Devil's Den and Blue Grotto, August 2015

[Red Hat Jef]

Had an opportunity over the last two weeks to visit two local open water spots I hadn't ever been to, and thought I would share some of my thoughts and pictures.

Devil's Den:

Did a dive here last weekend and then tried again yesterday. They only allow snorkelers and single tank divers. No sidemount, no doubles, and of course no rebreathers. In fact, despite some literature or online ads, you can't even walk down to the spring unless you are either diving or snorkeling. They have a pretty high tech camera system and apparently Big Brother watches and will call the front desk and yell at folks if anyone walks down without at least mask, fins, and snorkel. $40 a diver.

The grounds are kind of old and worn down. The fill station was ok but they under filled my 3500 psi tanks - claiming their compressor couldn't quite do that pressure. There is a pond and bathing area that is marked "closed" and looks like a toxic waste area with algae and plants overrunning it.

Gearing up is a pain. We set up "anywhere you want to" as we were instructed but then got yelled at by some d-bag instructor. He didn't even have the manhood to talk to me - instead he confronted my young cousin who was a little shaken up after that. We got bumped out of the covered areas since his class couldn't share so we had to gear up and down in the rain.

After you gear up you have to move your car to the main parking lot and then walk back. Makes for interesting logistics when you get out - getting your car back to load a wet you and your wet gear.

The walk down to the water is interesting. There's a narrow staircase you walk down - being careful of divers coming up. (Most other divers did not give us this courtesy - I blame the instructors for not teaching common sense here.). Then you walk through a small rock passage stooping over and around a corner, then onto a narrow wooden one-person-at-a-time staircase over the water to the debris mound and diving platform. Once you're down here, it's easy to gear up and dive. Lots of snorkelers here but there was still plenty of room.

I managed just shy of 50 feet here. Pretty topside, but not much to see underneath. There are some neat rocks to look at but the place is pretty small and dusts up easily with all the divers. We were there with a class and it was kind of dusty when we left. If you dive here you will need to time your dive to get good viz. overall it was maybe about the size of the Ginnie ballroom in total.

I didn't take pictures here, and I won't be going back. I had planned on taking pictures and posting them online when I went back yesterday, but I didn't want to change into snorkel gear just to see the place again.

Blue Grotto:

This place is awesome. It looks brand new - lots of new structures and the bathrooms (and hot showers) are super clean. Main office is clean, and you have to watch a safety video before you can dive. It stars Virgil the turtle and is narrated by Harry Averil. Very helpful and they stress non silting techniques for open water divers - pretty cool.

Fills are drive up, covered. They were nice and didn't blink at my 3500psi tanks. Good fills.

Gearing up is great. Nice covered pavilions that have three picnic tables each - enough for a vehicle of divers on each side. The walk down to the water is easy - stairs or a ramp. Railings are solid. There are a dozen or more places near the water to put your gear on a ledge for last minute checks - think tank benches. They have a place to practice your giant stride as well as a walk in platform where you can gear up in 4 feet of water. There are nice looking stage tank hangers in the water.






Underwater is awesome. A couple of training platforms with water jets to keep them clean. A platform at 10 feet and two at 20. There's float balls to descend to these platforms, and an angled line to hang on to - for following the "trail" around the entire system.

The guideline sweeps under a ledge and then descends to 90 feet at the bottom and then back up. I would not want to be on the bottom without a light but you can see daylight for all of the guideline as I recall. There's also a granny line that crosses the basin and a large underwater light system that can be turned on.

There's an air bell at around 30 feet, which is replenished with an air system. Handles in the ceiling are nice for hanging on.

The basin is huge and amazing. Open water divers will like seeing the main basin. Fossils all over the walls at around 80 feet and some as shallow as 60. The place is big enough to support a couple of classes and not have people crawling over you. Also there's a good filter system that can clear the entire system in 3 hours. (So they say). It looks like a huge version of orange grove, but without the duckweed.

There's nearby food - subway and a handful of other places.

Really enjoyed this place, will definitely go back when I'm looking for something to do with my open water buddies.


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