Revisiting the Legacy of Sheck Exley

Lead image: Sheck Exley speaking at the Tek.93 conference in Orlando, FL January, 1993.

This month, we thought we’d take the opportunity to revisit the legacy of the late, extraordinary cave explorer Sheck Exley (April 1, 1949-April 6, 1994). 

Certified in scuba at the age of 16, Sheck became the first person to log a thousand cave dives, accomplishing this feat in less than seven years. Over the nearly three decades that followed, Sheck explored and surveyed most of the world’s known deep water cave systems. In the process, he pioneered many of the fundamental methods, techniques, and equipment used in cave diving, invented the redundant second-stage regulator, developed accident analysis for cave diving, adapted mixed gas technology to open circuit scuba, and formed the Cave Diving Section as a chapter or “grotto” of the National Speleological Society (NSS-CDS) in 1973.

If Sheck were alive today, he’d be 76 years old, and I have to believe that he would still be actively engaged in the community that he loved and helped nourish.  Remarkedly, his 250m+ deep dives at Mante and Bushmansgat in the late 1980s/early 90s, before most of the industry could even spell N-I-T-R-O-X, still qualifies today as extraordinary exposures, attained by only a handful of explorers today. And there’s no doubt we would feature his exploits in InDEPTH, as we did in aquaCORPS Journal, back in the day. 

In this issue of InDEPTH, we feature a story published in International Caver magazine in 1981, by then young up-and-coming caver, Bill Stone, about first meeting Exley and his subsequent apprenticeship to learn cave diving. 

Next, we offer up tributes and remembrances from more than a dozen cave diving pioneers, many of whom were contemporaries of Sheck, including Nuno Gomes, Larry Green, Jill Heinerth, Paul Heinerth, Lamar Hires, Jarrod Jablonski, Woody Jasper, Brian Kakuk, Ann Kristovich & Jim Bowden, Bill Hogarth Main, Dr. Drew Richardson, Robbie Schmitter, Court Smith, Edd Sorenson, Richard Taylor, Michael Thomas, and Patrick Widman.

In addition, we feature something special: several videos from the day including two of diving with Sheck, as well as a recording of a panel discussion held at the 1981 National Speleological Society-Cave Diving Section (NSS-CDS) workshop on “Women In Cave Diving,” where Sheck was one of the panelists. Thank retired cave explorer Dale Sweet for these amazing and intimate historical time capsules. We also feature a 1993/94 Q&A video with Sheck sporting his Tek.93 T-shirt. Unfortunately, we have misplaced the name of the source of this video. Thank you, whoever you are!

Lastly, we are happy to republish Underwater Speleology editor Barbara J. Dwyer’s epic recounting, “ Homage to a Legend: Sheck Exley, which ran in the Q4 2022 issue of Journal of Diving History. 

Of course, we take a moment to promote the upcoming NSS-CDS International Cave Diving Conference in late May, 2025.

There’s also a link to Sheck’s books at the online NSS-CDS bookshop; “Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival,” “Caverns Measureless To Man,” and ” The Taming of the Slough—A Comprehensive History of Peacock Springs.”

We hope you enjoy this deep dive into history. R.I.P. Brother Sheck!—M2

Here is our original celebration of Sheck, published in April, 2021:

Sheck Exley on film, courtesy of cave explorer Dale Sweet:

The First Team Down: Sheck Exley leads an exploration dive at Hornsby Sink in 1982 with Mary Ellen Eckhoff, Bill & Jane Main, Clark Pitcairn, Paul & Kate Deloach and John Zumrick.

Dive with Sheck Exley and Paul Deloach at Hole in the Wall spring circa 1984

1981 NSS-CDS Cave Diving Workshop: Women in Cave Diving chaired by Bill Fehring with panelists; Sheck Exley, India Young, Shannon Heinerth, and John Zumrick.

Question and Answers with Sheck Exley sporting his TEK.93 T-shirt. Sheck was a speaker at the Tek.93, held in Orlando, FL. It was the first technical diving conference.

Our friends at the Historical Diving Society (HDS) published a cover story about Sheck Exley in Q4 2022. You can find it here:  Homage to a Legend: Sheck Exley by Barbara J. Dwyer, editor of Underwater Speleology. Consider becoming a member (click here): The Historical Diving Society.

You can purchase copies Sheck’s books; Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival, Caverns Measureless To Man, and The Taming of the Slough-History of Peacock Springs, and more here at the NSS-CDS online bookstore. 

DIVE DEEPER

Great Dive Podcast: Episode 406 – Boesmansgat Dives From Sheck’s Journal And Nuno’s Book

InDEPTH: NSS-CDS Guide May Have Found Exley’s “Lost” Tunnel At Madison Blue

InDEPTH: A Page Out of History: Sheck Exley’s 1989 Mante Table (867 ft/265m)

aquaCORPS: Exley On Mix  from aquaCORPS #4 MIX (JAN 1992)

aquaCORPS: It’s Your Call Sheck’s story about machismo and the tragic death of his brother from aquaCORPS’ technicalDiver 3.2 (OCT 1992) 

aquaCORPS: What happened to Sheck Exley? by Bill Hamilton, Ann Kristovich And Jim Bowden from aquaCORPS #9 Wreckers (JAN95)