Buford diving!?

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Originally Posted by rick68fl

Hey John,
When do you want to go dive it again?

Rick

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Ill do this one many more times so name a time.

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Originally Posted by Gibby

No issues with your cart getting stuck in the mud??

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when people explain the hike its kind of misleading. there is a road that you walk down for a quarter mile then you gear up and hike for 40 to 50 yards in the mud.

The hike in the swamp sucks when I took my buddy last week he didnt know anything about the place we walked to the edge of the swamp and he just kept walking and muuuussshhh. "well I just lost my shoe..." I laughed and headed back to rig up and I hear "well there went the other one".

I think the thread got changed to Jug hole and I missed it. There is no way you can get a cart all the way to the spring at Buford and I didn't see a dock. so I think he is talking about Jug Hole.

Curt

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Originally Posted by curtschu

I think the thread got changed to Jug hole and I missed it. There is no way you can get a cart all the way to the spring at Buford and I didn't see a dock. so I think he is talking about Jug Hole.

Curt

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my mistake I guess I didnt see the change in direction either.

you are right Ive never done jugg so I should have noticed the dock thing.


sorry
john

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Originally Posted by curtschu

I think the thread got changed to Jug hole and I missed it. There is no way you can get a cart all the way to the spring at Buford and I didn't see a dock. so I think he is talking about Jug Hole.

Curt

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Yes, the cart/dock comment was in reference to Jug Hole. There's a good trail there that you can haul a cart down, and the only place getting it stuck in the mud could be an issue(unless it's rained heavily recently) is in the last 50-75ft, where the trail dips down before the wood deck begins.

Mike

VIS even better today (Thurs).... I don't think it can get any better than now... near perfect... You can see the whole cavern without lights (assuming you dive it during the day...)

CurtSchu and I dove it Sunday. We were the only divers there. That hauling the gear down the road was tough, the hike thru the swamp wasn't too bad as the water is nearly all gone. Jump from root to root and avoid the flat areas. Oh, and be on the lookout for SNAKES. We saw some rather fat large snakes, both in the swamp and on logs in the water.
The cavern was WAY COOL. One of the best I've ever dove. The pictures earlier in this tread are exactly how it looked. Beautiful.

Btw I looked up those snakes that we saw. They were very very likely Florida Banded Water Snakes. Please don't kill these guys if you go out there they are harmless. Best way to tell is the head the Banded head is tappered into the body and the cotton mouth has the flare at the jaw.

Anyway great dive.

http://cavediver.net/photopost/showp...cat=all&page=1

Just a thought, Wouldn’t it be nice to have a table at the end of the road just before the swamp? I’m not talking about a wooden picnic table, I’m thinking a concrete table so no one could turn it into fire wood or a deer stand. As far as that goes maybe replace the broken ones at Eagles Nest with concrete also… I know there are people on here that know the Park manages..

Just a thought….


( 5 days and a wake up! )
Eric

As one who has dove Buford sink since 1978 (yep, 28 years ago!), I find it laughable that you think there should be a table at the end of the tramway, that the walk is too hard, and that you need more than a 95 to do the dive (last time I was there we did :30 min. BT, with :11 min deco (19 cyl.w/O2) and had over 1000 psi left in my single after surfacing. If you can't do it on this amount of gas you have other issues than the "arduous" walk! Like get in shape, knock down your SAC rate, and enhance your diving skills! PLEASE!
The cavern is only 160 ft. deep, most of the dive is above 140, the cavern is not that big that you need more time to see it all in :20-:25 min, at a liesurely swimming pace. and the walk is easy now that there are red reflectors on the trees guiding you to the sink (aprox. 50 yds) from the end of the tramway.
I'm of the opinion that Buford is one of the only pristine places left to dive in the whole State...if you can't tread softly, and leave as little impact as you go there....leave it alone! Stay at all the parks where they have steps, entry fees, rules, and CROWDS!
Buford is what freshwater diving in Florida once was, unfortunately, I see it going the way of all other sites...controlled, patrolled, pay-per-use, overused, and markedly diminished from it's original beauty.
But oh well, that the way all of Florida will inevitably go...so, on the other hand......go for it, while it's still gorgeous!
Walt is right, btw, if you hit it on a sunny day, at the right time when the sun angle is right, the 20 ft. across "skylight" that hits the breakdown pile at 100 ft. is one of the most awesome sights in diving...I took Will Walters, who discovered the place in 1974, in there two years ago...he sat on a big boulder at 90 ft. late in the dive, mesmerized by the beauty of the sun barrel lazering down all over the white limestone .

Well said Steve. I'm still not sure I like the steps at the Nest even....

BTW...I noticed a drill rig doing borings in the property around Rock Sink off Ridge Rd last week. The developers are going to pave this state over with houses it seems. I just cannot wait until Lake Whorl (sp?) floods again and puts them all 3 feet under. Can't believe someone would build on that swamp.

Best Regards, Drew