Prettiest Florida cave?

[DIR-Atlanta]

Though I hear Jackson Blue past the half-hitch is very pretty as well.

Do you mean Madison Blue? There may be a "Half Hitch" in JB, but the only one I know of is in Madison. I've been as far as RotoRooter on the main line in Madison, and also to Courtyard (via Potter's and Rocky Horror). Courtyard is really pretty, but a little harder for most folks to get to. I personally think the front half of Madison is the nicest part of the cave. I think JB is probably prettier though.

 

[PerroneFord]

Yes, I did mean Madison Blue...

Ever since reading the story in the NACD magazine, I've wanted to dive it. I was up there about a month ago in the cavern, but could go no further at the time. It should be a fun system to work for the next half a year or so.

I did the first 800ft or so of JB last fall and thought it was quite pretty. But I was under a lot of stress at the time as I was in class. It will be nice to see again without all the stress.

 

[Jason B]

Which ever one I'm in at the moment seems to do the trick for me.

I can find the beauty in them all.

Sometimes it's the stripes of different colored clays hidden beneath the silty floor peaking out at you like someone had licked the floor 1000's like it was a jawbreaker, exposing the colorfull candy layers underneath.

Might be a chunk of goethite looking like the remains of a campfire from days gone by.

The black walls that look like they are made of velvet.

A piece of rock as thin as paper.

The isopods falling from the ceiling like rain.

There is beauty to be found in them all - seek and ye shall find.

 

[TSandM]

Jason, I want to go diving with you!

 

[Stu S.]

At the right time of the year, early in the morning, you can view the sunrise from within Blue Springs at Orange City. The main part of the "spring room" turns gold. It's best seen from back in the corner at 55 feet.

This is easy to do, and not considered caving. My daughter and I had the place to ourselves, and caught this view about a year ago. I have never seen anything else like it.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Cow - by far the prettiest, there is no arguing this fact.

Peacock - I don't think its very pretty at all but if I want one of those long relaxing chill out dives, peacock is the place for Zen thats for sure.

Jackson Blue - semi pretty, more like "neat" gets kind of pretty when it start to split up, my favorite "cover your light on exit" is jackson blue as the cavern can't be beat.

Little river, I wouldn't call it pretty but its neat, one of my favorites, madison is high on the neat list too.

Hole in the wall is not pretty but it makes the neat list

hmm, question might have been easier if you would have asked the ugliest caves cause the list would be short, I was about to start listing every cave I had been in in florida, but of course nothing in florida holds a candle to sac atun in mexico.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

I was just watching some video of Jackson Blue. It's not the only JB video I've watched, and each time, I've just been blown away by how beautiful it is. It seems as though the stone is whiter and the structure is so interesting compared with some of the other caves I've seen video from.

For those of you who actually dive them, what's your vote for the prettiest Florida cave?

I put florida caves in two classes, high flow low silt with rock and low flow with silt, the more visual appealing caves are the higher flow ones with exposed rock, JB, Little River, Devils, etc, lower flow ones such as twin, hole in the wall, PIII, PII etc are less visually appealing when it comes to white rock, however the super silt holes offer a different aspect, you can't just muscle against the flow and get in there you have to finesse it, to get in and out of PII and PIII safely and without blowing everything to hell means skill and application of the skill so therefor is very fun (in my opinion) but none of the silty low flow-ers have made me stop and go "oh man thats pretty" like the high flow caves, but low flow is more relaxing, less work

Cow has flow and insane amounts of clay, large clay banks with bands built over thousands of years, more color in a cave then I have seen anywhere else in florida its my favorite one.

Nothing beats the prettyness of a mexico cave, even the "silt" in some of those caves is cool, layers of the cave will flake off over time and build up on the floor, makes everything look like its covered in snow.

The "exploration" factor is a lot higher in the mexico caves, holes EVERYWHERE, we spent a day poking our heads in holes looking for main line, never found it but we covered a lot of cave and had a lot of fun.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Now I am depressed and can not work, I am having thoughts of cave diving in mexico, I'm shot for the rest of the day to sit and daydream - thanks a lot

 

[TSandM]

The "exploration" factor is a lot higher in the mexico caves, holes EVERYWHERE, we spent a day poking our heads in holes looking for main line, never found it but we covered a lot of cave and had a lot of fun.

I laughed when I read this. One of the things I was thinking as the guide ran the line from OW in Mexico was, "Man, if I'd never been here before, how would I ever have FOUND the main line?"

Fixxer, I'd apologize for spoiling your day, except I think I've spent every day since we got home from Mexico like that . . . Nice to have company.

 

[KazInAz]

I laughed when I read this. One of the things I was thinking as the guide ran the line from OW in Mexico was, "Man, if I'd never been here before, how would I ever have FOUND the main line?"

Fixxer, I'd apologize for spoiling your day, except I think I've spent every day since we got home from Mexico like that . . . Nice to have company.

When Art and I started diving caves in Mexico I felt the same way. How will we ever find the main line by ourselves? Well after 9 trips to cave country I have found that you develop a 'sense' for where the line will be. We used to drill some of the other cavers about where to look prior to going. We still will ask for hints but have found its not that hard to find if you know what to look for which just comes with practice.

We've only been back a week and are already planning our fall trip (actually we picked dates prior to leaving Mexico)! We go every spring and fall.