Cave diving · Europe
Cave diving in United Kingdom
British cave diving is mostly sump diving: passing flooded sections inside caves, which the CDG describes as specialised and often done in poor conditions. It grew from dives at Wookey Hole in Somerset in the 1930s and is organised mainly through the Cave Diving Group (CDG), founded in 1946, whose members have set British depth and distance marks in Wookey Hole and the Kingsdale system.
How access works
The UK caves covered here are on private farmland or open access land, with access arrangements published by regional caving bodies such as the Council of Northern Caving Clubs (CNCC); some require a courtesy call or permission from the landowner, and some ask divers to be CDG members. The CDG trains its own members through a mentored trainee scheme and works with landowners and access bodies. None of the UK sites in this file has a commercial guided-diving operation.
A general summary; each site page gives its own dated access information.
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Cave systems
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Entrances and dive sites
| Site | Cave system | Type | Access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Keld HeadWest Kingsdale, near Ingleton | Kingsdale system (Keld Head) | Resurgence | Restricted access |
| King PotEast Kingsdale, near Ingleton | Kingsdale system (Keld Head) | Cave entrance | Open to qualified divers, with conditions |
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Dive centres and guides
| Provider | Where | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Cave Diving Group (CDG) | — | 2026-10-14 |
A listing is not an endorsement.
Every fact on this page, with its source (6)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The CDG was founded in 1946 and describes itself as the representative body for cave divers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. | Verified | [1] |
| Cave divers pushed into Wookey Hole in the 1930s; the show cave calls it the birthplace of British cave diving. | Verified | [4] |
| The British cave-diving depth record of 90 m was set at Wookey Hole in 2004-2005. | Verified | [3] |
| The CNCC publishes per-cave access notes; at Keld Head a courtesy call at the farm is required and visitors should carry CDG membership cards. | Verified | [2] |
| The CDG works with landowners and access bodies to maintain responsible access to cave systems. | Verified | [1] |
| CDG training aims to prepare divers for solo cave diving in often poor conditions. | Verified | [5] |
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