New milestone in exploration of STS-01 cave

Today, exploration of a long-forgotten underwater cave was resumed in the Racha region. The previous exploration was conducted in 1984 by the famous speleodiver Kiselev, who reached a distance of 65 meters from the entrance with a maximum depth of 15 meters. During his second dive, he pushed further to the 100-meter mark, maintaining the same maximum depth. He did not leave a guideline or any maps that I could locate, so for this expedition the exploration had to begin from scratch.

I have laid a total of 180 meters of line and reached a maximum depth of 21 meters. The cave has a fluctuating depth and profile, and it is suitable only for sidemount due to several restrictions. Water temperature was 6°C, and visibility was good, although the walls were covered with a thin layer of silt, making the return trip difficult and, in some sections, zero-visibility.

Due to the challenging profile, I was unable to push farther because of bailout limits. Exploration will continue.