SeaYoda
Contributor
Larry and I got to the spring at about 7 AM to find one boat trailer in the parking area. We geared up and hit the water by about 7:30 AM. The water was the usual 68 degrees and from the beach appeared clear (although not radiant blue). As we put our heads under the water we saw a lot lower viz than expected. There were no other divers there but we could not see the log at all from the platform. The viz was 30' - 40' but had lots of particle matter and haze. The river level is low so the only reason for the poor viz that I can think of is that there must have been runoff from the storms last night. I tried, unsuccessfully, to get some pictures of the opening to the cavern from the basin. Larry and I went down the funnel and peered into the cavern. The flow was strong but not like Cypress. There was lots of junk blowing out of the hole as we were laying on the bottom of the funnel. We went back up into the basin and back to the entry point. It was a good dive but just not what I had anticipated. Between dives a guy was trying to put his boat in the water - it was the guy who used to run the shop there (Dennis). I didn't think I'd ever see him again after his boss sold the property to the State. As we were changing tanks, several other divers showed up. We decided to get in the water quick to avoid the rush. Larry and I played in the shallows on the second dive - saw crappie, bass, bluegill, and a snake. While we were in the shallows several of the other divers went in the basin and it looked like a chimney with smoke blowing out the top. Viz went from poor to awful. We grabbed the flag off the log where I had placed it and circled counter clockwise around the shallows back to the exit. There was a layer of silt just under the surface as we hit the beach area. The good news of the trip is that I saw three boats while I was there and they all were at idle speed while near the divers!!!! Here are some pics from the dive:
