Emerald's Black Abyss

My buddy Keith Mille and I did a dive in Emerald yesterday over to the Black Abyss. Basin in Emerald has low vis down to 15 ft, then it clears up to a good 70+ feet. We staged our way beyond Cheryl. Took us about 25 minutes to get there. Before yesterday, Cheryl was as far as I had gone in that passage. Beyond this, as you come around a corner, there's a huge boulder sitting in the middle of the passage. If there's a diver under there, we'll NEVER know it. You know that thing made a silt cloud when it broke off the ceiling. Beyond this, there's a section that gets a little deeper. We were somewhere around 117 ft I think. Then it shallows out again before entering the Black Abyss.

The Black Abyss itself is a large room. The floor drops away, the ceiling disappears, as well as one side wall (depending on which direction you choose). It's a 3-way T. The top two lines make a circuit around the room. The third line descends to the floor of the room and to continuing cave. We stayed on the shallow circuit since this was my first time there. We comfortably made it around the room on much less than thirds and exited. You could shine your light down and see rock way below you. Shine into the dark looking for the other wall and all you get is blackness. Shine up and you can't even see the ceiling.

On our exit, I couldn't help noticing a slight flow going with us. When we returned to open water, we couldn't help but drop downstream toward the stop sign. We stopped at 133 ft.

Did 95 min bottom time and 5 min deco. I'm guessing here, but I figure we probably penetrated 1,900 ft from Emerald to the back of the Abyss. We're planning to go back with mix next time and dive the floor of the Abyss.

We noticed there hasn't been any divers in Emerald in a month. Now's a good time to hit it. Cheryl's basin is clear.

The Black Abyss is definitely one of my top 10 dives. The room is huge, but I believe Diepolder III is much larger. The Super Room at Eagle's Nest may be as well. Anyway, this is a must see for those approved to dive the site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!