Interviewing Andrea Marassich,
In a cave I feel at home
We are interviewing Andrea Marassich, a man whose background speaks for itself. Considered one of the best cave diving instructors in the world, his dedication, experience, knowledge and humility in transmitting, are his seal of quality.
Someone capable of bringing out the best in each of his students.
Andrea Marassich
BIO
Andrea Marassich was born in Trieste in 1973. His proximity to the sea never attracted him too much, in fact he admits that it took him some time to learn to swim, he was passionate about other sports such as karate or kick boxing, nothing to do with what the future held for him…
He studied political sciences and economics at university and his concerns were about travel, backpacking and adventure! In 1993 a woman crossed his path and asked him if he wanted to take a diving course, something he had never thought of before and in his curiosity to experience new things he thought: Why not? This was the beginning of a great professional career…
Its beginnings were directed to deep wreck diving
Actually it was in 1995 when I did my first cave diving course, and although I loved it, I did not feel prepared for this activity. After about twenty dives in caves I decided to stop. I felt that I did not have the skills and control to enjoy this environment.
But after seeing how my GUE course had changed my wreck diving, I decided to test my cave diving skills by learning from the beginning with GUE instructors. So in 2001 I took a cave courses in High Springs Florida with David Rhea, GUE cave instructor, and that was the change in my diving career.
After 8 years of obsession with wrecks, I was now «hooked on caves» and they have been my strongest passion ever since.
Stronger connection between divers and scientists
There comes a time when we need to grow and change and the projects are developed with this same logic. I started to
create projects for Europe, but finally my change was oriented to create a stronger connection between divers and scientists. This has been the beginning of what today is called the Phreatic project and is the focus of my activities most of the time.
This project, started in Sardinia in 2014, aims at understanding and documenting the coastal caves of the Supramonte and the Gulf of Orosei.
These are underground rivers of fresh water, among the longest submerged systems in Europe, which emerge in the sea.
The result is an environment that starts as a sea cave, becomes an area of exchange, until reaching the part of caves where there is only fresh water. These caves were dry during different ice ages and you can find decorations and speleothems, it is an environment as beautiful as complex.
A cave exploration is like a video game, where every dive is a game and a day of fun.