SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Morrison Springs 5-21-5
I met up with darcy Saturday afternoon to dive Morrison Springs. Nuttz was out there as well with a bunch of his buddies and some students as well. There were alot of divers onsite and in the water. The water looked like a decent blue color, but cloudy due to all the movement in and out of the water as well as the bottom being kicked up. Visibility was around 20-30' with particle in the water as well as a haze. We spent a third of our air in the large cavern at the bottom of the basin before ascending to the smaller, shallower cavern for a safety stop. After exploring the caverns we ventured out to the edges of the basin to see what we could find. We saw several fish in and around the basin and caverns including bass, bream, freshwater eels, catfish, dogfish, freshwater flounder, sanddivers, gar, mullet, minnows, and even a slider turtle. I hit a max depth of 89' and the dive lasted for an hour. There were 3-4 empty boat trailers in the parking area, but all the boats seemed to be idling carefully while entering and exiting the basin. There was a jetski with a young kid who was a bit careless.
We did a second dive towards the end of dusk with just enough ambient light to make out the cavern entrance while inside. After our third was used up, we started to search the basin. We saw many of the same fish as well as some crawfish that had abandoned there hiding spots for the night and were walking freely along the basin floor. Visibility had improved to 30-40' since most of the divers were no longer onsite. About halfway through the dive the sun was completely out of site, the night was upon us and there was a big bright full moon that made for quite a site UW. There was a class that entered the water at night with us. It was pretty fun watching all the light beams flying throughout the water. Tons fo smaller fish came into the basin at night and the bottom looked alive. The freshwater eels came out of the cavern and swam freely in the darkness. It was a great dive. Max depth of 91' and it lasted for 71 minutes.
Vortex Spring 5-21-5
After our second dive at Morrison, darcy and I headed to Vortex for one last dive. It was 9-ish at night and there were no other divers in the water. Vortex was alot of fun at night. The water looked clearer than my previous dive there having alot less noticable fish poop in the water. We hit a max depth of 51' for 39 minutes. Visibility looked to be 30-40'ish.
The dives were alotta fun but it was getting late(11ish) so darcy headed back home and I set out for my campsite to set up my tent and get some shut-eye. I can't say I had a hard time getting to sleep after nearly 3 hours of bottom time
Morrison Springs 5-22-5
After waking up around 6AM, I packed up the tent and got some tank fills as the diveshop at Vortex opened up around 7. By 7:15 I was back at Morrison. There was nobody onsite but there was a truck with an empty boat trailer on the beach. I could see the dive platform from the pavillion. Visibility had improved a bit - I'd say atleast 50-60'. Once on the dive platform I could see past the opposite side of the tree running across the basin, but I couldn't see the cypress trees lining the outskirts of the basin. There was still a slight haze in the water, but not as bad as the previous day. I saw pretty much the same fauna as the previous day of diving the site with the addition of a large pike. I also saw another crawfish, but he was tucked into an old submerged cypress stump pretty far so the pic didn't come out as well as I would have liked. I hit a max depth of 62' and the dive lasted for 53min, mostly in shallow water. By the time I had gotten out of the water, I was suprised to see there still wasn't any other divers on site. There was 2 more empty boat trailers and some kayakers were setting up as I left around 10AM. The john boats I saw idled out of the basin carefully - I did tow a diveflag.
I had a great set of dives and enjoyed every minute of it. Here are a few pics from 5-22. http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album65
I met up with darcy Saturday afternoon to dive Morrison Springs. Nuttz was out there as well with a bunch of his buddies and some students as well. There were alot of divers onsite and in the water. The water looked like a decent blue color, but cloudy due to all the movement in and out of the water as well as the bottom being kicked up. Visibility was around 20-30' with particle in the water as well as a haze. We spent a third of our air in the large cavern at the bottom of the basin before ascending to the smaller, shallower cavern for a safety stop. After exploring the caverns we ventured out to the edges of the basin to see what we could find. We saw several fish in and around the basin and caverns including bass, bream, freshwater eels, catfish, dogfish, freshwater flounder, sanddivers, gar, mullet, minnows, and even a slider turtle. I hit a max depth of 89' and the dive lasted for an hour. There were 3-4 empty boat trailers in the parking area, but all the boats seemed to be idling carefully while entering and exiting the basin. There was a jetski with a young kid who was a bit careless.
We did a second dive towards the end of dusk with just enough ambient light to make out the cavern entrance while inside. After our third was used up, we started to search the basin. We saw many of the same fish as well as some crawfish that had abandoned there hiding spots for the night and were walking freely along the basin floor. Visibility had improved to 30-40' since most of the divers were no longer onsite. About halfway through the dive the sun was completely out of site, the night was upon us and there was a big bright full moon that made for quite a site UW. There was a class that entered the water at night with us. It was pretty fun watching all the light beams flying throughout the water. Tons fo smaller fish came into the basin at night and the bottom looked alive. The freshwater eels came out of the cavern and swam freely in the darkness. It was a great dive. Max depth of 91' and it lasted for 71 minutes.
Vortex Spring 5-21-5
After our second dive at Morrison, darcy and I headed to Vortex for one last dive. It was 9-ish at night and there were no other divers in the water. Vortex was alot of fun at night. The water looked clearer than my previous dive there having alot less noticable fish poop in the water. We hit a max depth of 51' for 39 minutes. Visibility looked to be 30-40'ish.
The dives were alotta fun but it was getting late(11ish) so darcy headed back home and I set out for my campsite to set up my tent and get some shut-eye. I can't say I had a hard time getting to sleep after nearly 3 hours of bottom time
Morrison Springs 5-22-5
After waking up around 6AM, I packed up the tent and got some tank fills as the diveshop at Vortex opened up around 7. By 7:15 I was back at Morrison. There was nobody onsite but there was a truck with an empty boat trailer on the beach. I could see the dive platform from the pavillion. Visibility had improved a bit - I'd say atleast 50-60'. Once on the dive platform I could see past the opposite side of the tree running across the basin, but I couldn't see the cypress trees lining the outskirts of the basin. There was still a slight haze in the water, but not as bad as the previous day. I saw pretty much the same fauna as the previous day of diving the site with the addition of a large pike. I also saw another crawfish, but he was tucked into an old submerged cypress stump pretty far so the pic didn't come out as well as I would have liked. I hit a max depth of 62' and the dive lasted for 53min, mostly in shallow water. By the time I had gotten out of the water, I was suprised to see there still wasn't any other divers on site. There was 2 more empty boat trailers and some kayakers were setting up as I left around 10AM. The john boats I saw idled out of the basin carefully - I did tow a diveflag.
I had a great set of dives and enjoyed every minute of it.
Here are a few pics from 5-22. http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album65
