In the wake of the Maldives’ worst single diving disaster, which claimed the lives of five experienced Italian divers in a deep cave system in Vaavu Atoll, a respected local diving expert has issued a stark warning. Shaff Naeem, a veteran Maldivian instructor and cave explorer who has dived the Devana Kandu system more than 30 times, says he has deliberately avoided penetrating the third and deepest chamber where four of the victims were ultimately found. He describes the site as “an accident waiting to happen” for anyone venturing beyond safe limits with inadequate preparation.

The tragedy unfolded on May 14, 2026, when the group — including University of Genoa associate professor of marine ecology Monica Montefalcone, 51, her 23-year-old daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri, and local diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti — entered the underwater cave complex near Alimathaa island. The team never resurfaced. One body was recovered near the entrance, while the remaining four were located deep inside the third chamber during a high-risk operation involving Finnish cave specialists. A Maldivian military diver also lost his life from decompression sickness during the recovery effort.

Naeem, who consults with Maldivian defence forces and police on diving matters, knows the Devana Kandu cave system intimately. Speaking from his years of experience, he paints a vivid and terrifying picture of why this particular site demands the highest level of technical expertise and equipment — standards he believes were tragically underestimated on that fateful day.

“The entrance sits between 55 and 58 metres deep,” Naeem explains. “Light reaches only the first chamber. After that, it becomes pitch black. The cave extends for hundreds of metres through multiple chambers connected by narrow passages and bottlenecks. The third chamber is the largest and deepest — around 60 metres or more — and that’s where the four bodies were found together. I have never gone that far in. I’ve always turned back earlier. It’s simply too risky without proper technical setup.”

The veteran diver highlights several lethal factors that likely converged inside the cave. At depths beyond 50 metres on standard compressed air — the type typically used in recreational diving — the risk of oxygen toxicity rises sharply. Every breath delivers a higher partial pressure of oxygen, which can cause sudden convulsions, disorientation, or unconsciousness without warning. “It is incredibly dangerous to conduct dives at these depths on compressed air,” Naeem warns. “Theoretically, oxygen toxicity can start occurring around 55 metres.”

Once inside the overhead environment, any disturbance stirs up fine silt, reducing visibility to zero in seconds. In such conditions, divers easily lose sight of their guidelines, become separated from buddies, and suffer from nitrogen narcosis — the so-called “martini effect” that impairs judgment and can make a diver feel euphoric or confused at depth. Strong tidal currents in the channel can further disorient a team, pushing them deeper or trapping them in narrow restrictions.

Naeem describes the potential horrors the group may have faced in those final moments: “Imagine being in total darkness, your torch beams swallowed by a cloud of silt. You can hear rapid breathing through your regulator as panic sets in. You reach out for your buddy but touch only rock or coral. The passages are so tight that turning around becomes extremely difficult. One diver has a problem — perhaps a convulsion from oxygen toxicity — and suddenly the whole team is fighting for their lives in a place where there is no straight path to the surface.”

The cave system consists of three main chambers linked by constricted tunnels. The first two are challenging but somewhat more manageable for highly trained technical divers. The third chamber, however, represents a point of no easy return. Bodies found clustered together in this innermost section suggest the group may have pressed on as a unit, only to encounter a cascading emergency from which there was no escape.

Local experts like Naeem stress that Devana Kandu is not a site for recreational diving. The Maldives officially limits recreational dives to 30 metres. Anything deeper requires specialised technical training, redundant gas systems (often multiple tanks with different mixes for different depths), cave-specific certifications, reels, lights, and meticulous decompression planning. Standard recreational gear, which reports suggest the Italian group was using, offers little margin for error in such an environment.

“I have dived this cave many times with proper equipment and the right gas mixes,” Naeem says. “Even then, I respect its limits. The group went in without the necessary technical preparation for that depth and penetration. It was an accident waiting to happen.”

The incident has prompted soul-searching across the global diving community and within the Maldives’ tourism industry. While the country is world-renowned for its vibrant reefs and safe recreational diving, technical and cave diving operations demand far stricter oversight. Questions are now being raised about whether the dive was properly authorised, whether gas blends were analysed correctly, and why a group that included a mother and daughter ventured so deep into an overhead environment.

The sole survivor of the immediate group — a young female student who decided at the last minute not to join — has spoken of an instinctive feeling that kept her on the liveaboard Duke of York. Her decision not only saved her life but has provided investigators with valuable surface-side testimony.

For the families of the victims, the expert’s words bring painful context to an already devastating loss. Monica Montefalcone was a passionate marine scientist whose work focused on seagrass and coral ecosystems. Her daughter Giorgia had joined what was meant to be a combination of research and family adventure. The others were equally dedicated to ocean conservation. Their deaths represent a profound tragedy for Italian marine science as well as for the diving world.

Naeem’s warnings echo those of other cave diving specialists who have commented on the case. British cave rescue expert John Volanthen and Finnish teams involved in the recovery described the site as extremely challenging due to depth, silt, narrow passages, and powerful currents. Even professional recovery divers faced life-threatening conditions, resulting in the death of one Maldivian serviceman.

As investigations by Maldivian and Italian authorities continue, focus remains on equipment used, dive planning, weather conditions on the day, and whether proper permits were obtained for a dive well beyond recreational limits. The Duke of York liveaboard’s operations have been suspended pending the outcome.

The Devana Kandu cave system, once a little-known site for advanced explorers, has now become synonymous with one of the Maldives’ greatest diving tragedies. For veterans like Shaff Naeem, the message is clear: respect the ocean’s limits, especially in overhead environments where mistakes are measured in seconds and lives.

“I’ve been fortunate to explore many caves safely because I never pushed beyond what my training and equipment allowed,” he reflects. “The third chamber is beautiful but unforgiving. What happened there was preventable with the right preparation. I hope this tragedy leads to stricter guidelines so no one else has to experience those horrors.”

As the diving community mourns the five who lost their lives pursuing their passion for the underwater world, Naeem’s account serves as both a tribute to their courage and a sobering cautionary tale. The crystal waters of Vaavu Atoll continue to attract adventurers from around the globe, but the death caves now carry a heavier warning — one written in the final, silent chambers where five lives came to an end.