SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Morrison Springs 6-25-5
Josh Lambeth and I arrived at Morrison around 8AM on a beautiful morning to see that the water levels were down quite a bit with blue water showing brightly. You could see the UW training platform from the parking area. We were the first divers onsite but there were several empty trucks with bare trailers on the back which meant the dive flag was definately going to go with us.
Visibility ranged in the 40-50' area and the basin was nearly all clear/blue spring water. There was some tannic along the east side of the basin and it was in most of the spring run. We explored the basin and caverns and then trek'd up the west side(clearer water) of the spring run for a short stint. We dove for nearly an hour before surfacing with a max depth of 88' in the main cavern.
Darcy met up with us on the second dive. The tannic water covered the entire east portion of the basin and was visible even while looking up from the cavern entrance. Visibility was reduced to 20-30' and was a bit milkier. More divers were also showing up and the bottom started to get kicked up. By the time we surfaced, after being UW for nearly an hour, the parking lot was full and there were atleast 30 people in the water. We maxed our depth at 89' in the main cavern.
The water temps in the spring water here are 68ºF.
Destin Jetties 6-25-5
After a long surface interval consisting of driving from Morrison to Destin, grabbing a bite to eat, and putting our gear back together; we started our little death march to the jetties. Josh and I met up with SeaYoda and Gulf_Gulper for the dive. By this time it was 90ºF and humid as hell. Needless to say, we took a breather in the water before starting the dive.
The water was quite comfortable and nobody wore much in the way of neoprene. Josh and I wore 0.5mm suits, Gulf-Gulper wore a shorty, and SeaYoda wore a T-Shirt and nobody complained about being cold. The water looked good and greeted us with 20-25' of visibility once you descended past the hoards of snorkelers and OW classes. The fish were quite abundant today and it gave us an opportunity for lots of photo opportunities. We dove down past the large anchor and mooring blocks before turning for our return. On the way back, I spotted a nice Flounder and pointed it out for Josh(he has a FL fishing liscense, I don't). He knifed it(using a spear with any kind of propulsion is illegal off the jetties) and we stuffed it in a goody bag. We had a great dive in super comfortable water, nice change from the chilly spring water. The dive lasted just short of an hour and maxed out at 62'. I would estimate the water temperatures in the mid-upper 80ºsF.
Morrison Springs 6-26-5
Patrick Davis and I arrived around 7:30AM Sunday morning at Morrison and were suprised to see that the water levels were even lower than the previous day. Corigan arrived shortly after we got there and Darcy trailed behind him by a few minutes. It was overcast the entire time we were at Morrison and it sprinkled a few times too.
The four of us jumped into the water and were rewarded with 50-60+ visibility. The basin was absolutely beautiful and the tannic water had cleared back a few hundred yards from the spring basin. After taking a little group pic at the tree across the hole, we all explored the larger basin and then the smaller one. Afterwards, we explored the rest of the basin and decided to head up the spring run. I spotted a pretty big slider turtle and me and Patrick took off for a chase, but the turtle put us to shame and we managed to kick up quite a bit of duckweed while we were getting our butts handed to us by the turtle. I found a Titanium Dive knife still in its sheath(with leg straps) before turning around to head back(we were easily 200 yards from the spring basin). On the way back we were buzzed by a bowfin and a large softshell turtle. The dive lasted over an hour and we maxed our depths at 87' in the larger cavern.
There were several classes coming into Morrison and there were a few people arleady getting into the water so we decided to keep our second dive short. This would also give us time for a decent lunch and time to get our tanks filled before heading to Destin Jetties. We explored the cavern again and once our first 1/3rd was used up, we goofed around alot by the tree. It was basically a mix of an UW circus and a matrix fight scene. It was alotta fun despite the fact it lasted just over 30min. We still hit a max depth of 88' in the main cavern.
Destin Jetties 6-26-5
We had a pretty hefty surface interval again with the drive from the springs to Destin, dealing with ScubaTech(we just dropped the tanks off) and a long wait at Dewey's for a seafood lunch(T'was good despite the wait). We arrived at the parking lot for the jetties around 2:30 which was around when the tide was supposed to turn. We geared up as quickly as possible and made the trek to the beach. We met up with philmotrek and Bill Lewis who were waiting ever-so patiently for our late tales. The walk wasn't nearly as bad this time around, the later tides and the overcast skies really helped us out.
The 6 of us headed into the water and below the snorkelers. Most of the Scuba classes had already left and we were told the tide had already turned. After reaching the point at about 50' we were greeted by and ever-so mild current and visibility was 15-20'. There were lots of fish that kept us busy and we made it to the anchor before turning around to head back to the shallows. All in all, we had alot of fun with just a few minor setbacks, but everyone had a great time and I got some cool pictures. We dove just short of an hour and reached a max depth of 56'.
I slept well Sunday night
You can find quite a few more pics here.
http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album68
Josh Lambeth and I arrived at Morrison around 8AM on a beautiful morning to see that the water levels were down quite a bit with blue water showing brightly. You could see the UW training platform from the parking area. We were the first divers onsite but there were several empty trucks with bare trailers on the back which meant the dive flag was definately going to go with us.
Visibility ranged in the 40-50' area and the basin was nearly all clear/blue spring water. There was some tannic along the east side of the basin and it was in most of the spring run. We explored the basin and caverns and then trek'd up the west side(clearer water) of the spring run for a short stint. We dove for nearly an hour before surfacing with a max depth of 88' in the main cavern.
Darcy met up with us on the second dive. The tannic water covered the entire east portion of the basin and was visible even while looking up from the cavern entrance. Visibility was reduced to 20-30' and was a bit milkier. More divers were also showing up and the bottom started to get kicked up. By the time we surfaced, after being UW for nearly an hour, the parking lot was full and there were atleast 30 people in the water. We maxed our depth at 89' in the main cavern.
The water temps in the spring water here are 68ºF.
Destin Jetties 6-25-5
After a long surface interval consisting of driving from Morrison to Destin, grabbing a bite to eat, and putting our gear back together; we started our little death march to the jetties. Josh and I met up with SeaYoda and Gulf_Gulper for the dive. By this time it was 90ºF and humid as hell. Needless to say, we took a breather in the water before starting the dive.
The water was quite comfortable and nobody wore much in the way of neoprene. Josh and I wore 0.5mm suits, Gulf-Gulper wore a shorty, and SeaYoda wore a T-Shirt and nobody complained about being cold. The water looked good and greeted us with 20-25' of visibility once you descended past the hoards of snorkelers and OW classes. The fish were quite abundant today and it gave us an opportunity for lots of photo opportunities. We dove down past the large anchor and mooring blocks before turning for our return. On the way back, I spotted a nice Flounder and pointed it out for Josh(he has a FL fishing liscense, I don't). He knifed it(using a spear with any kind of propulsion is illegal off the jetties) and we stuffed it in a goody bag. We had a great dive in super comfortable water, nice change from the chilly spring water. The dive lasted just short of an hour and maxed out at 62'. I would estimate the water temperatures in the mid-upper 80ºsF.
Morrison Springs 6-26-5
Patrick Davis and I arrived around 7:30AM Sunday morning at Morrison and were suprised to see that the water levels were even lower than the previous day. Corigan arrived shortly after we got there and Darcy trailed behind him by a few minutes. It was overcast the entire time we were at Morrison and it sprinkled a few times too.
The four of us jumped into the water and were rewarded with 50-60+ visibility. The basin was absolutely beautiful and the tannic water had cleared back a few hundred yards from the spring basin. After taking a little group pic at the tree across the hole, we all explored the larger basin and then the smaller one. Afterwards, we explored the rest of the basin and decided to head up the spring run. I spotted a pretty big slider turtle and me and Patrick took off for a chase, but the turtle put us to shame and we managed to kick up quite a bit of duckweed while we were getting our butts handed to us by the turtle. I found a Titanium Dive knife still in its sheath(with leg straps) before turning around to head back(we were easily 200 yards from the spring basin). On the way back we were buzzed by a bowfin and a large softshell turtle. The dive lasted over an hour and we maxed our depths at 87' in the larger cavern.
There were several classes coming into Morrison and there were a few people arleady getting into the water so we decided to keep our second dive short. This would also give us time for a decent lunch and time to get our tanks filled before heading to Destin Jetties. We explored the cavern again and once our first 1/3rd was used up, we goofed around alot by the tree. It was basically a mix of an UW circus and a matrix fight scene. It was alotta fun despite the fact it lasted just over 30min. We still hit a max depth of 88' in the main cavern.
Destin Jetties 6-26-5
We had a pretty hefty surface interval again with the drive from the springs to Destin, dealing with ScubaTech(we just dropped the tanks off) and a long wait at Dewey's for a seafood lunch(T'was good despite the wait). We arrived at the parking lot for the jetties around 2:30 which was around when the tide was supposed to turn. We geared up as quickly as possible and made the trek to the beach. We met up with philmotrek and Bill Lewis who were waiting ever-so patiently for our late tales. The walk wasn't nearly as bad this time around, the later tides and the overcast skies really helped us out.
The 6 of us headed into the water and below the snorkelers. Most of the Scuba classes had already left and we were told the tide had already turned. After reaching the point at about 50' we were greeted by and ever-so mild current and visibility was 15-20'. There were lots of fish that kept us busy and we made it to the anchor before turning around to head back to the shallows. All in all, we had alot of fun with just a few minor setbacks, but everyone had a great time and I got some cool pictures. We dove just short of an hour and reached a max depth of 56'.
I slept well Sunday night
You can find quite a few more pics here.
http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album68
