Current viz at Manatee (weekend of 28-07 & 29-07)

[whodunit68]

anyone see the cave? Sufficient for an instructor to do a cavern class? Clearly I'm not asking for myself.....but he wants to go up there this week. I have no idea if it's even open for cavern yet but he'll call in the morning. Any input on viz would be great. thanks.

[bpcfire1]

The viz from Catfish to Sue was only about 30ft. From Catfish to Manatee 30ft and some places about 10. I heard from a experienced team that the viz picked up a bit near Friedmans in to about 2000 ft. The vis is not the best right now as the flow has picked up a lot. With the cave already being big and dark, it made it hard. I dove in a team of 3 today with each person only about 20ft apart and at times it was hard to see each others lights. The flow is pumping hard at the mouth of Manatee and from CF to Manatee. I dumped all my air in my bc at the mouth and still had to catch myself and hold on to the tree as it flipped me upside down. There were a ton of OW divers doing class, watch out as I got used as a step by one during his mask drills. Bugs were not to bad, but the deer were roaming just feet from everyone.

[aquadog196]

bpcfire1's comments are right on. Seems that as the river drops so goes the vis and the flow picks up. This big dark cave eats up your light. We managed to have a couple of enjoyable dives but certainly more challenging than in the past few weeks.

[apitkin]

The viz from Catfish to Sue was only about 30ft. From Catfish to Manatee 30ft and some places about 10. I heard from a experienced team that the viz picked up a bit near Friedmans in to about 2000 ft. The vis is not the best right now as the flow has picked up a lot. With the cave already being big and dark, it made it hard. I dove in a team of 3 today with each person only about 20ft apart and at times it was hard to see each others lights. The flow is pumping hard at the mouth of Manatee and from CF to Manatee. I dumped all my air in my bc at the mouth and still had to catch myself and hold on to the tree as it flipped me upside down. There were a ton of OW divers doing class, watch out as I got used as a step by one during his mask drills. Bugs were not to bad, but the deer were roaming just feet from everyone.

Sounds like Manatee is back to normal.