Manatee Spring

[Bill Rotella]

Can anybody give me an update on the conditions at Manatee Spring?

Thanks,

Bill

[contender]

I was there last Sunday, vis was about 40' more or less, mainly less upstream. Downstream to Manatee was ok, flow seemed to be down some. There was one team in before us but that was it. Obviously one of them was tougher than I because they were wearing a shorty. Overall conditions were ok.

[jeandiver]

I was there last Sunday, vis was about 40' more or less, mainly less upstream. Downstream to Manatee was ok, flow seemed to be down some. There was one team in before us but that was it. Obviously one of them was tougher than I because they were wearing a shorty. Overall conditions were ok.

Er , Diver wearing a shorty was me.
We were able to swim from Catfish to Friedman's. That should tell you how down the flow is there.
(No stage and 85's)

Jeano Beano

[sdenney]

Was there the same time as Jean. Richard Dreher and I scootered upstream of Friedman's approx. 4000' and then drifted back to Catfish, completed our deco and then exited via the head spring. The vis clears up considerably past the Milk Tunnel (upstream of Friedman's about 1500 ft.)

Just curious, but does anyone know how far upstream the monitoring station is? How about the old "Prevent Your Death" sign holding the line to the floor?

[Alan Owens]

Broken well casing and monitoring station (if that is what you are talking about) is a fair piece in there. Only saw it once.

[sdenney]

That's the one. It has a bunch of metal rods coming out of it and a large metal pipe stick down from the ceiling. We scootered approx. 35 minutes up (which we estimate to be about 4000 feet) from Friedmans. As there don't appear to be any distance markers, I just wanted to ask if anyone knows the distances.

[jdsffa]

We went there today the vis was normal 40 to 50 ft very little water in freidmans right now but lots of spiders on the way there Gene and I went up aabout 500 ft from Freidmans then turned because of time. aka out by 5 rule. good dive though

[saturation]

Hello All:

I know this is an old thread, but the question I have is relevant to the discussion here.

How far upstream in the Manatee Springs Cave System is the well casing? In a push-for-distance dive on scooters we completed last week, we made it from Catfish to past the well casing [ passing several Larry Green arrows and signs] to a red-orange arrow that marks 3000' from Friedmans. Near the bend in the cave before the casing, I saw a silt covered line arrow that looked like it had engraved '24' on it, which didn't make much sense.

I am not sure of the distances, can any one clarify? Is this arrow really at 3000'? How far is the well casing from Friedmans?

We were trying to find the 'Blue Water' Tunnel, can any clarify its location from this casing?

I am using this casing just as point of reference for when we try again.

Many thanks!

[kensuf]

Hello All:

I know this is an old thread, but the question I have is relevant to the discussion here.

How far upstream in the Manatee Springs Cave System is the well casing? In a push-for-distance dive on scooters we completed last week, we made it from Catfish to past the well casing [ passing several Larry Green arrows and signs] to a red-orange arrow that marks 3000' from Friedmans. Near the bend in the cave before the casing, I saw a silt covered line arrow that looked like it had engraved '24' on it, which didn't make much sense.

I am not sure of the distances, can any one clarify? Is this arrow really at 3000'? How far is the well casing from Friedmans?

We were trying to find the 'Blue Water' Tunnel, can any clarify its location from this casing?

I am using this casing just as point of reference for when we try again.

Many thanks!

Well casing??

Well casing??

Damn, it has been a long time since I've been in Manatee..

At any rate, the blue water tunnel is on the left heading into the cave, approximately 1800' past Friedmans. You really can't miss it because if you're riding along the left side of the cave you'll suddenly hit clear water.

There's some neat stuff in there. The ceiling has some really beautiful fossils and other formations, plus there's one or two warm-water vents in there which will give you a little bit of a thermocline.

BTW -- the blue water tunnel is not appropriate for scootering. Drop your scooters and swim it.

[saturation]

Well casing??

Well casing??

Damn, it has been a long time since I've been in Manatee..

At any rate, the blue water tunnel is on the left heading into the cave, approximately 1800' past Friedmans. You really can't miss it because if you're riding along the left side of the cave you'll suddenly hit clear water.

There's some neat stuff in there. The ceiling has some really beautiful fossils and other formations, plus there's one or two warm-water vents in there which will give you a little bit of a thermocline.

BTW -- the blue water tunnel is not appropriate for scootering. Drop your scooters and swim it.

Thanks so much for that, kensuf. That helps a lot. Could not find much about the Blue Water tunnel's location. Yes, given what little we heard of Blue Water and a few other side passages from mainline, we were [ and did for one side tunnel trip] 100% going to swim it, so much the better to take in the details.

The well casing is possibly one of the 'water sampling' wells that one sees on the hiking trail.