Ultimate cavern dive in florida???

[mag3]

Shops have been doing AOW dives at Eagle's Nest for years, too...in the cavern...

Or, perhaps "less offensive" than EN, places like Blue Grotto and Devil's Den. I was taken to both for my PADI AOW, Nitrox, and one PADI specialty rating course. I believe many OWSI's feel BG is one of the few places with enough "depth" for the "Deep dive" portion of AOW but still in a realtively "controlled" environment. I have also dived Paradise Springs with a buddy (prior to my cavern ticket) but *not* as part of training. I did not, however, go past the Grimmy sign in Paradise (or any of those in Devil's Den for that matter). I think the plaque just past the Grimmy in Paradise is quite sobering....

[Omni]

Sounds like you got some issues with the shops in your area. If the are letting AOW dive the Eagles nest solution tube/entry then they are flirting with trouble.

Maybe the fact that I have two great local divers who are mentoring me "thanks deepairmike and Slim!" then have waited so long to get my cert has helped me in the long run. I have read too many stories about how just diving the "opening" led to big trouble.

[LCF]

What is really sad about reading this thread is that someone like me, who doesn't live in Florida, and doesn't know a lot of people there, will never hear about or get to dive a lot of sites I might really enjoy, because I won't know about them. I was well trained, and I take cave conservation seriously . . . Danny Riordan would throttle me if he ever learned that I had damaged a cave through carelessness or misjudgment. I still feel horrible about the marks I made in the floor of Twin when I lost a fin during a class dive.

But the climate in Florida is such that nobody wants to pass along any information, especially publicly, about the location or directions to some of these sites, lest they be damaged. And I empathize -- I have had the good fortune to dive caves in Mexico that were only recently opened, and it's marvelous to dive where there is no damage. But isn't it sad that we can't be open to the entire community about good places to dive? How does this happen?

[jj1987]

What is really sad about reading this thread is that someone like me, who doesn't live in Florida, and doesn't know a lot of people there, will never hear about or get to dive a lot of sites I might really enjoy, because I won't know about them. I was well trained, and I take cave conservation seriously . . . Danny Riordan would throttle me if he ever learned that I had damaged a cave through carelessness or misjudgment. I still feel horrible about the marks I made in the floor of Twin when I lost a fin during a class dive.

But the climate in Florida is such that nobody wants to pass along any information, especially publicly, about the location or directions to some of these sites, lest they be damaged. And I empathize -- I have had the good fortune to dive caves in Mexico that were only recently opened, and it's marvelous to dive where there is no damage. But isn't it sad that we can't be open to the entire community about good places to dive? How does this happen?

To be honest, I don't think most of these systems would provide the most pleasure for your buck anyways. If you've not seen all the touristy caves, walking 1000ft up a slough, going to checkout sites that flood 90% of the year, or paddling 1+ miles up river really wouldn't be something I'd want to spend my vacation doing.

That being said, I've really not had any issues with people not sharing information in FL, when asked off the forums.

[Richard Atyeo]

I second railroad sink its a really pretty dive and easier to get to than buford. Buford is a close 2nd
Richard

[RN]

Sounds like you got some issues with the shops in your area. If the are letting AOW dive the Eagles nest solution tube/entry then they are flirting with trouble.

Not "my" area. EN is down in the Tampa area. It's the recreational shops and instructors that are going there. Then there's the other extreme. There's a spring basin in the panhandle where 52' is the deepest you can get in OW. Instructors regularly do the AOW deep dive there and justify it because the water temperature is below 70 so according to the table, you must add 10' for the cold water temperature! I take my OW students to 55-60' and they are issuing AOW after taking their students to 50'!! I wonder what they are going to do now that the largest recreational agency has eliminated tables from their standards. Now they have to go by the computers and can't add 10'...


Lynne, how to you find out about the Mexico caves? I haven't seen an online source for Mexico caves either. You get a guide, right? You can do the same in Florida. I will guide divers throughout my area. Yes, we will go to one of the more common caves the first time so I can assess their skill level. As long as I feel comfortable with it we'll head off to one of the caves I'm not willing to post about online. Of course, I do make them wear my taped up mask during the ride there...

[LCF]

No, actually, I've learned almost everything I know about the caves in MX from my friends who dive there. Or, if we have questions, we'll ask at the shop and they'll draw us maps. I do one day of guided diving almost every trip, but that's for two reasons: the guides can get you into systems that are closed to the public, and I get feedback from them on my technique that helps me improve. But 90% of my Mexican cave diving has been getting some directions from somebody and going there and trying it out. (The results are sometimes comical.)

[RN]

The same is possible in Florida.

[RAL]

What is really sad about reading this thread is that someone like me, who doesn't live in Florida, and doesn't know a lot of people there, will never hear about or get to dive a lot of sites I might really enjoy, because I won't know about them. I was well trained, and I take cave conservation seriously . . . Danny Riordan would throttle me if he ever learned that I had damaged a cave through carelessness or misjudgment. I still feel horrible about the marks I made in the floor of Twin when I lost a fin during a class dive.

But the climate in Florida is such that nobody wants to pass along any information, especially publicly, about the location or directions to some of these sites, lest they be damaged. And I empathize -- I have had the good fortune to dive caves in Mexico that were only recently opened, and it's marvelous to dive where there is no damage. But isn't it sad that we can't be open to the entire community about good places to dive? How does this happen?

I used to get worked up about those damn cave hiders. After having a few very negative experiances with cave piraits and bone smugglers I have learned to keep my mouth shut. Now I am uber cave hider.

[murfef]

To be honest, I don't think most of these systems would provide the most pleasure for your buck anyways. If you've not seen all the touristy caves, walking 1000ft up a slough, going to checkout sites that flood 90% of the year, or paddling 1+ miles up river really wouldn't be something I'd want to spend my vacation doing.

That being said, I've really not had any issues with people not sharing information in FL, when asked off the forums.

To a lot of people, that's half of the adventure. I know I love stuff like that, things seem to be more beautiful when you have to work for it.