Info on Gator Spring

[DogDiver]

Anyone have any info on Gator Hole/Spring in the Santa Fe just outside of High Springs? Plan on doing a dive there and would like some input... Ken

[FW]

Try here:

http://www.cavediver.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=5966

[Serota]

I went there yesterday with mask and fins and easily located the site( its right under the rope swing just like others have said) and observed noticiable, but minimal flow. Viz. appeared to be 10-15 in the river. Lots of fish, but no gators observed. Should be an interesting dive.

[WEPIV]

I have dove Gator Springs three times since January and the above listed link goes to where we have talked about it before.
It is an interesting, different dive and we plan on going back and diving it some more.
I'm sure the recent rains we've had though has hurt the less than perfect viz. Santa Fe River seemed more like the Ichetucknee recently due to the small amount of rain these past months.
When we dive Gator Hole we usually take a dive flag and leave it on the reel we tie into the "main" line with, (tying it off to an underwater tree outside of the cavern). The line appears to be old and heavily stained brown and at times it drifts apart and becomes two lines. If you follow it all the way through you will come up in the small sink hole in the woods about 500 feet from the river entrance. This is a low visibility dive where you need to stay close to the line and be very careful not to stir up the heavy amounts of silt found everywhere. We have yet to see a gator but have seen a number of large catfish and other fish including an eel. (The last time we were in there two weeks ago we even found a catfish some 400 feet back hung up on the main line with a broken fishing line. Although I love catfish we cut this one off the line. That was a first for me.) We also filled a large goodie bag with trash from the cavern area too including an old broken 45 rpm record!
Enjoy...

[Walter Pickel]

There are a couple of condition reports here - http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...=183&region=FL

[DogDiver]

Thanks...did the dive today. What I could see of the cave looked nice. But with vis in the 4-6 foot range.....well..... The line is ok, we tightened it up a bit in some areas.... Ken