SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
I was working in Freeport today and took the opportunity to get some diving in while I was in the same area as several of FL's springs. Luckily, photohikedive and MDB were available for some dives. Unfortunately, the rains we've had over the past week have raised the river levels considerably and they were showing 9.5' near Caryville this morning. The entire basin was not only tannic, but incredibly milky from runoff. The bright side was that there was a visible blue boil towards the center. This means that the river water temp had risen enough to float ontop the spring water and there would be a clear area in the immediate area around the cavern entrances.
Our only clear diving would be in an overhead environment. MDB decided to sit this one out as she was still getting aquainted with the gear she was using. Visibility started off as a very dirty 3-5' and slowly improved towards the bottom. Where the basin funneled down, visibility was as good as 15-20' horizontally and probably top to bottom from above to the main cavern entrance. PHD and I descended into the cavern to burn a third of our tank away. The typical cavern fauna was around including rock bass, freshwater eels, and catfish. Once we hit 2000psi, we ascended and made a quick run through the shallower cavern. We hung around the tree a bit before heading back to the beach. I maxed my depth at 96' and the dive lasted a bit over half an hour. We spotted the gnome, watermelon boy, the fish, and one other statue. The merman wasn't spotted and of course the goose has been destroyed.
After a bit over an hour of chatting and watching some kids throw sand at each other, we hit the water again. The dive profile was basically the same and I hit 94' and the dive was just short of half an hour. PHD added his own offering to the cavern god's in the shape of a small armadillo.
After the second dive we hit up Sally's for some grease burgers, fries and hot chocolate before heading our seperate ways. I wish every day at work could be as much fun as today
I had alot of fun and can't wait to get back out there again, hopefully with clearer OW conditions!
I have a few topside pics I'll post when I get them uploaded.
Our only clear diving would be in an overhead environment. MDB decided to sit this one out as she was still getting aquainted with the gear she was using. Visibility started off as a very dirty 3-5' and slowly improved towards the bottom. Where the basin funneled down, visibility was as good as 15-20' horizontally and probably top to bottom from above to the main cavern entrance. PHD and I descended into the cavern to burn a third of our tank away. The typical cavern fauna was around including rock bass, freshwater eels, and catfish. Once we hit 2000psi, we ascended and made a quick run through the shallower cavern. We hung around the tree a bit before heading back to the beach. I maxed my depth at 96' and the dive lasted a bit over half an hour. We spotted the gnome, watermelon boy, the fish, and one other statue. The merman wasn't spotted and of course the goose has been destroyed.
After a bit over an hour of chatting and watching some kids throw sand at each other, we hit the water again. The dive profile was basically the same and I hit 94' and the dive was just short of half an hour. PHD added his own offering to the cavern god's in the shape of a small armadillo.
After the second dive we hit up Sally's for some grease burgers, fries and hot chocolate before heading our seperate ways. I wish every day at work could be as much fun as today
I had alot of fun and can't wait to get back out there again, hopefully with clearer OW conditions!I have a few topside pics I'll post when I get them uploaded.
