Promise syphon

[Springwise]

Has anyone ever been to promise sink south of Tallahassee? I am interested to know whether or not a map exists of this cave. Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Never heard of it, is there public access via land or water?

 

[karstdvr]

I used to spend a lot of time South of Tallahassee in the 90s when things were open. With most of the sinks in Tallahassee area you need to be real careful,some have very poor viz,and get you in overhead before you know it. I think this particular sink is on private land.

 

[Springwise]

It is near Riversink on National Forest property. Access is, lets say, for the determined as you must cart gear. Depths to 150++ , I hear over 200. Deep for my taste, but there are some big domes up front and a chert (?) vein running through the cave at about 100 ffw. Very impressive entrance cavern constricts at 95' to a 10'x 40' duck under to a dome room. The next dome is thrice as big. And the next dome? Just bring an HID backup light, cause a 2 watt won't do you much good. Small (50') swimunder leads upstream to next spring. Upstream is shallow (65') and super dark and scary. I know this sink is part of the overall connection from leon sinks to wakulla, so its definately seen some traffic. Hope somebody has been in there and can tell me what I'm missing.

 

[cwick]

"Promise" and "Go-between" they are called. I dove them also in the early 90's. They are very easy to get to if you have a key, if you don't it's a long hike. The land that they are on is now controled by the Wakulla Springs State park. From Tallahassee drive south of Capital Circle on hwy 319 for about 6 miles, on your right will be New Light Church Rd. ( Emerald Sink), on your left will be C.J. Spears Rd. At C.J. Spears turn left and then quickly back to the right this dirt rd will take through one gate and then to another in about 200 yards where you will find a parking area. From here it's all on foot. From the trail you can see Promise, on your right, there are alot of smaller sinks in this area and as Springwise said you will be just north of Upper River Sink. Fish Sink is also in this area, I have never dove Fish but I hear that it is an advanced dive.
Happy Hunting!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[PerroneFord]

Uhh,

Aren't Promise and Go-Between (and nearly all the other sinks in this area) officially off limits at the moment?

Just asking.

 

[karstdvr]

Uhh,

Aren't Promise and Go-Between (and nearly all the other sinks in this area) officially off limits at the moment?

Just asking.

You are correct!!!!

A lot of work has and is being done to establish good relations in that area to re-establish cave diving,and we are being successful. If there is a lot of trespassing this will put a dim view on cave diving by the people in authority,and make future negotiations very difficult;plus any encounters by local law enforcement. Also,many of these caves are advanced level cave dives due to depths and conditions,and not a place for newer cave divers to get experience.

 

[Springwise]

If "access" to Tallahassee caves means needing advanced trimix certs and Abe Davis awards to dive open water sinkholes with attendant caves (Emerald), well,,,,,, It seems pretty obvious that there is a cadre of elitists who believe only they are competent enough to perform cave dives, that they are the only one capable of surviving. I have been waiting for access to these sites (on National Forest property by the way, only the access is controlled by Wakulla SP) to "open" for 10 years. I believe issues regarding the use of publically owned property should not be the provence of an extremely small and exclusive subset of the competent, trained dive community.

 

[Daedalus]

If you want to continue being able to only dive Tallahassee caves under constant threat of arrest keep it up. Otherwise, maybe you could consider contacting the NSSCDS or NACD and see how you can help to get open access.

 

[Springwise]

Well lets see, unless you are tresspassing, or violating a law, you shouldn't be bothered. Last time I checked the National Forest was public land. As long as one were not diving on Wakulla park property, I don't see how arrest would be possible. Unless you are refering to arrest and prosecution by the "cave police".
All this talk about "working" with certification agencies is moot if the agency agrees to judge each dive site by the "worst case scenario" that could possily occur there. We aren't idiots. Just because there is a deep cave section accessible from any given site is no reason to close the site to everyone but a handful of the eligible dive community. 10 years should have been enough time to work this out. If I recall, wasn't all this land originally closed because it was rented to hunters by St Joe? And now access must be "negotiated"??
As far as I'm concerned there is no law against lugging gear through Wakulla park property to access open National Forest that has been landlocked by surrounding it with "park".
I have a dream. I have a dream that one day , a thousand wagons will converge on Promise and Go-Between, each filled with cave gear. And divers from all agencies and with differing levels of experience can dive, in harmony. And enter the water free men and women (utilizing the nifty steps that are already there by the way). And dive. Dive for our freedom!.
P.S. Don't hate