The underwater cave Vrelo in the Matka Canyon near Skopje has been declared the deepest explored underwater cave in the world, after an international team reached a depth of 338 meters. The result was achieved during the expedition “Vrelo 2026“, which took place from October 10 to 17.
15 cave divers from North Macedonia, Poland and Italy participated in the study. The new limit is 51 meters deeper than the 287 meters reached in 2025. The cave diving club “Vrelo“ reports that three world records were set with the achievement – for the deepest cave explored by man, the deepest cave dive and the deepest open water dive.
Two new channels change the map of the cave
The expedition did not limit itself to reaching greater depths. The teams from Poland and North Macedonia discovered two previously unknown underwater channels and added more than 150 meters of new passages to the map of the system.
The first channel is located about 300 meters from the cave entrance, at a depth of 33 meters, and is approximately 100 meters long. The second was discovered 170 meters underwater and connects to the main deep passage. The cave diving club “Vrelo“ points out that the new branches are important because of the complexity of the entire underwater system.
The record dive lasted nine hours
The record descent to 338 meters was carried out by Polish cave diver Bartłomiej Pitala. According to information cited by Macedonian and regional media, the operation lasted nine hours, and his return was monitored by 12 safety divers located at different depths.
A special infrastructure was also prepared for the expedition. The Macedonian team built an underwater habitat - a protected space for staying during the prolonged decompression - at a depth of between 8 and 9 meters, about 130 meters from the entrance. More than 30 bottles with different gas mixtures were located in the cave.
In 2025, a team of Polish and Macedonian divers increased the explored depth of Vrelo from 240 to 287 meters. At that time, the cave was determined as the deepest explored underwater cave in the Balkans. The new expedition has moved the limit by another 51 meters, but the discovered passages show that the underground system has not yet been fully explored.
Sources: mkd.mk, english.republika.mk, 24-ore.com