SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Shagman, a newly minted cavern diver, wanted to take full advantage of his new certification and start getting in some bottom time to refine some newly learned skill sets and get some enjoyable dives in under the daylight zoned overhead. He was willing to drive, and had a boat, so I was willing to take the free ride out and show him some of the lesser visited sites.
I met up with Shag in Loxley(AL), just after 6AM on a chilly start that promised to make for a great day on the water. By the time we hit up the boat launch and started unpacking the Rubber Ducky(not to be confused with the older Miss Jellyfish), the sun was shining and things were definately warming up. There were several other trailers parked at the launch and we saw several boats heading out and about on the water. It didn't take us long to gear up and head out. Weather was perfect for a day out on the boat and lots of people were taking advantage of it.
We checked out Ebro Blue Spring first, the basin was crystal clear despite the water levels being so high. The high waters made transit down the run easy and we didn't bottom out on anything. As great as the Ebro looked, we headed back out and made our way to Duck Spring instead. It had a larger cavern, so I figured Shagman would get more enjoyment out of it as a primary dive. In hindsight, I should have taken a couple good pictures of Ebro while I had a chance without crowds and with clear waters...
After making slow progress to Duck(its a narrow run), we were rewarded by clear greenish hued waters and great visibility. We did the best we could not to create a landslide of sand while gearing up in the steeply sided basin. Just under the surface we did a bubble check and S-drill. Visibility was a good 30-40' and we dropped down a hole, bored by water flow, to the cavern entrance after running a primary. The cavern is basically vertical, and we circled around it making a slow descent to the bottom(maxed at 73') enjoying the formations and striations created by a good amount of flow as well as the constant movement of falling sands along the walls. At the bottom, there is cave running on, with sands rushing out within the flow obscuring further visibility. No line in there. By this time, our perculation has had an effect on the ceiling and debri of different types creates a bit of a snowfall within the cavern. We ascend slowly, circling to notice more features and I show Shagman a sand dune with another flowpoint behind it. Again, sand being blown out with the flow reduces visibility while looking down this vent. This is only my second time here, and its still quite enjoyable. Definately the most unique cavern I've dived in my limitted overhead career. The dive was called and we did a safety stop on the way out of a ~30 minute dive.
We made our way out from Duck and headed back over towards Ebro's run and found a crowd. There was a pontoon boat as well as a flatbottomed skiff onsite. The water in the basin was now milky and kicked up as well. Should have taken the opportunity to get some good pics of Ebro earlier... Ah well, there was a boil and we were confident that visibility within the little bit of cavern within the overhead would be great. Shagman was with me the first time I found Ebro, we were in his boat(different boat than this occasion though) and going off some horrid directions and some iffy GPS numbers. It was only fitting that his first cavern dives post certification would include a quick peak inside Ebro. Flow was up, alot. Sand seemed to jam the entrance more than on the two previous trips onsite. My regs purged as I pulled hand over hand on a rope leading into the entrance against a torrent of flow. Once the cavern opened up(relative to the immediate entrance) the flow was easily handled midwater. We looked around a bit and I showed Shagman his first albino crawfish, suprisingly close to OW(perhaps the flow had blown it out towards the cavern?). It was a quick dive(Shag was diving off the same tank as the previous dive), and maybe a bit of a tease, but it was time to go
Hit a max depth of 37' for a dive lasting a mere 13 minutes. No doubt, Shagman wants to go back - LOL.
After talking to some locals throughout the day, we decided to head up river, and search out another spring that I hear has a great cavern(and sidemount cave - for future interests). Made for a nice long boat ride, as it wasn't in the immediate area. Great day though, why not enjoy it? The water levels had flooded out this particular spring, but we did find it and I marked it on the GPS for a future adventure. Looking forward to that! Made quick work of the ride back to the launch, with the motor puttering out 1/2 mile or so from the boat launch. Gas was getting low. Shagman tilted the gas tank up, cranked the motor and planed on into the launch without any further issues.
We hit up Dee's afterwards for a great 1/2lb burger and some fries. Hit the spot! Had a great time out there with Shagman, looking forward to more cavern(maybe cave in the future?) adventures!
I met up with Shag in Loxley(AL), just after 6AM on a chilly start that promised to make for a great day on the water. By the time we hit up the boat launch and started unpacking the Rubber Ducky(not to be confused with the older Miss Jellyfish), the sun was shining and things were definately warming up. There were several other trailers parked at the launch and we saw several boats heading out and about on the water. It didn't take us long to gear up and head out. Weather was perfect for a day out on the boat and lots of people were taking advantage of it.
We checked out Ebro Blue Spring first, the basin was crystal clear despite the water levels being so high. The high waters made transit down the run easy and we didn't bottom out on anything. As great as the Ebro looked, we headed back out and made our way to Duck Spring instead. It had a larger cavern, so I figured Shagman would get more enjoyment out of it as a primary dive. In hindsight, I should have taken a couple good pictures of Ebro while I had a chance without crowds and with clear waters...
After making slow progress to Duck(its a narrow run), we were rewarded by clear greenish hued waters and great visibility. We did the best we could not to create a landslide of sand while gearing up in the steeply sided basin. Just under the surface we did a bubble check and S-drill. Visibility was a good 30-40' and we dropped down a hole, bored by water flow, to the cavern entrance after running a primary. The cavern is basically vertical, and we circled around it making a slow descent to the bottom(maxed at 73') enjoying the formations and striations created by a good amount of flow as well as the constant movement of falling sands along the walls. At the bottom, there is cave running on, with sands rushing out within the flow obscuring further visibility. No line in there. By this time, our perculation has had an effect on the ceiling and debri of different types creates a bit of a snowfall within the cavern. We ascend slowly, circling to notice more features and I show Shagman a sand dune with another flowpoint behind it. Again, sand being blown out with the flow reduces visibility while looking down this vent. This is only my second time here, and its still quite enjoyable. Definately the most unique cavern I've dived in my limitted overhead career. The dive was called and we did a safety stop on the way out of a ~30 minute dive.
We made our way out from Duck and headed back over towards Ebro's run and found a crowd. There was a pontoon boat as well as a flatbottomed skiff onsite. The water in the basin was now milky and kicked up as well. Should have taken the opportunity to get some good pics of Ebro earlier... Ah well, there was a boil and we were confident that visibility within the little bit of cavern within the overhead would be great. Shagman was with me the first time I found Ebro, we were in his boat(different boat than this occasion though) and going off some horrid directions and some iffy GPS numbers. It was only fitting that his first cavern dives post certification would include a quick peak inside Ebro. Flow was up, alot. Sand seemed to jam the entrance more than on the two previous trips onsite. My regs purged as I pulled hand over hand on a rope leading into the entrance against a torrent of flow. Once the cavern opened up(relative to the immediate entrance) the flow was easily handled midwater. We looked around a bit and I showed Shagman his first albino crawfish, suprisingly close to OW(perhaps the flow had blown it out towards the cavern?). It was a quick dive(Shag was diving off the same tank as the previous dive), and maybe a bit of a tease, but it was time to go
Hit a max depth of 37' for a dive lasting a mere 13 minutes. No doubt, Shagman wants to go back - LOL.After talking to some locals throughout the day, we decided to head up river, and search out another spring that I hear has a great cavern(and sidemount cave - for future interests). Made for a nice long boat ride, as it wasn't in the immediate area. Great day though, why not enjoy it? The water levels had flooded out this particular spring, but we did find it and I marked it on the GPS for a future adventure. Looking forward to that! Made quick work of the ride back to the launch, with the motor puttering out 1/2 mile or so from the boat launch. Gas was getting low. Shagman tilted the gas tank up, cranked the motor and planed on into the launch without any further issues.
We hit up Dee's afterwards for a great 1/2lb burger and some fries. Hit the spot! Had a great time out there with Shagman, looking forward to more cavern(maybe cave in the future?) adventures!
