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My expeditions

Apart from making underwater 3D models, I'm also a passionate wreck and cave explorer. Below you can find some of the most interesting topics that I've completed.

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Matka Vrelo – Exploration to -287 Metres - October 2025

In 2025, we visited Matka Vrelo in North Macedonia for the first time, with the goal of reaching the previous exploration limit at 240 metres and discovering where the cave continued. After several preparatory dives, the final push extended the exploration to a new end of line at -287 metres, with the wide passage still descending deeper. This made Matka Vrelo the deepest explored underwater cave in the Balkans.

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Sintzi Spring – The Final Push to 255 Metres - May 2025

In May 2025, we returned to Sintzi Spring in Greece to complete a three-year exploration project. The final dive extended the explored depth of the cave from 240 to 255 metres and added more than 100 metres of new passage. After nearly eight hours underwater, the dive ended with the cave still continuing beyond the new end of line.

Bartlomiej Pitala in the entrance shaft to flooded corridors of Podgórze Uranium Mine in Kowary.

Podgórze Uranium Mine – 227 Metres Below the Surface - November 2024

In November 2024, our team explored the deepest flooded sections of the former Podgórze uranium mine in Kowary, Poland. The project focused on locating and investigating mining levels at approximately 150, 190 and 230 metres, and resulted in a maximum depth of -227 metres. It became the deepest dive ever carried out in Poland and revealed several still-unexplored passages hidden deep inside the mine.

Baltic wreck Ilse 1929 bell

Identification of Ilse 1929 steamer wreck in the Baltic Sea - September 2024

In September 2024, together with Tomasz Stachura from Baltictech we had a chance to dive on an unknown wreck north of Władysławowo on -95 meters depth. The position had been on Tomasz's "to-check" list for a few years. The wreck turned out to be an old steamer, and, in the last minutes of our dive, we managed to find the ship's bell with inscription!

Decompression in Sintzi Spring

Sintzi spring - exploring the deepest cave of Greece - May 2024

Sintzi spring is a beautiful, deep underwater cave located in Peloponnese peninsula. In May 2024, supported by a group of Polish cave divers, I've managed to explore additional 250 meters of corridors and deepen the cave to -240 meters from the previous end of line located at -186 meters. The corridor still goes further.

Elefante Bianco cave BAD Exploration Team

Exploring the deepest spring of Italy - Elefante Bianco - February 2024

In 2004, Luigi Casati explored the Elefante Bianco cave to a depth of -186 meters. Twenty years after his achievement, with a help of a group of passionate friends, I passed his end of line and added another 150 meters of exploration, deepening the cave to -227 meters, making it, again, the deepest spring in Italy.

Grotte di Oliero entrance to sump 2

Beyond sump 1 of Grotte di Oliero, Italy - February 2023

Sump 1 of Grotte di Oliero is a 2.5-kilometer-long underwater passage with a maximum depth exceeding 60 meters. I've heard a few times that the dry part of the cave beyond the sump is spectacular. In February 2023 I finally managed to reach the far end, and take some amazing photos during a 6-hour-long expedition.

Diver on the bank of Ressel Lac Isler

Emergence du Ressel – 3 kilometres into the cave

In 2021, during two expeditions to the famous Emergence du Ressel in France, I gradually pushed farther into its remote sections. After crossing the deep passages and surfacing in Lac Isler, the next objectives became Bivouac Hall and Ressel Dome, located around 3 kilometres from the entrance. All dives were performed solo, with photographic equipment. The project became one of the most important steps in my development as a cave explorer.

© 2026 Underwater3D by Bart Pitala

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