Not sure where else to put this, its mostly just a dive report with lots of photos!
(These sites are located in north Florida, temps were in the mid 80's all day)
I took my AOW buddy diving last weekend for his birthday, but decided to head up towards to the caves to show him around the various sites he could dive with a cavern cert later.
We headed to Peacock and I showed him around the different springs, showing him the maps, various sinks and the whole park. Then we headed to Orange Grove to dive.
There was hardly anyone there and we had the whole place to our selves for most of the dive. I have NEVER seen it this clear before. The water was still up over the first few steps, ZERO duckweed and it was CRYSTAL CLEAR from top to bottom. No particulate at ALL in the water column.
The Road to Peacock
I avoided all the cavern/cave entrances from calling my name and just hung outside while showing my buddy each entrance, and explained where they all go after we got out.
EXCELLENT dive!
Here's a few pictures I took of Orange Grove
Looking towards Lower OG: This is a separate cave system that dips under the main OG passage. It drops to about 170ft at places and is just a small circuit. The cavern for this area is quite large and really cool to see.
Looking up from about 60ft down
My buddy showing great trim, I can't wait to get him to take Cavern!
60ft down
Behind the big boulder. This is a large boulder between lower and upper OG cave entrances.
looking up from OG. This view is what you see when exiting upper OG.
looking up from 60ft, buddy is at about 40ft
Only pic of myself on the trip:
Orange Grove Monet
Orange Grove Panoramic Monet
Composed of 4 shots.
My buddy having a great time!
Crystal clear waters!
Orange Grove
After diving, we had lunch at the Luraville Store (always a fun experience for new people!).
For those that don't know about this place, it's basically a little convenience store that makes the entire "town" of Luraville. "Luraville" is not even on a map, and consists of 2 dive shops, a church, the Luraville Store and an agricultural inspection station. There's a half dozen cave systems within 10 minutes of here, making this a very popular cave diving destination. The store is pretty old and includes a kitchen that cooks breakfast and lunch items all day. The center of the store has a HUGE wood table with the entire map of Peacock Springs cave system painted on it that seats about 10. Its a great place to discuss your dive while eating.
After lunch we headed to Troy Springs State Park.
Troy had a few small groups there, a couple classes of 2-3 students each and a family diving together/training. Otherwise, it was super quiet and relaxing there. The water was a bit hazier due to the students, but great vis top to bottom otherwise. The light at the bottom was EXTREMELY green this visit, usually it's not so green. Interesting views though.
60ft down, no color correction.
60ft down, no color correction.
Buddy hovering over the old Civil War shipwreck in the spring run. All that's left are the ribs from the bottom of the ship.
Civil War Shipwreck
Afterwards, I took a few stills from the areas and headed home. Most of these are sites I've shot before, but always like to shoot them over time to see change and decay.
This site was a full tree farm last year. A few months ago the trees had been clear cut. This visit, a few months later, the land was tilled and the house was still standing.
This is an old house a friend of mine found in the woods that we did a photo shoot on. I went back to see it again and take a couple more photos of it.
It's well over 100 years old and very unique in design. It's a good example of an hold homestead/cracker style home.
GREAT weather all day!
I hope you enjoyed!
(These sites are located in north Florida, temps were in the mid 80's all day)
I took my AOW buddy diving last weekend for his birthday, but decided to head up towards to the caves to show him around the various sites he could dive with a cavern cert later.
We headed to Peacock and I showed him around the different springs, showing him the maps, various sinks and the whole park. Then we headed to Orange Grove to dive.
There was hardly anyone there and we had the whole place to our selves for most of the dive. I have NEVER seen it this clear before. The water was still up over the first few steps, ZERO duckweed and it was CRYSTAL CLEAR from top to bottom. No particulate at ALL in the water column.
The Road to Peacock
I avoided all the cavern/cave entrances from calling my name and just hung outside while showing my buddy each entrance, and explained where they all go after we got out.
EXCELLENT dive!
Here's a few pictures I took of Orange Grove
Looking towards Lower OG: This is a separate cave system that dips under the main OG passage. It drops to about 170ft at places and is just a small circuit. The cavern for this area is quite large and really cool to see.
Looking up from about 60ft down
My buddy showing great trim, I can't wait to get him to take Cavern!
60ft down
Behind the big boulder. This is a large boulder between lower and upper OG cave entrances.
looking up from OG. This view is what you see when exiting upper OG.
looking up from 60ft, buddy is at about 40ft
Only pic of myself on the trip:
Orange Grove Monet
Orange Grove Panoramic Monet
Composed of 4 shots.
My buddy having a great time!
Crystal clear waters!
Orange Grove
After diving, we had lunch at the Luraville Store (always a fun experience for new people!).
For those that don't know about this place, it's basically a little convenience store that makes the entire "town" of Luraville. "Luraville" is not even on a map, and consists of 2 dive shops, a church, the Luraville Store and an agricultural inspection station. There's a half dozen cave systems within 10 minutes of here, making this a very popular cave diving destination. The store is pretty old and includes a kitchen that cooks breakfast and lunch items all day. The center of the store has a HUGE wood table with the entire map of Peacock Springs cave system painted on it that seats about 10. Its a great place to discuss your dive while eating.
After lunch we headed to Troy Springs State Park.
Troy had a few small groups there, a couple classes of 2-3 students each and a family diving together/training. Otherwise, it was super quiet and relaxing there. The water was a bit hazier due to the students, but great vis top to bottom otherwise. The light at the bottom was EXTREMELY green this visit, usually it's not so green. Interesting views though.
60ft down, no color correction.
60ft down, no color correction.
Buddy hovering over the old Civil War shipwreck in the spring run. All that's left are the ribs from the bottom of the ship.
Civil War Shipwreck
Afterwards, I took a few stills from the areas and headed home. Most of these are sites I've shot before, but always like to shoot them over time to see change and decay.
This site was a full tree farm last year. A few months ago the trees had been clear cut. This visit, a few months later, the land was tilled and the house was still standing.
This is an old house a friend of mine found in the woods that we did a photo shoot on. I went back to see it again and take a couple more photos of it.
It's well over 100 years old and very unique in design. It's a good example of an hold homestead/cracker style home.
GREAT weather all day!
I hope you enjoyed!
