Morrison Springs 10-10-04 Report

Originally we were going to hit the Destin Jeddies, since the tides were cooperating, but the area has been getting head-high and higher waves for the past couple of days and today they were still hitting around chest high, so off to Morrison again.

Me and a buddy of mine met up with jlayman(here on SB) at 8AM at the spring. TS Matthew allowed us to make the 2 hour drive(more for jlayman) in quite a bit of rain, including an on/off drizzle while were at the spring itself. Morrison pulled through anyway and greeted us with 50-60' vis(atleast) - alot of this was a reward for getting there before the 2-3 classes came to the site about an hour later(and hitting the water while we were exiting our first dive)). As usual, we descended down the basin and explored the mouth of the cavern. Freshwater eels, catfish, bream, and bass could be found. The sediment boiled up from the waterflow making the ground dance. After 10-15min we decided to ascend back up to the basin and explore the outskirts of it for another ~45min. We spotted more bream, bass(some large), some large pike, a couple of HUGE carp, dozens of turtles, and even a school of mullet.

All in all, we all had a great time and enjoyed both dives.

Here are a few of the better pics that I took while onsite
http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/slideshow.php?set_albumName=album27

SuPrBuGmAn, are there any type facilities at morrison springs now (air fills, retal gear, restrooms). I haven't been there in about 5 or 6 years now and I was going to bring some open water students possible there the 16th and Vortex on the 15th to do some check out dives. Thanks for any information.

They no longer have a dive shop, nor air fills. The fascility isn't manned at all actually Don't expect electricity either... They DO have running water, bathrooms with flushing toilets, and showers. There is a large pavillion with trash cans, and a floodwall w/built in benches. Dive Vortex on the 15th, get your tanks filled before you leave and dive Morrison the next day If you need to fill again, just drive back to Vortex, its less than 15miles away.

Sounds like a good dive, great pics too!

Ben

Nice pics, good to know MOrrison is fine again. We were going to do Cypress on saturday but a combination of things including the TS caused a cancelation.

I'll be at Morrison again this weekend with a different set of people, hoping for the same, or better, visibility

You need cave cert just to get access to Cypress correct? Unless you get there by boat... or am I thinking of a different spring? Are you limited to the type of boat(canoe/kayak) or is it accessible by small motorboats... like a 10' Zodiac with a little 9.8hp motor?

No, you just need a canoe or boat to it. It is unsupervised otherswise. Private land though so dont go on shore. Itd be fine by any small boat, but the river is pretty shallow, so jon boat or such would be about the max.

Great pics. I'll be diving Morrison this weekend as the Gulf vis is pretty sad right now. Thanks for the info on the dive shop too. See you at the springs!

Actually, we'll be down there this weekend, so you may actually see us Saturday