SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
DogHouseDiver swung by the house around 5:30AM and we loaded up his car before heading East. DHD will be taking a cavern course before too long and he was looking for some gear help as well as getting to see some of the dive sites that will be available to him with a cavern certification. Our first stop was at Jackson Blue, in order to check out the park and show him the head spring of Merrits Mill Pond. The morning was a bit on the cold side, and steam was rising off the pond quite a bit. I pointed out where Shangri La was located.
After walking around a bit, we headed off to Day Loop and I pointed across to where Twin was located. Then we headed off to Cave Adventurers to check out the shop there, the boats available for rent, and also pointed at a general direction towards Hole in the Wall. Steam coming up from the pond was too thick to see the platforms at Twin or Hole from across the waterway.
Once finished up at Cave Adventurers, we struck out further East and headed into Wakulla County. Our first stop was to check out where Cheryl and Emeral Sinks were located. Then we went across the highway to Wakulla State Park and State Forest property where we parked and took a little hike to view a stretch of 10 sinks that are all inline on the same cave system that stretches from Leon County and far into Wakulla County(likely to the Gulf of Mexico). Conditions were very favorable, so we made arrangements to bring the car around to a private residence adjascent to the State Forest property where we were allowed to dive. We geared up and I managed to break my third handcart on the trail to our destination. D'Oh!
By this time the temps were in the 70s and I was actually breaking a sweat getting the gear to the sinkhole we'd be diving from. DHD and I dropped in and enjoyed an easy 30-40' of visibility with a green tint to it. We struck out to the deep side of the sink and checked out the entrancy to the cavern there, then explored the basin under the duckweed and headed to the upstream side of the sink. We made the 30' traverse under the swim through to the next adjascent sinkhole where we explored its basin and the huge limestone arch running across midwater. I pulled some fishing line out as well as the remains of a mask while DHD pulled up a single snorkeling fin. We went back downstream to our original sink and explored a bit of the deeper cavern entrance again before calling it a dive with a max depth of 87' for a dive time of 51 minutes. Great little dive!
We headed out and stopped in at Wakulla Diving Center, talked to Gregg for a bit, then headed over to a few other sinkholes to check on conditions before going to the Wakulla County Dive Club meeting. This was just a day trip, so after the meeting we headed back home talking about cave diving the entire time, made the trip fly by in no time. Looks like we'll have another diver crossing over to the darkside before too long
After walking around a bit, we headed off to Day Loop and I pointed across to where Twin was located. Then we headed off to Cave Adventurers to check out the shop there, the boats available for rent, and also pointed at a general direction towards Hole in the Wall. Steam coming up from the pond was too thick to see the platforms at Twin or Hole from across the waterway.
Once finished up at Cave Adventurers, we struck out further East and headed into Wakulla County. Our first stop was to check out where Cheryl and Emeral Sinks were located. Then we went across the highway to Wakulla State Park and State Forest property where we parked and took a little hike to view a stretch of 10 sinks that are all inline on the same cave system that stretches from Leon County and far into Wakulla County(likely to the Gulf of Mexico). Conditions were very favorable, so we made arrangements to bring the car around to a private residence adjascent to the State Forest property where we were allowed to dive. We geared up and I managed to break my third handcart on the trail to our destination. D'Oh!
By this time the temps were in the 70s and I was actually breaking a sweat getting the gear to the sinkhole we'd be diving from. DHD and I dropped in and enjoyed an easy 30-40' of visibility with a green tint to it. We struck out to the deep side of the sink and checked out the entrancy to the cavern there, then explored the basin under the duckweed and headed to the upstream side of the sink. We made the 30' traverse under the swim through to the next adjascent sinkhole where we explored its basin and the huge limestone arch running across midwater. I pulled some fishing line out as well as the remains of a mask while DHD pulled up a single snorkeling fin. We went back downstream to our original sink and explored a bit of the deeper cavern entrance again before calling it a dive with a max depth of 87' for a dive time of 51 minutes. Great little dive!
We headed out and stopped in at Wakulla Diving Center, talked to Gregg for a bit, then headed over to a few other sinkholes to check on conditions before going to the Wakulla County Dive Club meeting. This was just a day trip, so after the meeting we headed back home talking about cave diving the entire time, made the trip fly by in no time. Looks like we'll have another diver crossing over to the darkside before too long
