Crystal Beach Spring

[gordonta]

Has anyone dove crystal beach springs lately? All the info I've seen is from 4 years ago...

Is a boat required to get to the site?
Is the entrance still no-mount or has it opened up now (i'm sidemount LP85s)?
Flow report? What I found sounded like a stage "travel bottle" was useful for the first couple hundred feet.
Overall quality of the cave? I've never dove a halocline and am looking forward to it.

[bamafan]

I think it is only accessible by boat.

[rddvet]

Boat or scooter to access. Cant say about the entrance. I believe my buddy said it was no longer no mount last year but could be confused with another site.


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[TracyN]

Access is by boat only. The entrance is a challenge. Depending in your size it is either no mount or single tank SM entry. It is a buddy dive because if you plan on taking any stages there is a little hole you have to pass them through to your buddy inside. Then your buddy has to shuttle them into a small, low staging area. At this point depending on your size you can put your sidemount tank on but you have to push the stage through the little hole in front of you. Then the room is big enough for you to put all your stuff on. Upon exit you repeat the same steps. If you aren't comfortable in very small tight cave I wouldn't attempt it. I have been in it once and it was awesome but I also went in with one of the original explorers so they were able to tell me what to do and how to properly do it. Visibility wasn't stellar but it was good. Very dependent on the tides. It's a pretty cave though.

[jason]

It's been a while since I've been there, but it's a great dive. You really need a boat and should have someone stay on it (with a dive flag) while you're in the cave (I came up once and our boat had drifted a long, long way away from the entrance). The spring often reverses during high tide (frequency and magnitude of reversals depends on the water levels in the aquifer). Visibility is much lower than caves up north.