Sinkhole
The Shaft
Basic Cave: CDAA site rating [1] (Rating as listed in the CDAA site directory.). These categories are the named scheme's own; they describe the training a site calls for.
A huge water-filled chamber under a paddock near Allendale East, entered through a roughly one-metre hole. Closed after four deaths in 1973; now dived by CDAA members only, through approved guides.
The Shaft is a private sinkhole whose only opening is a small hole in a paddock. Divers and equipment are lowered separately about seven metres to the water surface, then descend into an oval chamber that a 2017 press report puts at about 140 m long. A rock pile tops out around 36 m, and two tunnels lead deeper: one to the north-west to about 80 m, and an eastern tunnel, past restrictions near 57 m, to a rock pile at 124 m.
The site was popular with divers in the late 1960s and early 1970s but closed in 1973 after four divers died there. The CDAA says public reaction to those deaths was the main reason the association was founded to regulate cave diving. A CDAA Research Group mapping project completed in 1984 led to renewed access, organised by a group of guides who set schedules and standards for qualified members.
The environment
One very large, clear freshwater chamber below a dry entry shaft, with a rock pile and two deep tunnels.
For orientation, not navigation. Hollow dots are approximate.
Every fact on this page, with its source (11)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The CDAA site directory lists The Shaft (5L158) as Basic Cave on private land. | Verified | [1] |
| An Australian Speleological Federation team explored the eastern tunnel in 2002-03 to a rock pile at a maximum depth of 124 m.Press feature quoting a member of the 2002-03 team; no published survey was opened. | Reported | [4] |
| The roughly one-metre entrance hole opens into a dry chamber that drops about seven metres to the water surface. | Reported | [4] |
| The main chamber spans about 140 m, a rock pile begins around 36 m, and a north-western tunnel reaches about 80 m.2017 press figures. | Reported | [4] |
| The Shaft was closed in 1973 after four divers died there, and public reaction was the main reason the CDAA was formed. | Verified | [2] [3] |
| A CDAA Research Group mapping project was completed in 1984 after lengthy negotiations with the owners.The 2017 press report says the 1984 project used 73 mapping and photographic dives. | Verified | [2] [4] |
| The landowner requires access via approved guides who are CDAA members. | Verified | [2] [3] |
| A fee is payable directly to the guide on the day of the dive.Amount not published. | Verified | [2] |
| The site is entered by wire rope ladder or rope access, decided by the site access guide on the day. | Verified | [2] |
| Coordinates are the Allendale East locality centre, not the entrance.Private site; entrance location withheld. | Verified | [5] |
| Coordinates are the Allendale East locality centre, not the entrance.Private site; entrance location withheld. | 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