Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver Hardcover – August 20, 2019

Have you ever been in a commercial cave? Tried to get through some very tight cave spots? Been in a cave that has running water, like a stream? Now, while sitting in your comfortable chair, think about swimming in a cave with cool / cold water flowing water. You have strapped to you body a variety of heavy equipment, breathing equipment, lights, and possibly cameras. And some other items.This is the life of a cave diver - as a serious hobby / job - who is taking pictures / motion pictures, and exploring an underground stream of water -- ideally with several other divers; but still some distance or time from capable divers on land, if help is needed.In two section of the book THERE are over two dozen pictures: surface, under the water, and ice. Plus a picture of the best day of Jill's life -- her wedding day on April 21, 2007, to Robert.INTO THE PLANET has fifteen (15 chapters, about 260 pages) plus preface, epilogue and acknowledgments. Jill Heinerth was born in 1965. Titles of the book and dates are:In the Beginning 1967 - 1990; Survivor 1986; An Alluring Mistress 1988; Cave Country 1993;The Deepest 1995; The Longest 1995; Purpose 1996 - 1999; The Pit 2000; Ice Island 2001;Waiting 2003; 7 R 2006; Cork in the Bottle 2011; My Dead Friends 2012; A Little Bit of Magic 2013;The Next Frontier 2017; Epilogue 2018A few key words about this book: Easy to read. Informative. Very detailed descriptions. Excellent writing.Early hardship / problems - she turned her life into what she wanted to do. Personal memoir - but sensitive. Divorce, but later found true love -- second husband who let her do "her thing".Most likely, I would lose most readers if I review all 15 chapters. My comments will pertain to several chapters:CAVE COUNTRY (about 10 pages) describes the land Northwest of Gainesville, Florida -- with many numerous hidden springs and water flowing under the surface. There are many hidden rivers for exploration, by cave diving. Heinerth learns more about diving, becomes a scuba instructor, and does advertising work.THE DEEPEST (about 33 pages) The author writes about what could be the world's deepest cave -- near Huautla, Mexico. "Just getting to Huautla was not for the faint of heart", she writes. The old Volkswagen is full with diving gear as Jill and her friend Paul leave Hudson, Florida. After 29 hours of driving they were at the U.S. - Mexico boarder. Many more hours on Mexican roads - some paved, some dirt, some mountain - Huautla was reached.But more miles had to be driven, than hiking in the jungle to reach an underground river coming from the mountain. This chapter continues for many more pages as the cave is explored. Heinerth writing is very detailed in this chapter. With just a little imagination, the reader -- sitting in a chair -- can easily think that he/she is part of the exploration group.THE LONGEST (about 14 pages) The diving community "becomes more interested in measuring horizontal distances rather than vertical ones." Jill and Paul are working at his diving store in Florida, "we were inseparable". Soon they were married, with a honeymoon on a diving project in Mexico.ICE ISLAND (about 54 pages) This probably is my favorite chapter in the entire book. I have never been to Antarctica. But I have been to Alaska - on both large and small cruise ships. Seeing several glaciers when they are caving, as part of the glacier becomes an iceberg, will be long remembered. Again on a small cruise boat, from a safe distance, I have seen a large piece of ice quickly rise above the water surface as it apparently becomes free from its glacier. The caving may be only a small amount of ice - but may be tons of ice falling into the cold water to become a floating berg. BACK to the book review - - - -ICE ISLAND chapter describes a National Geographic project regarding a large ice chunk (B - 15) that broke off the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica. Jill and Paul, and another diver, Wes - along with a support crew leave from New Zealand. Their small ship (Braveheart) encountered high waves and windy conditions on its 12 day trip to The Ross Shelf, plus another 12 day return. But finally the Braveheart reaches a desired spot for ice diving and photo work inside an ice berg. It takes a lot of courage to swim into an ice cave -- -- knowing that the ice berg moves up ad down with the ocean waves - - - knowing that cold ocean water and just melted cold ice berg water could be moving within the berg - - - knowing that an ice berg could break apart and a diver could be trapped -- and drown.Heinreth provides the reader with ample well written details of their ice berg experiences.7 R (about 13 pages) Jill writes that she is "attracted to people with a similar genetic makeup." The title (7 R) of this chapter is somewhat unusual -- until one realizes that 7 R is short for DRD4-7R allele. "That single gene plays a crucial part in the genome of explores ..... ..... ...... Found in20 percent of us ... ... ..."The chapter continues with work in Florida. But concludes with a very sorry ending. A friend calls; "I think Wes is dead. .... .... ...."At my age of eighty (80) plus, I prefer reading about exploration. I certainly hope that Jill authors another book about her life as a cave diver. JULY 2020

Learned a lot about cave diving through her eyes. This book understood the assignment to give insights on cave diving than other ones I have read. I recommend this book.

I am almost through the book and I love it. My only complaint is there weren’t nearly enough photos. Jill’s adventures are amazing and she relates them so humbly. She is an amazing woman—brave and inspirational.

Endlessly fascinating descriptions of harrowing expeditions, cutting edge diving and the limits of human imagination and courage. Jill is truly a modern day Shackleton!

Her writing takes you right into the adventures with her, and she never self-aggrandizes. The writing never, ever gets in the way of this adventure story, which is beyond almost anything conceived by humans.After reading the book, I'm left with many emotions: a deep sense of awe about all that our planet is - the sheer beauty and grandeur, the undiscovered life forms (still!), its delicacy... and so much respect for those who have the guts to live life right up against the wall, putting their lives on the line to achieve something magnificent.We can do so much as humans instead if causing destruction, and this book is uplifting in that way.It's just a lot of fun! But she also delves into the human price - cave diving is more dangerous than even Himalayan climbing because if something goes wrong, you have nowhere to breathe, and if you panic or lose your place, you're doomed. So she talks about her experiences losing friends.But the overall experience of reading the book was the chance to see a new world through her eyes and feel what it might be like to live such an amazing life! Great book!

Jill Heinerth’s new book is absolutely amazing. It has been awhile since I have found a book that I have been completely hooked by and couldn’t stop reading. “Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver” is such a book. Her incredible life story is captivating, action-packed and inspiring. Not content with a traditional life, she gave up the ownership she had in an advertising business to chase her dream of being a professional cave diver. Things were not always easy, it’s a tough business that is incredibly risky and heavily male-dominated. She has had friends and colleagues die and has even had to retrieve their bodies. Many times she has faced close brushes with death herself. However, each time she was able to persevere and get herself out of situations that would cause others to panic. Yet with the stakes of what she does, panic would mean certain death, so even when almost seemingly trapped in the cave of an Antarctic iceberg (she was the first person to dive in one!) she is able to stay calm. I don’t believe you need to be a cave diver or even a diver to enjoy the book. Anyone can be inspired by her passion for what she does and gain an appreciation for the water ways that lie deep within the earth. I cannot wait to see what this amazing person works on next!

Well written adventure with a good balance of personal notes, dive sites and adventures and technical details. I have no intention of diving in closed environments or extreme cold, but I admire the adventurers who do.