White Springs, FL

The fam and I were doing some camping these past few days at Stephen Foster State Park, located along the suwanee. At the enterance of the park you will see white springs (the park itself is located in the town of White Springs)... check this link for pictures and a historical background...

http://www.whitesprings.org/www.whit...rg/history.htm

So, sumarized, apparently the spring used to be a 2nd magnatude, and the original explorer and discoverer of this spring built a sort of containment wall around it, allowing them to block the water flow and create a natural swimming pool which at the time was believed to serve all sorts of medicinal purposes. This was the first official tourist attraction in Florida and at the time the town had 14 luxury hotels and saw thousands of visitors. Years later it seems the spring only flows directly after times of heavy flooding because the spring needs to be "charged" to flow. In the little scenic informational plaques around the spring it depicts a cavern and possible cave, but being that at present a low river level, no flow and very brown scummy water lead me to believe this spring is no longer divable, if it ever was.

Question being... does anyone know the history of this spring as it pertains to diving? Has it ever been dove? Is it ever currently divable? (certain times of year) Forest, do you remember swimming here as a kid?

Do they even allow diving?

No, I never lived in FL, as a kid or otherwise. I just come down here a lot.

I asked Sheck about White Springs about 30 years ago. Sadly I don't remember exactly what he said, but the impression I have now was it wasn't worth it. I don't know if that means he dove it, or that it was hard to get permission.

FWIW, Sheck was backmount only, and if it was tight, he would have turned back.

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Originally Posted by FW

Do they even allow diving?

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No

I recall someone had a permitted access there,but the cave is more bad than good. I understand at one time the system flowed clear water,but not anymore.

as far as access goes, it is apparently open to the public and you can access it from the river if you wanted. There were all kinds of kids hanging out around the place and unfortunatly the site has seen its fair share of vandalism over the years. The historical pictures were very interesting... apparently when the spring was pumping they would drop down these wooden barracades to block the water from flowing into the river and complete the enclosure forming an oval swimming pool approx. 50' long x 30' wide and could get as deep as 25' or so... I do recall reading that due to excessive use of the aquifer (wells and such) that the spring has been catastrophically effected. Very cool site, sad to see it has "died".... if i'm out that way during/after flood season, I'd like to swing by to see if there is any outflow.

White springs has been dove. I had the opportunity to dive it around 2003 or so. A friend obtained a State permit and invited me along.

It isn't a bad dive. The walk to the springhouse isn't too bad; however, the only entrance is crawling through the spillway. The angular aggregate (read sharp rocks) in the concrete spill way was very hard on the knees!

The cave was maybe 10 to 15 ft in diameter and the vis may have been 20 ft. The water was tannic and heavy with hydrogen sulfide. The passage dropped quickly to 150 ft and gave the impression that it would stay around that depth. There were multiple lines and lots of trash; mostly toys. I remember a tricycle and a school desk.

The day we went the flow was non-existent. My friend reported going back and trying to dive but the flow was up, while trying to crawl in the spillway the were blasted out into the river.

Jerry

Thanks for the info ICD and Jerry

wow... very interesting to know... what is involved with getting permits from the state to dive such locations? (i'm not too interested in this one based on what it looked like, but perhaps others)

It depends on who actually owns the land. State Parks fall under FDEP division of parks and recreation. They have a form to fill out. The biggest thing is that you have to demonstrate a "useful purpose" to FDEP. You also have to show results; maps, images, etc in addition to an annual report.

Jerry

was it a quick dive called due to depth or what did you profile look like?

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Originally Posted by IowaCaveDiver

was it a quick dive called due to depth or what did you profile look like?

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It wasn't intended to be a short dive but ended up that way because of the depth. We called on PO2 and deco. Getting up the spillway and over the spillway gate was tough enough; we didn't even attempt to carry an O2 cylinder with us.

My profile is attached.

Jerry

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Originally Posted by FW

Do they even allow diving?
I asked Sheck about White Springs about 30 years ago. Sadly I don't remember exactly what he said, but the impression I have now was it wasn't worth it. I don't know if that means he dove it, or that it was hard to get permission.

FWIW, Sheck was backmount only, and if it was tight, he would have turned back.

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Sheck's black book of dive sites vintage 1968-69 said: "White Springs (Hamilton Co.)--In town of White Springs. Commercialized; signs. Probably no SCUBA. 46 mgd (av. 36 mgd) from 2 horizontal caverns in swimming pool 50' X 90' and 40' deep. Water discharges immediately into the Suwannee R. on the S side of the pool. 70-72 [degrees] F; some sulfur in the water. Visib. about 20'."

Not clear whether he dove it or extracted this info from other sources.

Donn