Eagles Nest Access Policy
Eagle's Nest Sink will be open on July 1, 2003! The NSS-CDS and NACD have worked for over a year with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) to re-open the site for cave diving. Many thanks to Larry Green, Ken Hill, John Jones, and Michael Poucher for making this happen!
Access will be through the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. Divers must check in at an iron ranger at the entrance and pay the $3.00 daily fee, or you can purchase a yearly Wildlife Management Area pass for $26.50 at most hunting supply stores, Wal-Mart or on-line at:
http://floridaconservation.org/license/index.html. Either the day pass stub or the Management area pass should be displayed on the dash so that law enforcement can see them while you are in the water.
The road to the sink is not improved and four-wheel drive is a must. Fish and Wildlife is not responsible for getting your vehicle out if it gets stuck. They intend to make improvements by the end of this year to allow two-wheel drive access, but until then, they ask that drivers stay on the existing road and not to wallow out the holes. This will just make repairs more extensive, more costly, and take more time. The roads will have to closed while the repairs are made.
This site is deep and a very advanced dive. The NACD and NSS-CDS recommends that you have the following MINIMUM qualifications to dive:
1. Full Cave Certification.
2. Trimix certification.
3. Appropriate experience with deep cave dives.
In addition we highly recommend that first time divers go with someone familiar and experienced with the site. It took over a year to open Eagle's Nest, but accidents due to irresponsible divers could close it overnight. Lets all be safe and Eagle's Nest will be there, and open, when we are ready to dive it.