Morrison Springs/LBTS reports (long)

[Trisha]

It's 18-20 hours from OKC to De Funiak Springs, another 12-14 hours from there to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. We headed out Friday afternoon, spent spring break with two adults and two teenagers in a 21-foot fifth-wheel, and did three dives in ten days.
Was it worth it? Yabetcha!

Florida Panhandle
Saturday, March 12: Got bad info. from Ned Deloach's Diving Guide to Underwater Florida. Florida Caverns State Park does not allow diving at Blue Hole, so we got our air fills and rested up for Sunday.
Sunday, March 13: Morning dive at Morrison Springs -- yes! Yes! Yes!! First spring dive, crystal waters, bluegills, rainbows in the sand. An underwater cavern, two levels, an air pocket, freshwater eels. Watching other divers glide past the "Danger" sign at the cave, feeling the rush of spring water from the opening. Safety stop near the fallen log, practicing buoyancy.
Much thanks to the ScubaBoard crew who shared the morning -- it was excellent!
Alas, other duties called....

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
Tuesday, March 15: Datura Beach was fantastic! Our first beach dives, great visibility, stayed at first reef and 13 feet. We found the anchor and the coral patch to the south, teeming with fish, including doctorfish and a moray eel. We found a shy pufferfish and a curious small ray. A set of three "cannons" and a set of two, more reefs to the south, more tropicals. The best diving day of the three in LBTS.
Wednesday was a glorious day -- for boogie boarding. Unfortunately the wind was from the southeast, so we joined the surfers and played in the waves. Good thing we added our wetsuits, because it was a bit chilly.
Thursday began cloudy and went downhill from there, but that didn't stop my husband and me from sneaking in another dive at Datura. This time we ventured a bit to the north and found tabletop-sized boulders and a wider variety of fish, including a grey angelfish. First reef again and 15 feet.

Back to the Panhandle
Saturday, March 19: We took a chance on some Gulf diving at Panama City. We got to St. Andrews Beach jetties just before high tide (3:30 pm) but the fishing boats and a huge ship chugging past (an oil tanker?) made it less than desirable. That's too bad, because my youngest daughter and I had a blast snorkeling by the jetties and saw several fish, including sargeant majors.

What we learned... weight needed in salt water, shore entries/exits, a bit about tides and currents. What we found... Sunset King Lake RV Resort near De Funiak Springs, sweet RV camping at a reasonable cost. What we need... a good campsite near Pompano Beach/LBTS and better odds of sunny, calm days. We heard that second reef was even better!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Great report

You guys were out at Morrison on the 12th? We had a bunch of SB'ers there thay day including myself, I guess you met a few of em. I don't think we crossed paths though, maybe next time.

I still haven't dove off the East coast of FL yet, one of these days....

 

[jviehe]

Glad you had fun, though I wouldnt call Morrison crystal waters right now. You should see Ginnie Spring for comparison.

 

[Trisha]

Sigh... I guess we picked the right week to come out there, 'cause the weather reports have been depressing for Florida. It's been too cold for anything around here short of drysuits, and I don't go there.
I made a list of the hotels on 4100-4300 El Mar Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, which is where Datura Avenue meets the beach. Gas prices are at $2/gallon and up here in OKC... argg! Too cold to dive here, too expensive to drive there, this is torture!

 

[darcy]

Sounds like you had a good trip. I was out at Morrison the same day you were with Suprbugman and a bunch of other SB's. The conditons were pretty good.

Next time you dive the PCB jetties swing by the dive shop at the park. They can usually point you in the right direction for a good dive given the conditions for that day. I did two dives at the Jetties the same Saturday you were there and our dives were really good, of course we had a guide that is familliar with the area from the Jetty dive shop so that made a huge diffrence. His name is Flipper and he manages the dive shop there. I highly recommend you check in with them out there next time.

 

[Trisha]

I agree, Flipper seemed very nice and informative. But those boats were fishing right by the jetties, and as my husband said, it would be a shame to spend the day in emergency getting a fish hook out!
Beth and I snorkeled next to the jetties and I almost went back and got my gear, though. We saw several fish among the rocks and I would love to have had a closer look, but we were already getting sunburn on our goosebumps. Beautiful beach!
I understand the SB group went to Destin the week before (which is when we arrived.) How does the boat traffic compare? We have some personal watercraft and boats in Oklahoma waters that think a dive flag is a novelty, but nothing like all the people in that confined space on March 19.

 

[darcy]

Trisha I think I met you when you were talking to Flipper. It was you and your husband and your daughter, right? I was hanging out there waiting for high tide when you guys stopped in. Small world!

Those boats are pretty close. Lately my dive buddies have been collecting fishing lures out of the rocks. Some of them are pretty nice. We had a boat that day knock our dive flag then drop anchor 3 feet from where were were near the rocks. Jeeze, I guess he didn't see the flag because he had RUN OVER IT!

I've never dove the Destin Jetties, Suprbugman can probably give a better report on that.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Boat traffic in Destin can be bad, but I think Panama Cities is probably worse considering how busy it was a few weeks ago when all of us were there - its not even peak season yet and they were still loaded with boats.

 

[Trisha]

Yes! That was myself, Richard and Beth (Kim decided to sit that one out.) This is the advantage of an active website. We also said hi to a couple of men at Morrison Springs the Sunday before who were posters.
It's a shame about the boat traffic. Richard is off the idea of doing that hour drive from De Funiak Springs just to snorkel, and I can't blame him. But golly it was a pretty sight! I've heard that Shell Island is nice, too, but there were complaints about the ferry schedule posted on the internet that day.
Well, we'll try again, maybe when gas prices aren't so ridiculous. We have four safety sausages that haven't gotten wet yet....

BTW, I'm using SeaYoda's pic of a freshwater eel as my background. Sigh!

 

[SeaYoda]

...BTW, I'm using SeaYoda's pic of a freshwater eel as my background. Sigh!

I'm getting famous .