If you enjoy negotiating water, climbing or crawling, and using ropes extensively, caving is an adventure sport that can provide you with ongoing excitement.

Original exploration is an important goal for many cavers, as unexplored cave systems make up some of the last unexplored regions on Earth. In well-explored regions the most accessible caves have already been explored, and gaining new caves often requires digging or cave diving.

Caves have been explored out of necessity for thousands of years, but only in the last century or two has the activity become a sport. In recent decades caving has changed considerably due to the availability of modern protective wear and equipment.

Ropes are used for descending or ascending pitches or for protection. Knots commonly used in caving are the figure-of-eight- (or figure-of-nine-) loop, bowline, alpine butterfly, and Italian hitch. Ropes are usually rigged using bolts, slings, and karabiners. Helmets are worn to protect the head from bumps and falling rocks, and a caver’s primary light source is usually mounted on their helmet in order to keep their hands free.

Like other sports caving presents challenges to first timers, but with time, training and effort anyone can fall in love with caving and scale new heights of expertise, confidence, and precision.

For some cavers, joining a club is the only way that they can go caving safely and provides an opportunity to meet other people with the same interests. Clubs often have a hostel in a caving area, with reciprocal arrangements with club huts in other regions. For a beginner, the best clubs to join are those that have a training programme involving surface practice, rather than just expecting people to join in with the normal trips. Some clubs have a minimum age for joining, usually sixteen or eighteen, so it is best to check.

All cavers must take care to know the limits of their abilities, as the technical difficulty associated with the sport can often lead to serious injury. Hypothermia, falling, flooding, and physical exhaustion are the main risks of caving, and rescue from underground is difficult and time-consuming.

You can do your bit to preserve your health by observing the rules of conduct for cavers formulated by the National Caving Association. These rules are recognised throughout the UK as the standard code of conduct for caving, and are designed so everyone can have a safer time while caving.