Cave exploration and cave diving are two absurd activities that awaken claustrophobia in almost everyone, except, apparently, cave divers. This widely held belief that the hobby is insane has led to a series of cave diver memes on TikTok and Instagram Reels lately.

"Cave divers be like" and "Cave divers for no reason at all" are the two most common catchphrases and captions used in such jokes. Video creators are showing impossibly tiny crevices – like under a fridge or behind the couch –
and then pretending to jump in, showing their shoes sticking out of the hole like the cursed, anxiety-inducing thumbnails of many caving YouTube videos.

However, where did these memes come from? What inspired them and why is cave diving such a viral topic? Let's explain.

Where Did The 'Cave Diver' Meme Trend Come From?

The memes started en masse last week when a TikToker named @bigmoneyjaytee posted a video called, "Cave divers for no reason," showing himself examining the crack between his fridge and floor. He then wedges himself in there — not actually though. Instead, he shows his shoes poking out, creating the "stuck cave diver" visual.

@bigmoneyjaytee they feenin to get stuck #fyp #cave #caving #cavediving ♬ hahah do it jiggle – ⋆｡˚

Others quickly followed in his footsteps, launching themselves into other hilariously small places like the engine compartment of a car or between atoms in the air. The joke attests that there is no space too small for a cave diver to crawl through.

@wa.amg63 🤔 #cave #diver #meme #c63 #amg #mercedes #v8 #car #fyp ♬ original sound – denleft

@kpxchris00 #cave #cavedivers #fypシ #foryoupage #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ original sound – denleft

What Was The 'Nutty Putty Cave Incident?'

Memes making fun of caving largely started with discourse about the notorious "Nutty Putty Cave Incident," which occurred in 2009 when a man named John Edwards Jones passed away in a cave near Salt Lake City, Utah when he was stuck upside-down for over 24 hours.

He and three friends were looking for a passage called "The Birth Canal" and Jones mistook a small offshoot for the section's entrance. It was a dead end, though, and Jones was trapped in the 10 by 18 inches wide vertical fissure while blood rushed to his head. His friends and the rescue team were unable to pull him out.

In the early 2020s, caving accidents became a recurring subject for video essay YouTubers who played on the anxiety-inducing stories for their morbidly curious audiences.

In 2023, a diagram of how Jones was stuck in the Nutty Putty Cave went viral on Twitter / X. A slew of memes about the diagram popped off, many of which compared the hopeless silhouette to the "Saddam Hussein's Hiding Place" meme.

The diagram became a memetic symbol for the fear of cave exploration. In tune with this, the Nutty Putty Cave Incident became the go-to example of why caving is dangerous and stupid in the eyes of many.

Why Is 'Cave Diving' A Viral Topic?

Spelunking, as it's sometimes called, is an activity that, for many people, seems impossible to enjoy. Of course, some people have serious claustrophobia, unable to enter basement crawl spaces and elevators, but caving is an activity that awakens the inner claustrophobia in everyone, except cave divers.

Therefore, the meme plays on the mentality of the caver, imagining what goes through their head when they see a crevice that will certainly end their life. The absurd, anti-instinctual hobby is then easy to satirize.

---

For the full history of Cave Diver Memes, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.