Slovakia – Caves, Sumps & Karst Springs
Slovakia has thousands of caves, and every one is a natural monument under the Nature Protection Act: entering a cave that is not open to the public is prohibited, and exploration needs the consent of the nature-protection authority. So there is no tourist or commercial cave diving – what exists is decades of sump exploration by the Slovak Speleological Society (SSS) and Czech partners. In the Slovak Karst (UNESCO, shared with Hungary's Aggtelek) the greatest prize is Skalistý potok on the Jasov plateau, where divers passed 22 sumps between 1982 and 2000; in the 203 m Kunia priepasť they dived the lake at −150 m. In the Low Tatras the 'Water Road' links the Demänová Cave of Liberty with the Vyvieranie spring – Vladimír Žikeš swam it solo in 1982–83 and died in its Pekelný sump in 1984. The only site with something like regular diving, the thermal Morské oko at Tornaľa, has been registered as a cave since 2006 and diving there is administratively restricted. Show caves such as Domica or Gombasecká have no diving and are not listed. Sites are listed so that you know what is there and who to ask – never to be dived without the permits.