Becton(Magnolia), Cypress Springs on 12-28 & Vortex, Morrison Springs on 12-29 Report

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SuPrBuGmAn

Contributor
Messages
12,436
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Location
Tallahassee, FL
# of dives
500 - 999
Tuesday on 12-28-04, Mikey Paul and I headed out to Vortex to meet up with Darcy(darcy), Bill(SeaYoda), and Liza(eanxgirl) at 8AM. We got to Vortex and arranged to get 3 canoes and headed out to a boat launch in order for us to canoe up to Cypress Springs for some dives. Mikey and I paired up and Darcy and Liza paired up while Bill paddled solo in his canoe. Our river directions were somewhat vague and we ended up going up the creek, back tracking, doubling back a few times and exploring quite a few of the branches working off Holmes Creek. Eventually we found our way to a spring.

None of us had ever been to Cypress so we didn't know whether or not we were at the correct spring or not - it was flooded with tannick water so we couldn't see bottom but there was an obvious boil upwelling near the center of the basin. We dove through the tannick water with about 6"-1' of visibility until we hit bottom which sloped down to a small fissure ~25' issuing clear water. It ended up being Becton Springs. Since the visibility was severly limited we packed back into our canoes and headed out with some directions(?) from some local fishermen who sounded like Boomhower(King of the Hill). We didn't understand much coming from the fishermen, but we gathered enough to figure out that we were heading in the correct direction. The flood water was cold, I would say 60ºF at the most.

We pushed on further through the current, which is usually 2 knots but the creek is pretty flooded and we imagine the current was moving quicker than normal. After another hour or so of searching up Holmes Creek we found a fork and took a left and found ourselves in clearer water with a spring basin, one large boil, and another smaller boil. It was about 3:45PM by this time so we were in a bit of a hurry to gear up and get in the water for as much dive time as possible while leaving us enough time to get back up to the boat launch with daylight. The spring was still flooded with tannick water in areas, but it had cleared in other areas to a degree(5-15' and cloudy). The area around the fissures was really clear and the cavern had perfect visibility. Cypress's cavern isn't as big as Morrison and after about 50' it narrows in height significantly(we stopped here) but supposedly the cavern continues down to 70'. The water temps were in the mid-high 60ºsF, which was noticably warmer than the brown waters at Becton. We could see the end and if we were down there we could have easily seen direct sunlight from the cavern opening. We saw bream, bass, and freshwater eels in and around Cypress Springs. It looks to be an incredibly fun dive during normal conditions when its not flooded - we had fun even though we were losing sunlight behind the trees and dove in flooded conditions. The canoe ride back was easy and fairly relaxing(which is good because we were all good and sore).

Everyone seemed to have a good time despite the fact that we didn't get too much dive time in. We did learn our way up and down Holmes Creek and shouldn't have much of a problem getting to the Springs next time around. We dropped everything off at Vortex and went our seperate ways around 7:30PM(we made the day count!). You can find pics here http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album45

The next day, 12-29-04, Josh Timmons and I woke up at 6:30AM, geared up, gassed up, and headed towards Vortex to meet up with Darcy at 9AM to dive the spring onsite. The weather just like the day before was perfect, mid 60ºF outside temperatures and alot of sun. It made for a comfortable transition between surface temps and water temps. Vortex had added something like 400 new coi into the waters so there were plenty of fish and the poop suspended in the water showed! We did all the normal stuff at Vortex, swam through the training caves, played around in the little cavern, and messed with the schools of bream and carp. We even found a few turtles to harrass a bit. As always it was a fun set of dives, it was Darcy's first time at the site and she seemed to have a blast. We checked out Morrison, and as we suspected, it was heavily flooded with tannick water. We have pics from the 2 Vortex dives and one above water shot of Morrison at http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album46

The last two days of diving were alotta fun :) I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!
 
I can't speak for everyone, but I had a great time. It was good to meet SBers that I had not before. I am SLOWLY beginning to recoup from being oar sore :D. I think my biceps grew a half inch but I'm not sure if the muscle grew or if they are just swollen. I'm glad I stopped when I did - maybe next time I'll have a second engine on board to help with the paddle load and I can make it all the way to Cypress.

I did some checking on topo maps and I think we were dropped off 4 miles downstream instead of 2 miles. Jviehe's directions and the topo maps seem to indicate a ramp further up than where we put in and on the other side of the creek. I also think that we would not normally be able to cross from Beckton spring back to Holmes creek by the way the fishermen showed us. On the topo it looks more like marsh. When not flooded it may not be deep enough to pass. I think we missed a turn to the right and ended up going up the Beckton spring run by accident. Nothing like looking at the map after the fact :D !

Some topside photos are in my gallery. Two are attached below.
 
Glad you had a good time SeaYoda :) Next time we'll know exactly how to get there. I figured the little cut we made between Becton and back to Holmes Creek wasn't the normal route and I wanted to go ahead and follow the creek back and bypass Becton on the way back to the boat ramp but I wasn't 100% sure and we were running out of light.

I really don't think the canoe ride would have been all that bad had we known the directions correctly - especially if we still did that 15min break we had about midway.

The pics are great, I'm glad you got one of me and Mikey ramming into a tree :( LOL

Wanna try again in a few weeks? :D I'll bring my truck and buddy up with ya, save $50 on delivery and we split costs on the canoe? Cost as much as a dive at Vortex.
 
SuPrBuGmAn:
...Wanna try again in a few weeks? :D I'll bring my truck and buddy up with ya, save $50 on delivery and we split costs on the canoe? Cost as much as a dive at Vortex.
I plan on driving up and scouting out that other boat launch some time soon. Depending on work schedule and creek level I would be game for another try. I wonder if Vortex will drop us off over there? It would make for half the trip and more time to dive - two tanks maybe?

Oops forgot that you would bring your truck and we could go either place - too much lactic acid from muscle fatigue I guess :D.
 
Sounds good to me - even at the boat launch we were at - I think we would have had time for 2 dives if we made the trip straight in :) Cutting the trip down will just increase that chance.
 
Thanks for the report and pics as always. First time I went to cypress we started way downstream, and ended up at Beckton first too. On the way to Cypress, we noticed the closer boatramp, which is where we put in the next time. Its a much shorter trip. I used to have GPS coords for all of it, but lost them. Sounds like you had an adventure though. Cypress is one of the prettiest springs around. Ill try and get out with you guys next time.
 
Got my tanks filled today, the LDS said there is another launch upstream thats pretty close as well. I still like the idea of paddling upstream before diving and then relaxing on the way back to the launch.

Probably gonna go in another week or two - I still want to get a better idea on how shallow and narrow the creek is in normal conditions. As it was Tuesday, the Zodiac would have flown up the creek perfectly fine - course, it was flooded...
 
SuPrBuGmAn:
Got my tanks filled today, the LDS said there is another launch upstream thats pretty close as well. I still like the idea of paddling upstream before diving and then relaxing on the way back to the launch...
Even as tired as I was, the whole ride back was easy - I'll have to second the downstream return motion.
 
I read in one of your other posts how the state had taken over Morrison. Does that mean that Vortex (Fishcrap) springs is the only commercial operation left in the panhandle?

It's been a few years since I dove the panhandle springs, but was hoping to hit the water in March during the Mustang Show in P'cola.
 
paulwall:
I read in one of your other posts how the state had taken over Morrison. Does that mean that Vortex (Fishcrap) springs is the only commercial operation left in the panhandle?

It's been a few years since I dove the panhandle springs, but was hoping to hit the water in March during the Mustang Show in P'cola.
I guess so. Cypress is still commercialy owned I think, but the business is closed.
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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