Cypress Springs 9-5-5 Dive Report

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SuPrBuGmAn

Contributor
Messages
12,436
Reaction score
297
Location
Tallahassee, FL
# of dives
500 - 999
Out the door before 6AM and greeted by temperatures in the upper 60ºsF this morning, felt damned good. What a way to start my Labor Day of diving :D

I met up with Jurgen just before 8AM at the Ponce De Leone Exit in Florida and proceeded to the boat launch on SR277 just outside of Vernon, FL. SeaYoda and Gulf Gulper were there, already loading up their canoe. Jurgen and I setup the luxurious dive yaht, Miss Jellyfish, as quickly as possible and headed out.

Since SeaYoda and Gulf Gulper were paddling, Jurgen and I decided to check out Becton Spring before proceeding to Cypress. Becton had a greenish/brownish tint over the top of the boil, just barely recognizable from the tannic water surrounding it. We decided not to dive it.

The majority of Cypress's spring run was clearish and the spring was as clear as ever. Our first dive lasted for about 45min and I maxed my depth out at 64' in the cavern area after crawling in past the flow. We saw the normal cavern fauna and left well before our third of gas had been used so SeaYoda and GulfGulper could take a look - not really awhole lotta breathing room for four people. The rest of our dive was used by exploring the basin and all the critters within. We came across quite a few bream, bass, turtles, and crawfish; as well as several other fish.

Our SI lasted a bit over an hour, in which we sat under the sun warming up. A few boats came in during this time, no divers, just people enjoying a cool dip in the spring. Our second dive's profile pretty much mimicked the first, just to a shorter extent. We got out a bit after 30min from getting cold, but we enjoyed all the same sights we enjoyed during the first dive. By the end of our second dive, the spring was getting pretty crowded by surface dwellers, so our timing was pretty good.

It was Jurgen's first time at this site, and Gulf Gulper's first time diving the site(he's snorkeled it before). I'm pretty sure they both had a great time. I enjoy Cypress everytime I go and I'm looking forward to going back, hopefully, before October, but who knows. SeaYoda took lots of video during the dives, hopefully he'll share some :D After we got everything packed up, we headed to Dee's Seafood and Steak Resteraunt in Vernon. They make a mean Grouper sandwich, I recommend them to anyone who finds themselves in the area :D

I attempted putting together a panoramic of Cypress Springs here.

The rest of the pics can be found at http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album76
 
I had a great time with you guys!

Here are pics from the beginning of the day. I'll post a new thread for the movie I made.
 
gecko3s:
Great report... I really hope to get out there soon! Thanks for posting it

Post when you wanna go, I'm sure some of the panhandlers and wannabe panhandlers would offer being guides to get you to the spring.


SeaYoda:
I had a great time with you guys!

Here are pics from the beginning of the day. I'll post a new thread for the movie I made.

D'Oh! The half inflated Miss Jellyfish doesn't look half has luxurious as when she's in her fully inflated and dressed up moods. :D
 
If I understand it all correctly, the only way to get to the springs is by boat? Is this correct? Where do you put your boat in at? And about how long does it take you to canoe to it? It's upstream to the springs, right?
 
Yep, the land around the spring is now privately owned and does not let the public access the spring through the land. Boat is the only way to go, it keeps large crowds away, so its all good.

Just outside of Vernon, there is a public boat launch at the end of Culpepper Lane which stems off of SR277(NorthEast of Vernon). By canoe, it takes ~25 min of paddling upstream to Cypress. Its around a mile to the spring run, then another 1/4 mile to the spring. Becton is about a mile downstream.
 
SBM, I'm always insanely jealous when I see your wonderful pics of Cypress; they bring back so many positive memories of an excellent FL spring dive site.

One of these days we'll have to get together! :thumb:
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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