Has anyone dove BLue Spring located near Orlando? Any details?
Found this link on Diving in Depth:
http://www.divingindepth.com/Desktop...ocumentID=2663
Any info is appreciated.
Has anyone dove BLue Spring located near Orlando? Any details?
Found this link on Diving in Depth:
http://www.divingindepth.com/Desktop...ocumentID=2663
Any info is appreciated.
Only done OW there. It would be cool to see with lights, but if I remember correctly there's not much of a cave. The hike from the parking lot to the water is... decent... I would consider a cart if you have one.
So it would be like say Ginnie...the vertical fissure near the parking lot?????
I haven't been there in a couple of months (I think it's closed now for the manatees). The viz was going down starting last May. Prior to that, I had some great dives there. It's basically a long tube down. The "sign" is at 60'. From there, the tube makes a bit of an angle and flattens out a bit, cutting off most light. In good viz, it is a beautiful sight to look up from the sign. There are typically OW divers overhead and a nice "aura" shining down. At about 115', there's a small ball-shaped room. At the bottom of the ball is a log covering another hole. The flow coming out of the hole was enough to free-flow my reg while I "flag-poled" on the log. Great experience!
I've heard that no one has lived to tell about going past the log into the hole...but then I've heard that there are those who have. The maps I've seen don't go beyond there.
As for getting to and from it...there's a nice parking lot, changing rooms, showers, etc. The walk is down a very scenic boardwalk, then a bit of a walk upstream in the water. It's really not bad at all...OW students do it all the time :smt081
After the dive, do a shallow drift dive down stream to the stairs (past the ones you drop in on), which come out right by the parking lot.
After diving it a couple of times with a light, it is my favorite no-lights dive. It's very peaceful, and with the straight-shot and the flow, it's easy to find your way out. There is no gold line (unless there's line on the other side of the log, IDK).
Lots of alligator gar, LOTS! Very cool sightseeing on the way out.
Shirley
Very cool dive. The manatees winter in the spring run to the river. The rangers are very protective of them and you have to be careful not to approach them if ther're in the run. You register at the park enterance (if you're cavern or cave, you can take lights with you on the dive). Suit up in parking area and walk about 50 yards on a boardwalk to where you get into the water and walk another 50 yards hugging the shore to get to the head springs. The shaft is verticle down to 80 feet, kind of shapped like Devil's Ear but with limestone ledges on each side every 20 to 30 feet down blocking the very high flow. At 80 feet it starts going diagonal, opening into a room that bottoms out about 115 feet into a small room. There is a 2-3 foot opening at the bottom that a huge amount of water flows out of (can rip you mask off). No penatration into that hole possible. At 80', you can look straight up and see the surface. You loose existing light after 90', so not much after that unless you're some overhead certified.
It's open now, but if there are manatees in the run they close it again. Call in advance.
The walk on the boardwalk and then in the river is harsh in doubles. It's not nearly as short a walk as Ginnie can be if you park close. It's a walk!!
Nice dive, I look forwards to returning when I have overhead training.
But it still sounds to be a better walk then to CB. And the worst is after the dive up hill. Good ole FW has no problem with it. Well he never said that he did.
SLIM
Not a good comparison. "Good ole" FW walks 2-3 hours to the water all the time :-DQuote:
Originally Posted by SLIM
Good Ole FW is in better shape than most of us younger cave diving folk, or at least he does less whining!
I agree. I saw good ole FW last saturday coming out of Ginnie with twin big*ss sidemounted tanks still connected. Walks up to the table and casually sets them down....... I was impressed.Quote:
Originally Posted by mmcauliffe
Well.....Like the song says "If Your Gonna Be Dumb, You Gotta Be Tough"
No offense good ole Forrest. ;-) Hell, I'm a little of both....but mostly tough :rock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCCVbGlduSc
from what I have seen "good ol Forrest" could walk on water if thats what it took.(or crawl 2 miles,or climb 300'of rope.) and leave all us younger pups behind
Good dive, definatly worth a trip out there! The boardwalk makes it easy to get to, a little walk but really pretty. It drops streight down 60ft then goes off on a 90 degree angle to 127 ft. You have to be cavern certified to go down, but you can usually get to around 80ft with lots of light.
There are a ton of cool swimthroughs and things to check out!
Enjoy