E071 - Robin Cuesta - The Caves of Sulawesi

This episode is brought to you by XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount, huge thanks to both for their support.   Robin Cuesta hails from France but has made his home in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, Sulawesi Indonesia. Long known for its brilliant ocean diving, Robin discovered that the region's geology included massive areas of limestone and that all of the water came from underground sources. If you are into cave diving you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that there was a strong possibility of Karst or solution caves and Robin set out to discover and explore many flooded caves in Sulawesi and the surrounding islands of Indonesia.   In this episode Robin shares how he got into diving and cave diving, how he moved to Indonesia and the amazing work that he is doing exploring the caves of Sulawesi, we talk about his journey to become a cave instructor, and how cave instructing supplements and enhances his exploration work. And then we get into his collaboration with other cave divers which has helped to grow his own exploration experience and then we share the importance of working with local communities and their leaders to enable Robin's work.   Enjoy, and thanks for your support. Steve