Matka Vrelo 2025 – Exploration to -287 Metres
Matka Vrelo cave, hidden deep inside Matka Canyon in North Macedonia, had been high on our expedition list for a long time. Its enormous underwater spaces, usually crystal-clear water and the history of exploration reaching -240 metres depth made it impossible to ignore. In 2025, we finally had the chance to see it for ourselves — and attempt to reach the point where the previous exploration had ended.
A difficult start
Just before our arrival, North Macedonia was hit by heavy rainfall, with tens of centimetres of snow appearing in the higher mountains. The effect underwater was immediate - during the first days, visibility in Vrelo was limited to around 8–10 metres and a noticeable flow could be felt throughout the cave. In passages of such enormous dimensions, this often meant seeing little more than the guideline, part of the floor and one wall. Our Macedonian hosts told us that conditions this poor occurred only a few times a year...Perfect timing.
Fortunately, the weather improved and, with several dry days ahead, visibility gradually began to recover. Before any serious diving could begin, however, there was another challenge — transporting more than a tonne of equipment through the canyon and across Matka Lake to our base camp near the cave. The entire project would have been impossible without the help of Bojan, Goce and Bardo from Dive Club Vrelo – Matka.
Finding the route to -212 metres
The first objective was to learn the route leading into the deepest sections of the cave. It is far from obvious - Vrelo contains several lined branches, including passages extending beyond -100 metres depth, so before thinking about exploration we first had to reconstruct the route used by previous explorers. The main shaft begins at around 40 metres and continues almost vertically beyond -200 metres.
Problems appeared at approximately -190 metres - the guideline suddenly ended in open water. With visibility still limited to around 10 metres, I attached my own reel and began searching for the continuation. My first attempt led me to a closed wall at approximately -200 metres. After several dozen seconds of searching, I finally saw another guideline stretching down through the darkness. It ended at a large reel left by Luigi “Gigi” Casati, who had explored the shaft to its bottom at approximately -212 metres in 2010.
Finding that reel made a strong impression on me. The awareness that Casati had reached this place fifteen years earlier, with very different equipment, technology and knowledge, gave the location a special meaning.
There was no time to stay there for long. At such depths, every additional minute creates a significant increase in decompression obligations. I turned around.
Reaching the previous end of exploration
The goal of the next dive was to check the continuity of the guideline beyond Casati’s reel. This time, the route to -212 metres was already familiar and the descent went quickly. A line continued deeper from the reel, laid during later exploration by Krzysztof Starnawski. From this point, the cave changed from a mostly vertical system into a more horizontal passage. After only several metres, however, the guideline turned out to be broken again at approximately -220 metres. Attaching my own reel was not easy, as the floor was covered with fine sand and the walls were smooth, with very few suitable points for securing the line. Finding a proper anchor and attaching the reel took around a minute and a half. At this depth, a minute and a half is a long time.
Once the line was secured, I continued deeper at full DPV speed. The passage descended to approximately -230 metres and gradually became narrower. A short time later, I reached a rock shelf at -240 metres. There, I saw another reel. This was the previous end of exploration, and ahead of me was a wide, clear opening disappearing into the unknown.
The plan for that dive did not include exploration, and my computers were already showing almost five hours of decompression. I left everything prepared for the next dive and began the return. At approximately -130 metres, I met Mariusz Banaszak and Tomasz Wciórka, who took over support for the remaining decompression. The route to the exploration front was now ready. All that remained was a day of rest, equipment preparation, gas filling and charging batteries.
Then came the final push.
Beyond -240 metres
The plan for the final dive was very precise. I intended to spend no more than approximately two minutes exploring beyond the previous end of line at -240 metres and remain within the planned maximum depth limit. For the dive, I used two Liberty CCR rebreathers — a backmount unit as the primary system and a sidemount unit as bailout. Almost 20 bailout cylinders were staged along the route, extending down to approximately -150 metres. In the deepest horizontal section, I used two connected Seacraft Ghost DPVs. Together they allowed me to travel at more than 70 metres per minute, which was extremely important given the very limited exploration time available at such depths.
I started the dive together with Mariusz. At approximately -30 metres, near the edge of the main shaft, we separated according to the plan. From there, I continued alone. The descent through the shaft to -212 metres, followed by the horizontal section and finally the reel left at -240 metres, passed quickly. I picked up the reel and continued. From that moment on, everything ahead of me was unknown.
-287 metres
At first, the passage continued horizontally. After several dozen metres, however, it began to turn and descend steeply. The depth displayed on my navigation console started increasing rapidly.
-270 metres.
-275 metres.
-280 metres.
The passage remained wide and continued steeply downward. Even with very good visibility, I could not see the bottom. The -300-metre mark was probably only a few seconds away, but the plan was the plan. At -287 metres, I stopped. I placed the reel on the sloping floor and looked one last time into the passage disappearing into darkness. The cave was clearly continuing deeper. I turned around.
Six hours underwater
At -130 metres, I met Mariusz exactly as planned. About an hour later, Tomasz Wciórka joined us and remained with me for the rest of the dive. Later during decompression, Bardo also reached us to check that everything was going according to plan and to begin recovering some of the many bailout cylinders staged in the cave. The entire dive lasted approximately six hours.
Once back on the surface, we could finally look at the result of the project. The previous exploration had ended at approximately -240 metres. The new end of line was now at -287 metres. And the cave was still continuing.
The deepest explored underwater cave in the Balkans
Following this exploration, Matka Vrelo reached a depth of -287 metres, becoming the deepest explored underwater cave in the Balkans. What is even more interesting is what lies beyond the new end of line. At -287 metres there is no restriction, collapse or clear end to the passage. There is only a wide corridor descending farther into the darkness. The exploration potential of Vrelo remains enormous.
The project involved:
Bartłomiej Pitala
Tomasz Wciórka
Mariusz Banaszak
Bojan Angeleski
Bardo Hristijan
Goce Dimitrievski
Special thanks go to our hosts from Dive Club Vrelo – Matka for equipment transport, logistics, daily support and exceptional hospitality.
The project was also made possible with support from SANTI Diving, GRALmarine, Seacraft and TK Diving Team Kraków, who prepared more than 30,000 litres of breathing gases required for the deep dives.
A big thank you also goes to Sebastian Dobrowolski for helping us establish contact with the Vrelo team.
We also collected extensive video material documenting both the preparations and the deepest sections of the cave - check it out below!
At -287 metres, Matka Vrelo is still going down.
