The question of why experienced divers would descend to depths of more than 50 metres using recreational gear — let alone enter a cave while doing so — baffles members of the relatively close-knit deep-sea diving community.

Five Italian divers died while exploring caves in the Maldives, with bodies recovered this week

Instead of swimming through a passage back to the open sea, investigators believe the divers took a wrong turn into a pitch-black cave that was a dead end, sparking panic as they…