Gator Hole (Merrit's Mill Pond)

[Captain Bil]

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.

[RN]

Gator Hole is a fun dive. I can't remember exactly where the blue arrow is. I go more by land marks. You didn't drop down into the 40' section so I know you didn't get past about 600' in. Did you go through the tighter than others restriction? Doesn't require bottle off but it is pretty low. I had to wiggle through in and out. Much more difficult going out since I was behind someone and couldn't see anything going out. Then again, you're skinnier than me so you may have had no problem getting through it! LOL! That's about 300' in.

[Captain Bil]

How much further do you reckon it goes? Does it ever open up any more?

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[SuPrBuGmAn]

Drops down a fissure crack a little deeper(like RN said) then goes to about 1000'p and splits off in two different tunnels, both of which are much smaller than the previous tunnels and best done solo(according to those that think the cave up to that point is good enough for buddy teams).

[RN]

The T is at about 800'. Rough estimate though since my survey was interrupted by silt...