To start off with, viz is not great, so you may want to consider other springs. Sunday, I took 2 advanced students to Manatee to do the Bouyancy and Naturalist Adventure Dives. We had planned an offshore dive, but canceled due to weather. We got to Manatee around 9am, first ones theres and signed in. SKies were pretty grey, but we headed over to Catfish sink to check it out.
Once in the water and through the mass of duckweed, we couldnt see much. After about 10 ft, it was murky, and I wasnt sure if it was lack of light or water quality. Normally you can see 40ft down to the bottom from the surface. We followed the rocks down to about 20 ft, and it didnt clear up much, so we bailed and headed over to Manatee Spring.
Water quality was a bit better here, but still only about 20ft viz, which is fine in the 24ft deep spring. We did some bouyancy work on the first dive, and on the second dive, headed back in for a naturalist dive, where the students have to find and identify plants and animals and observe their behavior. The students managed to find turtles, crayfish, flounder, bream, mullet, snails, and various aquatic plants. Pretty interesting when you stop and just look.
Once in the water and through the mass of duckweed, we couldnt see much. After about 10 ft, it was murky, and I wasnt sure if it was lack of light or water quality. Normally you can see 40ft down to the bottom from the surface. We followed the rocks down to about 20 ft, and it didnt clear up much, so we bailed and headed over to Manatee Spring.
Water quality was a bit better here, but still only about 20ft viz, which is fine in the 24ft deep spring. We did some bouyancy work on the first dive, and on the second dive, headed back in for a naturalist dive, where the students have to find and identify plants and animals and observe their behavior. The students managed to find turtles, crayfish, flounder, bream, mullet, snails, and various aquatic plants. Pretty interesting when you stop and just look.
