OW Cavern Recommedations

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Divebutt,

There are many nice springs and at least two rivers that make for great diving solo with no overhead. I don't know their names off-hand...one spring has an old wheel from a steamboat (and a bit of wreckage) at 60 or 70 feet, another has fossilized whale bones in the wall, one is underground, but with open air above the water and a long stairway to a floating platform. Silver River and Rainbow River are the two dive-able rivers, although Silver was closed, then reopened and I don't know the status now. Rainbow River is a classic drift river dive and if you take your own dive flag (or rent one), the boat will drop you off and leave you on your own. The drift can take as little as one hour or six! Go in the afternoon, and go slow so it turns into a night dive, but don't drift past your entry/exit point! Getting back up current means getting out, finding the road, and hiking back.

the one with whale bones is a hole in the ground that opens large, like a bell, and so may be considered an overhead by some; and for sure you can make it a cavern dive, even a cave dive, but don't. like you said, stay within your training.

As a side note, I think blue grotto meets the definition of acceptable open water diver training. It must be wide enough for two divers side by side with the entry visible at the same time the exit is visible, two paths to exit, the other side and the side you entered. This applies to coral arches as well. I don't know of any length restrictions, but I know many open water quarry training sites that include tubes 20 or more feet long, that fit divers single file only. Surely, they violate the rule, but then it's the diver's responsibility to dive within their training.

enjoy,
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[vicp]

Divebutt,

There are many nice springs and at least two rivers that make for great diving solo with no overhead. I don't know their names off-hand...one spring has an old wheel from a steamboat (and a bit of wreckage) at 60 or 70 feet, ...

Troy Springs Florida State Park

[Greenwood_60]

Ginnie has a cavern that's is reasonably safe for untrained divers. I don't think Ginnie officially allows solo, but cave divers do it regularly there. IDK if they are cool with OW solo diving, but it would be up to you to ask.

Paradise springs and devil's den will not allow it.

Pretending like all caverns are equally dangerous is how OW divers end up in the cavern at twin.

Get cavern trained if those are not enough. The list is much longer if you're cavern trained.

[ScubaStingRay]

Troy Springs Florida State Park

Sounds like it, but the wreck isn't at 60-70 feet (or I missed something big).

Sounds like he was also talking about devils den maybe?

As a side note, I think blue grotto meets the definition of acceptable open water diver training. It must be wide enough for two divers side by side with the entry visible at the same time the exit is visible, two paths to exit, the other side and the side you entered. This applies to coral arches as well. I don't know of any length restrictions, but I know many open water quarry training sites that include tubes 20 or more feet long, that fit divers single file only. Surely, they violate the rule, but then it's the diver's responsibility to dive within their training.

What agencies use that to define open water?

[vicp]

Sounds like it, but the wreck isn't at 60-70 feet (or I missed something big).

The basin is ~60' to 70' (I think), but the wreck is in the spring run that is pretty shallow.

[ScubaStingRay]

The basin is ~60' to 70' (I think), but the wreck is in the spring run that is pretty shallow.

Yeah exactly, the post reads like it is at 60-70 feet, but it's more like 10 near the river.
It's mostly slats that you can see.

[allen]

I think that the rope, the huge entrance, and the silt-proof bottom make the Ginnie Ballroom safe for OW divers. I don't think Blue Grotto is safe for OW divers; viz is less than half Ginnie's.
I didn't know Ginnie objected to solo diving. I have often used the Ballroom or Little Devil to work on rigging problems by myself.

[Sludge]

Get a grip, people. There's nothing wrong with open water divers in the cavern at Ginnie, or Morrison, or Cypress. They're called "novice caverns," and I don't recall an accident in any of them, ever.

[Kelly Jessop]

I think that the rope, the huge entrance, and the silt-proof bottom make the Ginnie Ballroom safe for OW divers. .

Not sure if we can call the cavern safe,because we have the occasional OW fatality there,this would include Vortex too. We bash the guides that take OW divers on "safe" cave dives in Mexico because there is a "guide",but we condone OW divers in a "safe cavern". Ginnie cavern has an area off to the side that has an area where no light can be seen,so by definition this becomes a cave. We can't stop places like Ginnie and Vortex from allowing open water divers in the cavern/cave zone,only educate,but when there is fatality,they call them cave divers-black eye for us.

[Kelly Jessop]

Get a grip, people. There's nothing wrong with open water divers in the cavern at Ginnie, or Morrison, or Cypress. They're called "novice caverns," and I don't recall an accident in any of them, ever.

Need to do your homework Russell. Ginnie a few and I think Morrison has one a few years ago,but doubt this was documented by IUCRR. In my opinion one is too many,we have advanced too far from the 70s,and training is so readily available.