harveys morgan buford

[WEPIV]

Hey Capt. -- I see where you live in Valrico. I used to have a number of family members who lived around the lake there for many decades.
Has anyone ever been able to dive in Lithia Springs? That's one of the places I used to swim in as a boy and hang on to the grate and wonder what was beyond it.... (This was in the late 60's and early 70s.) My grandmother told me about her going there with her siblings in the early 1900s. I figure that was perhaps the main place that got me thinking about cave diving.

[DeWayne]

I have always wondered the same thing WEPIV. I spent a lot of time at Lithia during the 60's and can recall there being a couple of smaller caves off the spring run that fed into the river. We were told back then about someone drowning in one, but I have yet to find anything solid. I would love to read any history that might be available regarding that area.

[WEPIV]

Yes, I remember hearing about someone drowning there too and that's why the grate was placed covering the main spring opening. Not sure when that came about but I know it was there in the early 1970's.
Although I grew up visiting that spring I have not been back there since the early 80's. They have a website about it and it looks like they've made a mess of it by putting in too much concrete and parking and even blocking off areas where you used to be able to swim -- including the little Lithia spring area which used to be a great adventure swimming to underwater. I used to swim inside of little Lithia so I guess that was my first cavern dive! I hope someone can tell us if Lithia has been dove in recent years and/or can we perhaps try it. (I believe it is still private property owned by a corporation.)
It sure made for some great childhood memories though....

[Signal 20]

I sure hated to see Ward Sink and Arch Sink close down several years ago. I had more deep air dives(197' - 202') in those 2 sites more than anywhere else. If I do anything deeper than 150' now, I do it on Trimix.

id still really like to dive arch sink, are they still allowing people to dive it after signing a waiver?