Exploration of virgin sump in the end of 4.5km long Melouri cave

A solo reconnaissance dive was carried out in the final siphon of Melouri Cave! The exploration of Melouri Cave has advanced. 🇬🇪 My passion for caves and cave diving allows me to push the limits of my abilities, discover new caves, and study already known ones in greater detail.

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to do what I love most in one of the largest and most important cave regions of Georgia – the Tskaltubo cave system. One of the highlights of this system is Melouri Cave, one of the largest caves in Georgia. It stretches for kilometers and its exploration requires a great deal of time. Melouri is a wild cave, not suitable for casual tourists; however, if you ever decide to visit, experienced guides can offer proper tours.

Reaching the terminal siphon (the cave’s end point) was not easy, as the path was full of obstacles. Melouri Cave is remarkable because of its geomorphological diversity, with many contrasting sections. Vast, tall chambers are followed by sloping passages filled with massive boulders, which in turn lead to canyons decorated with beautiful dripstone formations.

After hours of carrying heavy gear across difficult underground terrain and through water-filled canyons, our team finally reached the last siphon, more than two kilometers from the entrance. There, alongside the dry passage, an underground river flowed through a very low and wide gallery. The dry section ended in an impassable jumble of boulders and a sub-horizontal, rising passage that might one day provide an exit to the surface. By descending the scree and crawling through narrow openings, it was possible to reach the bank of the underground river. The crack leading directly to the water was quite narrow, as can also be seen in the video.

In the main chamber, I carefully prepared my equipment, divided it into speleo-packs, and, with the team’s help, transported it to the final point. After a long preparation process, I managed to enter the underground river. For safety during the dive, I used the traditional method of laying a rope, in case of strong current. Fortunately, the flow was not fast, and as I swam into the crack with full gear, the turbid water carried me along. The water temperature was 11 °C. I was wearing a two-piece neoprene wetsuit and knew that because of the risk of hypothermia, my time was limited. Given the restricted preparation area and the narrowness of the crack, I decided not to use a drysuit, which saved both weight and bulk.

After checking the gear, I entered the water, surveyed the surroundings, and found a way to the next section, which did not require diving. I quickly called out to the smallest and most agile member of our team, Alisa, to investigate this new passage. Meanwhile, I dove and followed the wall of the new parallel passage to the right. Visibility in the siphon was good (over 50 cm). My reliable Orcatorch Mazu headlamp worked flawlessly, and thanks to its narrow beam, my vision was not impaired. From time to time, I checked the ceiling, and when I finally saw the water surface instead of rock above me, I surfaced. The siphon was about 8 meters long. As soon as I surfaced, I saw Alisa’s face, waiting beyond an impassable hole at the beginning of the new dry section. This dry passage ended suddenly after a few meters, but the water flow continued, likely into the next siphon. I used the last few meters of my line, dove, swam through the next 3-meter siphon, and confirmed that it continued further with no visible obstacles. Then I returned to my reliable teammate, Valeri Barbaqadze, who was tending my line.

Mission accomplished! We confirmed that the cave continues and requires further exploration. This is a significant step in the study of the Tskaltubo cave system, as no one had ever before managed to transport equipment this far and dive at this point. We will definitely return and push even further.

I want to thank Adventure Tourism School, Valeri Barbaqadze, Gigo Oniani, Beto Mikadze, and Vakho Chikhradze for giving me the opportunity to take part in the Extreme Speleo Guide course and to be part of this incredible team of cave explorers.

I also want to express my deepest respect and gratitude to Amiran Jamrishvili, one of the pioneers of cave diving in Georgia, who inspired this expedition.

This expedition would have been impossible without the extraordinary team that carried the diving gear all the way to the final point and supported me during the dive. Thanks to Valeri Barbaqadze, Giorgi Burjanadze, Beto Mikadze, Mari Tsulaia, Alisa Sanakoeva, and Lado Mumladze.