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Sinkhole and dive site in South Africa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boesmansgat (or Bushmansgat), also known in English as "Bushman's Hole", is a deep submerged freshwater cave (or sinkhole) in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, which has been dived to a depth of 282.6 metres (927 ft).
Boesmansgat | |
---|---|
Location | Daniëlskuil, Northern Cape |
Coordinates | 27°55′18″S 23°38′30″E |
Depth | 283 m (928 ft) |
Elevation | 1500 metres |
Boesmansgat was believed to have first been explored by amateur diver Mike Rathbourne, in 1977.[citation needed] The greatest depth attained was by Nuno Gomes in 1996, diving to a depth of 282.6 metres (927 ft). Its altitude of over 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) makes this a particularly challenging dive, requiring a decompression schedule equivalent for a dive to 339 metres (1,112 ft) at sea level.[1] Gomes' dive was a close call, as he got stuck in the mud on the bottom of Bushman's Hole for two minutes before escaping.[2]
On 24 November 2004, Verna van Schaik set the Guinness Woman's World Record for the deepest dive by diving down to a depth of 221 metres (725 ft).[3]
In October 2022 Karen van den Oever broke her own Guinness World Record[4] as the world’s deepest diving woman when she descended to 246.65 metres (809.2 ft) using open-circuit equipment.[5]
In Mo Hayder's novel Ritual (2008), the death of the parents of one of the protagonists while diving in Bushman's Hole is an important plot device.[9]
The 2005 attempt to recover Deon Dreyer's body that led to the death of Dave Shaw is the subject of the 2020 documentary Dave Not Coming Back.
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