Hell Complex
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Location
Doolin Point. From Fisher Street in Doolin turn right at Paddy's Hostel towards pier. After mile or so turn to the big car park on your right and park at the very end. From there walk around 300m NW along the coast. Descend consecutive platforms of limestone pavement using common sense. Hell's Kitchen is deep inland rift 50m or so E of Doolin Point.
Description
Previous records
Irish Sump Index, 1988.
Notes
Diving not advisable with swell exceeding 1m. Check with:
Doolin Point 6 Day Swell Forecast
Best entry points:
On High water - Descend through Hell's Kitchen by climbing down the rift under wedged boulder
On Low water - Enter through small bay between reef and Doolin Point and descend sticking to submerged cliff on your right hand side. As J.B. entrance is always difficult to locate head directly to Sian and Sarah Tea shop Entrance which is hard to miss under the water, with white patches on the bottom just in front of cave entrances.
Recent exploratory dives
Diver: Artur Kozlowski
Multiply dives through June, July and August 2007
By the end of July I I remapped the labyrinth of passages situated close to underwater entrances. There was only one thing left – a passage called Brittlestars Boulevard leading to the furthest point in Hell, Honey Pot chamber. What I was looking for was a connection between two separate cave systems – Hell Complex and Reef Caves. If that elusive connection ever existed, it surely must be somewhere not far from there. When I finally reached Honey Pot, the first thing I saw was a massive passage to the left, almost completely filled with sticky, compacted mud. Any progress in that direction would certainly require extensive excavation but the way on from the chamber continued in a south–west direction along massive slabs fallen from the roof. After 20m of low and silty passage I arrived at a complicated, multilevel junction. All leads were followed but all met up at the beginning of a long bedding plane chamber. Full investigation of this intriguing 50m long chamber took me a couple of weeks as I soon realised I was not the only visitor – a massive 2m long conger eel was exploring too. The conger proved to be a strict guardian of the chamber, now named Hall of the Beast, but finally we came to some terms and exploration continued, although I had to think twice before every move. After each dive I was transferring sketches from my underwater slate to Hell’s master plan, systematically ruling out lead after lead in search of that elusive connection with the Reef Caves system. Finally, after exploring and mapping 150m of passages, there was only one spot left to be checked. Just after entering Hall of the Beast there was a tight 1m x 0.5m crack in the floor on the right. From there, at the bottom of a 2m drop, a possible small passage was visible. On July 26th I descended through Hell’s Kitchen with three 7l cylinders and after dropping one of them in Honey Pot I proceeded toward Hall of the Beast. Once at the top of the drop I attached a new 50m reel and started squeezing in, feet first. I was already up to mid chest in the crack when I felt I got stuck. I exhaled the remaining air from my lungs and slid down last meter to the bottom of the shaft. A small but comfortable passage continued SW. I passed two junctions, choosing the way on intuitively. I checked my air supplies and continued through yet another junction. With each meter, the passage was growing bigger but soon a familiar resistance on the reel indicated I was running out of line. And then I looked up. Only meters ahead, the tunnel finished in a breathtaking emerald sea opening. Rays of sunlight piercing the waves 15m above were playing on a large boulder partially obstructing the underwater entrance to the cave - Robertson’s Cave. The connection between Hell Complex and Reef Caves was a fact.
