Exploration- what's the furthest you've been?

[Kevin Carlisle]

One of my more favorite cave dives was diving with Kevin C. in the cavern at JB. I thought I would be a little bored, spending an entire dive playing around in the cavern, but there's so much to see! It was just awesome to be able to poke around in the rocks, looking at the various embedded fossils and such. On that same note, I really love just hanging out in the cavern at Vortex. There's this spot to the left that's just big enough to tuck yourself into...I would cover my light, and watch the other teams (err...random OW divers) come and go, and enjoy seeing the light filter in from the surface. Even the Vortex cavern can be breathtakingly beautiful if you're willing to stop and just hover for awhile.

Thanks Rita. I told you if you get bored at Jb that means your eyes are closed. Wait until you see the cavern at Morrison springs.

 

[bamamedic]

You're a great dive partner, Kevin

That dive was also really fun, because it was entirely un-goal oriented. There was no big rush, no hurry at all...and I was able to learn quite a bit about staying out of the flow, and found all sorts of little treasures (large intact sea biscuits, random bits of dive gear, etc).

I like goal oriented dives because I think that if all my dives had no goal, I'd never get past the first hundred feet of cave (very slow swimmer!) and I'd miss a lot of cool stuff, but those cavern dives are fun as heck.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was just totally amazed the day I went into Peacock and came out in Olsen Sink.. "Cool! I went into one hole in the ground and came out another!"

We did that for our first Intro dive ... beautiful cave. I laughed when we came to the guideline that goes straight up (about halfway to Olson's) ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[PfcAJ]

I'm with you! One of the things I want to do on my next trip to FL is find somebody who's willing to spend a whole dive playing around in the gallery at Ginnie. I want to try different parts of the passage and see what the flow is, and watch the other divers come and go -- it's such a pretty passage, and everybody blasts through it in hurry to go look at OTHER wet rocks

One of my coolest dives at Ginnie was spent doing just that. We poked around the gallery for an hour, checking out all the fossils and little nooks and crannies that are all over. Its amazing what you can see and learn when you focus on a small area like that!

 

[Juno]

I'm with you! One of the things I want to do on my next trip to FL is find somebody who's willing to spend a whole dive playing around in the gallery at Ginnie. I want to try different parts of the passage and see what the flow is, and watch the other divers come and go -- it's such a pretty passage, and everybody blasts through it in hurry to go look at OTHER wet rocks

When I first started diving SM I made it a point to revisit a lot of spots I did on BM. At the end of dives I would poke around in places I never could get to before.
There are a lot of cool little nooks and crannies in the Gallery and especially going out the Eye.

 

[Mike Edmonston]

There's some really neat nooks and crannies in the Catacombs also. It's also a great dive to work on buoyancy. It's a "snug" dive, nothing ridiculous or sidemount, but you'll get to see some cool stuff if you go in the rooms and alcoves that everyone blows right past on their quest to get back to the main line before the lips. I have done dives of 2 hrs + just looking around in the Gallery and the Catacombs. I still enjoy doing that. To me it never gets old.

Safe Diving

 

[Mike Edmonston]

Oh yeah... after having struggled in the past with being able to manage a valve drill, I did it pretty easily this time and even kept my trim. Double LP85s Rock though a bit heavy on my ankle still.

Why are you doing Valve drills with your ankles? It's much easier if you use your hands. Really, I wouldn't lie to ya!

 

[cloudboy55]

I was just totally amazed the day I went into Peacock and came out in Olsen Sink.. "Cool! I went into one hole in the ground and came out another!"

Yep, it's blast... looking at Olsen and considering an exit was daunting, however.

Daren