Hospital Hole April 1st

[Gibby]

I always liked this site due to that spooky feeling you get when your well lit blue world turns instantly to darkness with nothing but browns and grays in your lights. It’s like going right into the underworld. I'm sure Hades is hanging out under the johnboat down there.

We started our dive by dropping an accent line down the middle of the hole with a strobe tied off 5 feet above the weighted end. We did a free fall down the line and the layer was nice and flat. It looks like you are going to crash into a sand bottom. As we went through the layer we hit the brakes upon seeing the strobe to keep us out of the silt. From here we tied in to our accent line and turned north to find the right hand wall. Several large braches stuck in the mud made line placements possible and we also located the PVC Ts on the way down to 135. 40+ foot vis made it possible to see half of the room and ceiling. I'm sure the lack of rain we have had helped a bit. When we turned I could still see the strobe flashing so maybe the vis was better than 40ft. On the way up the sulfide layer I noted that it was only a foot or two thick. Above the layer there is a lot of weird suspended snot blobs floating around and our bubbles had pushed some sulfide into the upper cavern. During deco we gave our new guy the tour of the upper walls and had fun with the fishies swimming around us.

Overall the day was an A+.

~G

[CaptainSpeleo]

I've been diving Hospital Hole since 1986 and I've never seen 40'+ visibility below the sulfide layer(which is usually at 70' - 75'), even with a 100-watt halogen light. You must've been there on a day when it was clear and sunny and when the water above the sulfide layer wasn't full of suspended sediment. I'm glad to hear you had an A+ dive.

[Gibby]

Its a fun place as far as free dives go. I remember the first time I went through the layer and could only see a foot in front of me. You couldnt get our team out of there faster! Since then we have had a ton of fun there and can only imagine how big that room would be if you cleared out the silt. The day we were there it was overcast and kinda crappy above the layer. It was below that it cleared up. I get supprised when I see more than 10 feet there but last year we covered our lights at the back wall around 140 feet and could see the light coming though the layer. It took a second to let our eyes adjust but you could see sunlight. Maybe I sould play lotto with that kind of luck. With my winnings I can buy a dredging rigg and find the real bottom.

[john]

Ive dove that place a few times once we caught it on a strange day and there wasnt any sulfide.
the tannic water was visible at 110' but we could see the sun clear as day.

tried to dive it last thursday and viz was 10 feet of course it rained all night a couple days before.

[temrich]

I am getting ready to move to Florida in June and will be diving every chance I get. I am working on compiling locations of various springs since I am only familiar with the "popular" ones. So, where is the Hole located? Thanks, Travis

[Signal 20]

tried to dive it last thursday and viz was 10 feet of course it rained all night a couple days before.

where were you at when it was raining all night? I live in Tampa and it hasnt rained here in weeks

[Gibby]

I think my next trip down there we are going to attempt to video the place. Should be interesting film from start to finish.

[loquat149]

I am getting ready to move to Florida in June and will be diving every chance I get. I am working on compiling locations of various springs since I am only familiar with the "popular" ones. So, where is the Hole located? Thanks, Travis

Sounds like you need to check out Walter's site:

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...ve_systems.asp

You'll need to beg, borrow, or rent at least a canoe to reach Hospital Hole. If you like sulfide layers, you might also want to checkout Hudson Grotto. These are fun to dive in the afternoon when the sun is overhead and slowly re-appears thru the clouds of bacteria as you ascent. Below the layer, the dark tannic stained water makes everything look like you're on some far offshore wreck dive in the North Sea (not that I've ever actually done that).

Dave

[CaptainSpeleo]

I surveyed Hudson Grotto way back in 1994 - 1995. It took me 5 - 6 dives to gather all the data. The map on the wall where the tables are located is from my original map. There's been some boats sunk in various locations since then. The visibility on the bottom is always poor. It can vary quite a bit down to 50' - 60' during the year. I never got around to surveying and mapping Hospital Hole.

[Gibby]

We have done some talk about doing a map of hospital hole. Seeing as neither my regular buddies nor me have done any surveying yet we believe it would make a fun starter.