer, Wang Yuan began diving in 2005, learned wreck diving in 2007, started cave diving in 2008, and founded the WUD underwater exploration organization in 2010. To date, it has become a leading domestic team practicing and promoting technical diving.When someone has been doing the same thing for 10 years, that sport becomes part of their life.
Photo provided by: Wang Yuan
Cave diving is about appreciation and preservation
“When you stand before caves formed millions or even more years ago, human life seems just a blink. We go cave diving not to conquer the caves but to appreciate and protect them.”
As a seasoned cave diver with over 500 dives under his belt, Wang Yuan’s footsteps span dozens of countries.Each time he conducts deep dives in freshwater lakes in China, he gains new insights—the complex unknown terrains and hidden caves satisfy his desire for exploration, while some polluted environments have driven himto dedicate himself topromoting water source protectionand documenting underwater ruins and flora and fauna.
The most worth-exploring underground river systems
China boasts abundant resources for cave diving, especiallythe karst landscape in Du’an County, Guangxi, represented by the Disu Underground River System.It features long flow paths, large catchment areas, complex structural forms, spectacular conduit scales, and concentrated discharge volumes. It is currently the longest explored underground river in China and the first underground river named academically in the world.
Photo provided by: Wang Yuan
Wang Yuan’s WUD team has visited Guangxi multiple times to explore underground river cave diving andfounded the Guangxi Karst Survey Project (GXKSP) in 2014, the Philippines Karst Survey Project (PHKSP) in 2015, and the China Freshwater Lake Deep Dive Exploration Project (CFLEP) in 2016.
Photo provided by: Wang Yuan
Add a Chinese coordinate to the world’s cave records
In late May this year, they just completed the first exploration of Green Grotto Pool in 2017,Located in Yanqian Village, Meizhou, Guangdong, Green Grotto Pool has a water surface of over 100 square meters. The pool is surrounded by bizarrely shaped rocks of various forms, and the space inside is quite large. The water temperature varies slightly, with the underwater area divided into two layers — the upper part is slightly warmer, while the bottom is colder, at about 20°C.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
For centuries, Green Grotto Pool has been the place where the Li clan from Yanqian Village and nearby villages punished villagers who violated local customs or feudal clan rules: women deemed unchaste or men caught stealing could be shackled with iron chains, placed in bamboo “pig cages,” and thrown into the pool to drown — a practice known as “immersing in Green Grotto.” It was the harshest punishment of the time. During dives, you can see more than a dozen skeletons at the bottom of the pool.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
Wang Yuan’sWUD teamIn this underwater cave with visibility of no more than 20 meters, they carried out tasks such as setting up survey stations, clearing old route ropes and debris from the pool bottom, and correcting the main guideline.They also successfully established propulsion training lines at depths of 50–65 meters, along with various jump line training routes.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
The prerequisite for accurate surveying is setting up a continuous guideline. At every corner of the route, a survey station is established. Two teams take turns using a compass to verify angles at the station with each other to ensure data reliability. We also record the depth of the station, the distances up, down, left, and right within the cave, and estimate the distance between stations based on the number of fixed-distance nodes pre-tied along the guideline.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
After the data is repeatedly verified for accuracy, all information is input into surveying software (such as COMPASS). We adjust the map based on the cave’s underwater features and use GPS data from the cave entrance to generate an actual cave map in Google Earth.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
Surveying in Green Grotto Pool is far more challenging than exploring many shallow-water stalactite caves abroad due to its vast passages and depths exceeding 50 meters. Typically, gathering information for each survey station may require multiple divers and dives. Every step forward embodies the effort and dedication of China’s cave divers.
Photo credit: Wang Yuan
Possessing a heart that is always eager to explore the unknown
You never know what might happen in the dark depths — cave ceilings may collapse, oxygen tanks may get stuck, or guidelines may be lost... Any small accident can lead to unimaginable consequences. Exceptional personal skills, good teamwork, clear diving awareness, and the right diving gear are essential preparations for every diver.
When I contacted Wang Yuan, he was still in Guangxi, having just completed the survey of Lingwan Lake in June and preparing to explore other caves. He said: The world is so big, you musthave a heart that is always eager to explore the unknown. Your life may not be extended, but it will continue to be full of passion.