Cave diving · Africa
Cave diving in Namibia
Namibia's cave diving is concentrated in the karst of the Otavi-Tsumeb-Grootfontein area in the north. Dragon's Breath Cave and Harasib Cave lead down to deep underground lakes that robotic sonar surveys and technical diving teams have explored, while Lake Otjikoto and Lake Guinas are open-air sinkhole lakes formed by collapsed caves. The waters are notable for an endemic, critically endangered cichlid and, at Otjikoto, for weapons dumped in 1915.
How access works
Most of the deep sites are on private farms, so access depends on the landowner and the documented dives were organised expeditions. Lake Otjikoto is a national heritage site: a 2009 report described diving there as restricted to people accompanied by Namibian Underwater Federation members through three named organisations, and a 2017 report said the site was administered by the National Heritage Council of Namibia and used for police and school dive training. No current official diving procedure was found.
A general summary; each site page gives its own dated access information.
4
Cave systems
Dragon's Breath Cave
Harasib Cave
Lake Guinas
Lake Otjikoto
4
Entrances and dive sites
| Site | Cave system | Type | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon's Breath CaveHarasib farm | Dragon's Breath Cave | Cave entrance | Private: owner permission required | |
 |
Lake Guinasbetween Otavi and Tsumeb | Lake Guinas | Sinkhole | Private: owner permission required |
 |
Lake Otjikotoabout 20 km north-west of Tsumeb | Lake Otjikoto | Sinkhole | Restricted access |
| Obab Cavesouthern border of Etosha National Park | — | Cave entrance | Private: owner permission required |
Every fact on this page, with its source (5)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon's Breath Cave holds a very large underground lake that a 2019 autonomous-robot survey mapped to about 205 m depth. | Reported | [1] [2] |
| Lake Otjikoto and Lake Guinas are sinkhole lakes near Tsumeb formed by the collapse of karst caves. | Reported | [3] [4] |
| Lake Guinas, Dragon's Breath and Obab Cave are on private land. | Reported | [5] [2] |
| In 2009 diving in Lake Otjikoto was managed by the Namibian Underwater Federation for the National Monuments Council and restricted to people accompanied by NUF members, through three named organisations.Newspaper report from 2009; no newer statement of the diving rules was found. | May be out of date | [6] |
| In 2017 Lake Otjikoto was administered by the National Heritage Council of Namibia and used by police divers and some schools for training. | Reported | [7] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction