Thanks to a DONSA day at work, I found myself with some free time this morning to dive one I've been wanting to do for a while.

This cave is kind of tricky to get into if you haven't been briefed. The entry is through a vertical crack that is half out of the water. Just drop low and stay under, the first little bit is only 4-6 feet deep. Also, the viz was horrendous to the point that I almost didn't go.

You follow a small tunnel, trying to stay in clear water down low. In just a little bit, there was a left turn that seemed promising so I took it, still paying out primary line . I wound around for quite a way and never found a line to tie too, started to think maybe this wasn't Gator Hole. I turned around and headed back, when I noticed off to my left a water quality experiment hose. Right next to it, wrapped around a rock was white line. Cool, I tied off the primary and went on in. It almost immediately dropped to about 32 feet and stayed there for the duration. And CLEAR! Wow, it was bathtub clear in the bottom. Fossils, bones, and turtle remains galore! Lots to look at, plenty of time to see it. At 32 feet, my HP 100's were a long way from 1/3's.

The line is in okay shape, a little sloppy in places, and it had fallen off of some tie points in spots as well. I fixed these as best I could as I went in. I ended turning at about 20 minutes, the line continued on. Don't have a feel for feet of penetration, I went a little past the blue arrow, for any who can help with that. That's the only arrow I saw, BTW.

This is a sidemount only cave and in my view, best done solo. The floor is a 50/50 sand and silt mix and in the wriggle through spots, it stirred up pretty good. It's pretty snug in places, but lots of smallish rooms that are big enough to turn around in. No bottle off stuff necessary. I would liken it to Luraville Spring on Cathy's place, just to compare it to something familiar. If you are comfortable in Convict or Luraville, Gator Hole should be fine for you.

I finished with most of my gas intact, so I headed down to Hole in the Wall and did a short dive upstream, just to justify the drive.