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Brian Kakuk

Brian Kakuk

Brian Kakuk

Founder/Director of the Bahamas Caves Research Foundation, Co-Owner/Operator of Bahamas Underground Cave and Technical Diving Facility

 

With more than 3000 exploration cave dives, Brian is considered one of the leading authorities on the underwater/underground environments of the Bahamas. Though a seasoned underwater photographer, writer, explorer, cave diving instructor and conservationist, Brian’s primary efforts are in the protection of underwater caves in the Bahamas, with a current focus on the Crystal Caves of Abaco.

Brian is working hand in hand with the Bahamian Government and local NGOs to preserve the world’s most highly decorated and scientifically significant underwater cave systems. His research diving work with various governmental and scientific institutions has revealed new species of cave adapted marine life, as well as the discovery of fossils that are now repainting the picture of the Bahamas past environments.


 

Brian has been sought out by diving equipment manufacturers with the development of new side mount diving equipment, and is currently working to produce side mount systems of his own design. As an industry recognized authority on side mount diving systems, Brian is the author of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers Side Mount and No Mount Cave Diver curriculum and manual, and is a co-author of Side Mount Profiles, a training and informational book on side mount diving techniques and equipment.

With a diverse, professional diving career spanning more than 30 years, and is a veteran of multiple high profile underwater cave expeditions in the Bahamas, Mexico, Belize, Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Australia, Christmas Island and the U.S. His expertise has been used widely in the feature film industry and documentary productions as a Diving Safety Officer, underwater lighting, cameraman and underwater stuntman. Brian is a former U.S. Navy Diver whose military work has taken him beneath nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers and jumped from helicopters into 10 foot seas to recover million-dollar weapon systems.

Brian Kakuk photography

Brian serves on the International Advisory Board of the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD), an advisor on the National Association of Cave Divers (NACD) Training Committee, Diving Consultant for the National Museum of the Bahamas (Antiquities Monuments and Museums Corporation) and is a Fellow of the Explorer’s Club of New York.