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The Madagascar Cave Diving Association (MCDA) is a multinational team of cave divers brought together by a passion for the caves, the history, and the people of Madagascar. As an organization, the MCDA is committed to helping to promote safety, research, and conservation of the submerged cave systems in Madagascar.

Conservation

A principal mission of the MCDA is the cataloging, survey, and reporting of newly-discovered caves to inform and facilitate the protection of the geology and ecology of caves around the country. In support of this objective, the MCDA has an official coordination agreement with Madagascar’s national government on legislative and regulatory issues regarding safety, site access, and conservation.

Research and Exploration

Madagascar is a profoundly important well of information about the natural history of our planet. With reverence for the wonders kept by the caves of this great island nation, the MCDA collaborates with world-renowned explorers, and experts in biological, paleontological, and geological fields of research to advance efforts to better understand our world. Further, by coordinating with researchers, local and national government, the MCDA works to ensure that research sites are accessible and conserved. The MCDA currently collaborates with researchers at the University of Antananarivo, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the City University of New York (CUNY); New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP).

Tourism and Sustainability
We believe that sharing our discoveries will help generate an interest in diving Malagasy caves. However, the MCDA also recognizes that the worldwide growth of the sport comes with potential benefits and costs to both the caves and the people where these caves are found. Thus, the MCDA is committed to coordinating with the indigenous peoples of Madagascar to commercialize cave diving in a sustainable manner, for the benefit of the local communities and global adventurers alike. By working with national policy-makers to promote safety and conservation, we believe that this form of eco-tourism will provide the means to generate a locally-sustainable source of income for the people of Madagascar while also helping to preserve these caves for future generations to enjoy.

THE CAVES OF TSIMANAMPETSOTSA NATIONAL PARK

The Tsimanampetsotsa national park is part of Madagascar’s protected areas and is managed by the Madagascar National Parks

The parc is located in the southwestern coastal region and is characterized by a limestone plateau called the Mahafaly plateau.

Exploration in the region is ongoing in the southwest coastal regions with a particular in the Tsimanampesotse national park area.

To date the largest flooded cave explored in Madagascar is Malazamanga.

Malazamanga is also a top contender for the largest flooded cave in the world - some sections of the tunnel exceed 100 meters in width!.

Tsimanampetsotsa is also home to what may be Madagascar’s largest fossil graveyard, Aven (“Vintany”) cave. For reasons still not fully understood, huge numbers of fossils have accumulated in this beautiful cave, making it both an exceptional cavern to dive, and also precious resource that has propelled Tsimanampetsotse to the forefront of Malagasy Paleontological research..

Mitoho cave is the third in a series of amazing cave explorations on the Mahafaly plateau. A sacred site, Mitoho has been used centuries to make offerings and sacrifices to the spirits which live inside the cave walls. A series of exploration dives here has revealed not only an incredible cave with unique geological features, but also a treasure trove of fossil remains. Multiple specimens of the now extinct giant Foosa (Cryptoprocta Spelea) have been discovered in Mitoho’s deeper section. Still under study today, these remains will help to shed light on Madagascar’s fauna before human colonization.

Aven

Mitoho

Malazamanga

For Tsimanampesotse dive certification requirements please click here

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THE CAVES OF THE MIKEA FOREST

The Mikea Forest is located in the southwestern coastal region and is the northern part of the Mahafaly limestone plateau.

Explorations in the region are ongoing and the main focus is Anjanamba, curently Madagascar's longest flooded cave.

The caves here are all considered sacred sites and diving here is a very sensitive situation.

Permission must be obtained from the mayor and also the village chief who must perform a sacred ritual before any diving can take place.

Anjanamba

RESEARCH

Madagascar is a profoundly important well of information about the natural history of our planet. With reverence for the wonders kept by the caves of this great island nation, the MCDA collaborates with world-renowned explorers, and experts in biological, paleontological, and geological fields of research to advance efforts to better understand our world.

Further, by coordinating with researchers, local and national government, the MCDA works to ensure that research sites are accessible and conserved. The MCDA currently collaborates with researchers at the University of Antananarivo, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the City University of New York (CUNY); New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP).