This was our first trip to Mine Lamotte. We received some good info from a friend who is in the process of doing a survey there, however, he hasnt been there since the collapse. Part of the land bridge between the two pools collapsed. We arrived late on Saturday so we decided to wait until Sunday to dive. On our first dive we entered through the tunnel at the south end of the pool. Since this was our first dive here we planned to turn on fourths and only used back gas (no stages). We passed two Ys and stayed to the right at each. Also, we each (two of us) placed a marker on the line we came in on. Since I dont trust clothespins to stay where I put them we used arrows that have been cut and are just a rectangle. This provided a secure marker and didnt risk placing contradictory directional info on the line. We also spotted at least two jumps but didnt check them out. Well do that next time. There also were some rooms off to the sides of the road with no line going in. These, also, will be interesting to explore in the future. We turned the dive at 35 min. The max depth was 30ft and a total time of 68 min. Once we got back a ways vis was 20+.
On the second dive we entered next to the collapse. It looks like a good portion of the entrance was blocked but I didnt see it before the collapse. There is still plenty of room to get in. The line does not extend to open water so we tied off outside and ran a line in. I was surprised to see a stop sign at the beginning of the permanent line. This was a shorter dive since we were using the same tanks. There isnt any place to get fills closer than St. Lois. Bon Terr doesnt fill din. We again passed two Ys and just for the heck of it went right at each one. Vis wasnt as good as the first dive but the terrain was more interesting. The line runs across some big rooms (as near as I could tell) creating a really neat effect in the limited vis. The dive was 39 min with a max depth of 54 ft. Mine Lamotte doesnt have the unlimited vis and the scenery that some of the Florida caves have but lots of history and an enjoyable dive. I dont think you would ever run out of nooks and crannies to explore. Were headed back next week to dive on Sunday.
On the second dive we entered next to the collapse. It looks like a good portion of the entrance was blocked but I didnt see it before the collapse. There is still plenty of room to get in. The line does not extend to open water so we tied off outside and ran a line in. I was surprised to see a stop sign at the beginning of the permanent line. This was a shorter dive since we were using the same tanks. There isnt any place to get fills closer than St. Lois. Bon Terr doesnt fill din. We again passed two Ys and just for the heck of it went right at each one. Vis wasnt as good as the first dive but the terrain was more interesting. The line runs across some big rooms (as near as I could tell) creating a really neat effect in the limited vis. The dive was 39 min with a max depth of 54 ft. Mine Lamotte doesnt have the unlimited vis and the scenery that some of the Florida caves have but lots of history and an enjoyable dive. I dont think you would ever run out of nooks and crannies to explore. Were headed back next week to dive on Sunday.