pdoege
Contributor
Hey Guys -
I dove Morrison Spring this Saturday. Morrison is just outside of Ponce De Leon, FL. About 16 minutes from Vortex Springs.
The site is a largish spring headwater in the middle of a swamp. The site has not been built up and is very natural. There is a pole barn for equipment rigging, a warm shower (!!!) and a basic dive shop.
Air fills only, sort of a bummer.
The spring loses a lot of vis in the rain and sort of lucked out arriving when I did. The vis was incredible. Probably in the 100' range. You could see the surrounding forest from the bottom of the bowl. Very Nice!
I was the 1st diver in the water and had the privilege of hovering at 50' in awe of the beauty. Incredible! My own private light show.
There is a fallen tree with an ascent line bisecting the spring at 23'. Perfect for practicing bouyancy, ascents, etc. The bottom is soft sand and muck and it silts easily. So you have to have good kicks and bouyancy to enjoy the show.
The mouth to the cave proper is at about 55' and there is quite a bit of flow. Enough to keep log bits suspended in the current. Not nearly as strong as Manatee, but still pretty good.
An OW class hopped in after a while and there went the vis. I timed my dives to coincide with their SI, and all was good.
I met a group from La. called Blue Water Divers. Really nice people. Turns out that they were staying at Vortex that night! Cool!
I got in the last dive of the day and promptly flooded my dry suit. Brrr! I had not properly connected the inflator hose and it makes for a great leak! I fixed it UW, but the damage was done.
Not the best end to a day of diving, but an important lesson to learn.
I went back to Vortex and shared hamburgers and wine with my new friends.
I had a lot fun.
Morrison spring is a great place to dive. Highly recommended.
Peter
edit: Fixed typo
I dove Morrison Spring this Saturday. Morrison is just outside of Ponce De Leon, FL. About 16 minutes from Vortex Springs.
The site is a largish spring headwater in the middle of a swamp. The site has not been built up and is very natural. There is a pole barn for equipment rigging, a warm shower (!!!) and a basic dive shop.
Air fills only, sort of a bummer.
The spring loses a lot of vis in the rain and sort of lucked out arriving when I did. The vis was incredible. Probably in the 100' range. You could see the surrounding forest from the bottom of the bowl. Very Nice!
I was the 1st diver in the water and had the privilege of hovering at 50' in awe of the beauty. Incredible! My own private light show.
There is a fallen tree with an ascent line bisecting the spring at 23'. Perfect for practicing bouyancy, ascents, etc. The bottom is soft sand and muck and it silts easily. So you have to have good kicks and bouyancy to enjoy the show.
The mouth to the cave proper is at about 55' and there is quite a bit of flow. Enough to keep log bits suspended in the current. Not nearly as strong as Manatee, but still pretty good.
An OW class hopped in after a while and there went the vis. I timed my dives to coincide with their SI, and all was good.
I met a group from La. called Blue Water Divers. Really nice people. Turns out that they were staying at Vortex that night! Cool!
I got in the last dive of the day and promptly flooded my dry suit. Brrr! I had not properly connected the inflator hose and it makes for a great leak! I fixed it UW, but the damage was done.
Not the best end to a day of diving, but an important lesson to learn.
I went back to Vortex and shared hamburgers and wine with my new friends.
I had a lot fun.
Morrison spring is a great place to dive. Highly recommended.
Peter
edit: Fixed typo
