SPEAKERS

Craig Challen

Craig Challen is a Veterinary Surgeon in Perth by profession but this is only to support his enthusiastic pursuit of technical diving. Beginning diving in 1994 he progressed to cave diving in the late 1990s. Craig was one of the early adopters of closed circuit rebreather technology in Australia, originally on the PRISM rebreather in 1999, but changed to the Megalodon (and sometimes twin Megalodon) in 2004.

The attraction of technical diving for Craig is the twin challenge of the use of advanced technology and engaging in old-fashioned exploration in previously unvisited places.

Although cave diving is his spiritual home Craig is additionally an enthusiastic wreck diver. Recent expeditions include RMS Niagara in New Zealand, HMS Victoria (146m vertical battleship in Lebanon), USS Atlanta in the Solomon Islands and USS Perch in the Java Sea.

Much of Craig's early cave diving was on the Nullarbor Plain of Western Australia and South Australia. In 2003 he supported Karl Hall on Karl's dive to the end of Cocklebiddy Cave, and in 2008 he returned to Cocklebiddy and extended the line in this famous cave. Further expeditions are planned to this site.