Unwarranted Cost Increase at Florida Springs

[LiteHedded]

There is not a tech oriented dive shop in Tallahassee. The closest is Wakulla Diving Center. The best bet for conditions reports are the local divers, or if it has rained for 3 or more days straight, the vis will be going down the drain.

There is a glorified holding pond that is referred to as Munson Slough that basically catches all the rain runoff from SW Tallahassee, including the FSU campus and directs it towards the Leon Sinks system. There is also a swamp along a power line ROW that drains directly into Sullivan sink which is at the north end of the system.

I have seen the entire system blown out for a year.

from personal experience I would recommend you alot at least 7 hours if you want a trimix fill from WDC. /offtopic

[KarsticGator]

There is a glorified holding pond that is referred to as Munson Slough that basically catches all the rain runoff from SW Tallahassee, including the FSU campus

I'm sure that pond gets full of tears after the Noles play UF. (Sorry... had to go there)

[JerseyJersey]

will they have a ranger dive every day and determine if the cave is diveable?

[skip]

fifteen bucks a day to cave dive, in addition to the annual pass fee, seems reasonable to me. cave divers have long "gotten by" with the annual pass and we all have commented on what an incredible bargain it is. it's about time the state caught on, realized that the very rules of the pass allowed for additional useage fee, and did the logical thing. time to buck up and man up. the free ride is over and your kicking and screaming about it is just another example of how we've all come to think "the state" owes us something. the "we-pay-taxes-and-should-get-whatever-we-want-free" crowd is especially a bunch of whining socialists. get over it. time to pay what we should have been paying all along.

skip

[JahJahwarrior]

Danny Jones of the district in Panama gave me a call today. Says they've gotten a lot of feedback from divers. Current systems will remain in place until they discuss the issue more, and no clue what would be happening but he was glad to hear from us all. Seemed like a nice guy. Said he'd already spoken to a few others, not sure if one of you posted here yet about it or not, no time to read...stuff on the stove has to be stirred constantly...why oh why do I never buy the instant jello??

[RN]

The real question is, how many of us will quit diving Peacock, Madison, Manatee, Little River, etc., because they start charging us $15 a head? I may be pissed off about it, but at the end of the day, I think doing a dive at any of these sites is worth $15, and I'll probably still go.

I would quit diving them. There are a lot more caves than those that don't cost a thing.



On another note, I got a call from the District 1 Park manager today in response to my e-mail. The 5 district managers had a conference call meeting this morning and have put this on hold. All parks are going back to their normal operation pre-memo. They will be having meetings concerning this issue. Apparently, this started in the Orlando district with a manager asking for a clarification and snowballed from there. The intent was not to start charging daily fees to annual pass holders for diving. In fact, some of the managers weren't even aware that there were any changes. The District 1 manager (the only park where diving is allowed that he oversees is Wakulla) told me his park is doing things as before. If you hold an annual pass, you don't have to pay the daily fee to dive Emerald. The other parks should be doing the same. He will be contacting me with further updates as they arise.

[Sludge]

fifteen bucks a day to cave dive, in addition to the annual pass fee, seems reasonable to me.

Okay, you just showed you don't understand the policy. It's $15 per day if you have a pass, or $15 per day if you don't have a pass. So why buy a pass?

crowd is especially a bunch of whining socialists. get over it. time to pay what we should have been paying all along.

This comment offends me. Peacock is wonderfully rustic, but it doesn't cost much to run. There's no electricity, no restrooms with running water, no air conditioned changing rooms. I'd venture a guess that the money brought into the State Parks System's coffers because of Peacock is way more than it costs to run Peacock. I've held an annual pass for fourteen years, and probably average three or four dives a year there. So I've paid all along.

But no more.

Edit: this was typed before the above post was posted. Let me clarify that if they go back to the old way of doing things I will happily purchase a new annual pass next month.

[ssmdive]

fifteen bucks a day to cave dive, in addition to the annual pass fee, seems reasonable to me.

You don't get it. The 15 dollar fee includes everything that the pass includes. So there is no point of having a yearly pass if you have to pay the extra 15 bucks.

time to buck up and man up. the free ride is over and your kicking and screaming about it is just another example of how we've all come to think "the state" owes us something.

Nonsense. The issue I have is changing the rules mid stride. If they claim that NEXT year the pass is not good for diving that is one thing, this is another.

the "we-pay-taxes-and-should-get-whatever-we-want-free" crowd is especially a bunch of whining socialists. get over it. time to pay what we should have been paying all along.

Again your opinion. You seem to have a hard on and are looking for a fight. Not ONE person has said they want "something for free". That is a standard you just pulled out of your 4th point of contact.

[Unregistered User]

Okay, you just showed you don't understand the policy. It's $15 per day if you have a pass, or $15 per day if you don't have a pass. So why buy a pass?

Yes, it will conceivably cost me $15 to dive Peacock every time, even if I have an annual pass. But that annual pass also grants you access to other state parks (some don't even have springs and associated fees). The number of parks that cater to divers are but a drop in the bucket compared to those don't.
The best part is, after researching the Florida Park's Service's website, I found out I qualify for the 25% military veteran discount!

[FW]

I would quit diving them. There are a lot more caves than those that don't cost a thing.



On another note, I got a call from the District 1 Park manager today in response to my e-mail. The 5 district managers had a conference call meeting this morning and have put this on hold. All parks are going back to their normal operation pre-memo. They will be having meetings concerning this issue. Apparently, this started in the Orlando district with a manager asking for a clarification and snowballed from there. The intent was not to start charging daily fees to annual pass holders for diving. In fact, some of the managers weren't even aware that there were any changes. The District 1 manager (the only park where diving is allowed that he oversees is Wakulla) told me his park is doing things as before. If you hold an annual pass, you don't have to pay the daily fee to dive Emerald. The other parks should be doing the same. He will be contacting me with further updates as they arise.

This bears repeating, since many seem to have missed it!

Good job Rob!!