Good cavern dives for beginners?

[andrebasso]

Hey everybody, I recently did a cavern diving course at Ginnie Springs and and I totally fell in love with the clear water and unique rock formations. However, now that I have my cavern diver cert, I've realized that almost every cave system in Florida seems way to advanced for me. Does anyone have advice on any really good places to go that are slightly challenging but not dangerous or too scary. All I've done so far is Ginnie Cavern, which I thought was way too small and lame and the beginning of Devil's Ear (with my instructor) which was --mindnumbingly-- cool but not great for beginners because of the intense flow. I guess the kind of cavern that would be ideal for me is something with a huge room with moderate flow where I good practice my bouyancy skills, safety drills and reel skills, while giving myself some room to play around. Thanks for any advice or directions!!


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Andre

[tomhauburn]

Hey everybody, I recently did a cavern diving course at Ginnie Springs and and I totally fell in love with the clear water and unique rock formations. However, now that I have my cavern diver cert, I've realized that almost every cave system in Florida seems way to advanced for me. Does anyone have advice on any really good places to go that are slightly challenging but not dangerous or too scary. All I've done so far is Ginnie Cavern, which I thought was way too small and lame and the beginning of Devil's Ear (with my instructor) which was --mindnumbingly-- cool but not great for beginners because of the intense flow. I guess the kind of cavern that would be ideal for me is something with a huge room with moderate flow where I good practice my bouyancy skills, safety drills and reel skills, while giving myself some room to play around. Thanks for any advice or directions!!


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Andre

Peacock Springs one is very pretty and the flow is low and you also have Orange sink there which is nice. Madison is a pretty cavern but its fairly high flow so I would go with someone that knows it and after you feel better with the flow. ( Its also silty ) Jug hole also is a very pretty cavern but it also high flow and a long walk but worth the trouble once you feel confortable with the flow. Sounds like you have gotten the bug, Follow what your instructor taught you and safe diving. Working on you skills is half the fun.
Safe Diving
Tom

[andrebasso]

Peacock Springs one is very pretty and the flow is low and you also have Orange sink there which is nice. Madison is a pretty cavern but its fairly high flow so I would go with someone that knows it and after you feel better with the flow. ( Its also silty ) Jug hole also is a very pretty cavern but it also high flow and a long walk but worth the trouble once you feel confortable with the flow. Sounds like you have gotten the bug, Follow what your instructor taught you and safe diving. Working on you skills is half the fun.
Safe Diving
Tom

Hey thanks for the dive sites, I will right these down.. Yeah, I definitely got the bug. When I was inside that Devil's Ear system, it was like woah dude! No pictures I ever saw of cave diving could prepare me for the real deal. - Also, the rooms were so gigantic and spacious, I literally felt like I was on another planet - total sci-fi experience. I know that I'm going to need a ton of practice before doing that without an instructor though...

[phishfood]

Actually, Ginnie Ballroom is one of my favorite cavern dives. In one cavern, you can experience flow, no flow, wide open big areas, tight spots, tiny little swim thrus, & some decent reel practice. Plus the fact that it is pretty shallow, so you can get some decent bottom times. The thing that annoys me the most is the rope running smack dab in the middle of the cavern.

Next time that you are there, move on down & dive the Eye. The flow is a lot less than the Ear, but you still notice it. Lots of little holes to look into if you take the time to find them. The last time I dove it, I ran out of usable gas before I ran out of things to look at, and both my buddy & I want to dive it again.

As has been mentioned, Peacock has more than one really nice cavern, & the flow is no to low at all of them.

Catfish Hotel at Manatee Springs is a rather nice cavern, but if you don't like flow, this is not for you. One side of the sink is a "spring", while the other side has a siphoning flow.

Blue Springs in Orange City is OK, but the flow approaches that of Devil's Ear, and can get rather deep, 110'+.

Paradise Springs is a really nice cavern, with a variety of depths, from 20' to 100', and no flow. Kind of expensive entry fee, but if you are the first team in, this is a really nice dive.

It has been a while since I have been at Blue Grotto, and while I don't recall it being all that great, some seem to like it. Another no flow sink, and get there early if you want good viz.

There are more, but these are all that I have dove & have liked. Hope this helps, and let me know when you come down next.

[andrebasso]

Actually, Ginnie Ballroom is one of my favorite cavern dives. In one cavern, you can experience flow, no flow, wide open big areas, tight spots, tiny little swim thrus, & some decent reel practice. Plus the fact that it is pretty shallow, so you can get some decent bottom times. The thing that annoys me the most is the rope running smack dab in the middle of the cavern.

Next time that you are there, move on down & dive the Eye. The flow is a lot less than the Ear, but you still notice it. Lots of little holes to look into if you take the time to find them. The last time I dove it, I ran out of usable gas before I ran out of things to look at, and both my buddy & I want to dive it again.

As has been mentioned, Peacock has more than one really nice cavern, & the flow is no to low at all of them.

Catfish Hotel at Manatee Springs is a rather nice cavern, but if you don't like flow, this is not for you. One side of the sink is a "spring", while the other side has a siphoning flow.

Blue Springs in Orange City is OK, but the flow approaches that of Devil's Ear, and can get rather deep, 110'+.

Paradise Springs is a really nice cavern, with a variety of depths, from 20' to 100', and no flow. Kind of expensive entry fee, but if you are the first team in, this is a really nice dive.

It has been a while since I have been at Blue Grotto, and while I don't recall it being all that great, some seem to like it. Another no flow sink, and get there early if you want good viz.

There are more, but these are all that I have dove & have liked. Hope this helps, and let me know when you come down next.

Thanks for the great advice on the cavern!

[phishfood]

Actually, access to the system in question is close to being a reality. I need to change my signature line, sorry. If you look through the Main Forum, you should find a thread called "Emerald Sink update" or the like, that is what the petition was about.

[flyczek]

If you live or travel to the more northern reaches of Florida there is a great beginer cavern dive near Ponce de Leon. Just google Morrison Springs. It is about 20 minutes off the 10 and doesn't have any entrance fee right now. It has two cavern areas. The deeper section goes down to 90' and is a sizable area. It used to be an extensive and very deep cave but was dynomited some years back. My favorite feature is the incredible number of eels and catfish living in the cavern. I see something new everytime I go back. Just watch out for locals launching and recovering boats and OW divers tempting fate.

[Miner]

Buford is an awesome cavern dive...one of the best in the state.

Dave
www.divingindepth.com

[CaveDivingCop]

Vortex, which is close to Morrison is also an excellent cavern dive....it has a large open cavern which starts at a depth at around 45-50 feet at the bottom, flow isn't bad at all and the area is very secure ( dive shop with air fills on scene ). But my favorite of all is Madison Blue ( it's the location I did one of my early cavern dives that really got me hooked on cave diving ). It has strong flow but like an earlier poster said...go with someone familiar and you will be ok. The trick is if you enter through the main cavern, stay near the ceiling ( takes you out of most of the flow ) a guide line takes you all along the left side back to a smaller exit hole ( called the rabbit hole ). You will fall in love with this location as well if you try it out.

[CaptainSpeleo]

andrebasso:

Blue Grotto(on Alt. 27 just west of Williston) and Paradise Springs(on U.S. 441 between Belleview and Ocala) are 2 good choices for cavern diving at the beginner's level. They're about 35 miles apart, so you can visit both of them on the same day. Both have plenty of room to practice your swimming and reel techniques.

http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/grotto.html

http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/paradise.html

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Miner:

I hardly think that Buford Sink qualifies as a beginner's level cavern dive.

http://www.divingindepth.com/Desktop...ocumentID=3622

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