Buford Spring

[Nick Mislak]

Hello,

I recently just moved to Florida from Maryland. I have been cave diving for several years but have never been to Buford. After reading the posts about how great it can be and its proximity to my home, I would love to get some dives in there. I was hoping someone could provide me with some directions on how to find it after entering the park.

[deepdiver4]

dont go right now its hunting season but great cavern dive

[Ed Jackson]

It's a little hard to find the first time you go. I'll take you there if you want.

Ed

[ScubaAl]

This information was on a message board here in MN.

http://www.tampadiving.com/sections/...D=10&region=FL


Latitude: 28° 38.006' N
Longitude: 82° 35.442' W

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Buford Sink is probably one of the most beautiful cavern dives in Florida. Situated almost a quarter mile from the access road it is not easily gotten to. However, the reward is well worth the effort.

Buford Sink was discovered in 1973 by Will Walters, who also discovered the DiePolder Sinks. I have been told that Buford Sink was named after Buford Register, an old cracker logger that Will talked into showing him the sink. It was off-limits/hunting property for years, but with the WMA now open, it is accesible. Many say that this is the second largest cavern in Florida, after Wakulla.

Access is via Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. Divers must check in at an iron ranger at the entrance and pay the $3.00 daily fee, or you can purchase a yearly Wildlife Management Area pass for $26.50 at most hunting supply stores, Wal-Mart or on-line at: www.wildlifelicense.com. Either the day pass stub or the Management area pass should be displayed on the dash so that law enforcement can see them while you are in the water.

The access road to Buford Sink is closed. There is a cable gate that ensures there is no vehicular traffic. Please leave the cable gate in place. The walk sucks but it is worth it.

The dive is awesome. The maximum depth is 165' at the siphoning downstream end of the main cavern/cave. The inflow comes from some outflowing areas at 140'. on the right side of the cavern, all this area seems to be a collapse zone that has eroded its way open to a small degree over a long time. There is also some slow flow from some low bedding planes on the left side of the cavern at 60-70'. The water that flows out of the sink goes 50 yards or so as a run, then syphons back down into a no-mount/sidemount crack that corkscrews its way down to 180 ft, where a large area of breakdown makes further passage difficult (but not impossible). It gets tannicy down there, and is flowing noticeably through a large room to the breakdown.

When entering and exitting the system, make sure to do so by the cypress tree at the end of the spring run. This will not only keep the visibility clear over the entrance but also protect the fragile entrance.

Hope it helps, Al

[Ed Jackson]

Here is a picture I took in the cavern.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/b...g/IMAG0123.jpg

[Major Restriction]

GORGEOUS! Thanks for the photo!

Here is a picture I took in the cavern.

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/b...g/IMAG0123.jpg

[irene]

I wouldn't necessarily avoid Buford right now because of hunting season. Hunters and divers can usually happily co-exist.

The reason to avoid Buford right now is because it has been raining almost daily for months. The dry season is the time to go: Better conditions for lugging your heavy gear out there (think sinking in the mud to knee or higher), and better visibility when all that swamp water isn't draining into the basin.

It will be worth the wait.

We couldn't resist stopping by today, this afternoon, late... As you can see by the pictures below, conditions are not too bad. You just need a Manuel with you to find all the holes...

As it is now hunting season, you should NOT walk down the tram (trail) if a vehicle is parked there (unless it is a scuba diver; you can tell...). The hunter won't take too kindly you scenting up the area and making noise to scare off that monster deer in his sites.... So go later in the day... more chances it will be available. Bugs were present before the dive, swamp water not too high. Vis in cavern was 100+.

[SuPrBuGmAn]

LOL

Great pics, thanks for sharing