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Plumbing the Depths of the Largest Underwater Gypsum Cave on Earth 

The first time I went to the Orda cave in 2005 I immediately fell in love with it,” cave diver Bogdana Vashchenko tells Environmental Graffiti. Her husband Viktor Lyagushkin is the photographer who took these stunning photos, part of a book project called Orda Cave Awareness. “It was an incomparable delight,” she enthuses, “floating in zero gravity in giant rooms filled with absolutely clear water.”

Entering the icy waters of the cave system’s submerged section is a challenge in itself. The temperature can be a freezing -20°C (-4°F) at the surface, with the water temperature itself a heart-stopping 5°C (41°F). Making matters more difficult are the slippery steps and ladders one must navigate when descending from the surface entrance down to the water.

As you enter the cave you feel the air temperature drop and you just know the water will be cold,” says another cave diver, Lamar Hires, of the descent into the Orda Cave. “There were patches of ice in the cave left from the previous winter thaw.” Chilling – quite literally!

Yet the rewards are great for braving the frigid waters. “Orda Cave is very diverse and each passage is different,” says Vashchenko. “Therefore, swimming in it is never boring. Each dive is very different. Moreover, it is not completely explored and you can always find a place where nobody else has been. This inspires me for each new dive.”

“For millions of years this amazing place has existed,” says Vashchenko, offering a glimpse of a grand history that makes our existence on the planet pale in comparison. “Water formed this palace when there were no humans here to see it.”

But now, of course, there are. “It is a special feeling,” she says of exploring the caves. “I think it's the same feeling cosmonauts have on the Moon. You are hanging with no gravity in this strange, unusual world. You fly like a bird over its landscapes.

For those not in the know, cave diving is a combination of two occasionally risky but popular sports – caving and SCUBA diving. The result is an activity that is far more challenging and potentially more dangerous than either activity considered separately.

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