Bennett Springs state park

[dwellerbottom]

Got a group of 5 people diving Bennett Springs this Saturday 02/10/18.
Room for one more diver if anyone is interested?
We plan on meeting there at 10am sharp.

 

[The Chairman]

Wish I were closer! Have fun, take pics and post a report.

 

[ScubaBunga]

I can't make this but am close enough to dive there - I've never been there but it seems where the LDS does some cave certs. What is the dive plan (for future reference)? I'm not cave (or cavern) certified, nor do I have a dry suit. I am curious as to the diving there as any good site in the mid-west is worth looking into.

 

[Dark Wolf]

I am still getting gear back in shape after being out of the water for too long, and replacing drysuit seals.

I hope you guys have some great dives!!!

Lobo

 

[dwellerbottom]

The plan is to make our way into the cavern which is about 85' deep.
No need for a cavern or cave cert, there is only one way in & out you can see the entrance the entire time.
Hoping to make it to the popcorn room if the flow will allow it.
Right now we are just hoping to be able to make the trip, freezing rain in the forecast so we may not even be able to make the trip, fingers crossed it holds off until after we get there...

 

[dwellerbottom]

We have a tent & a heater to keep us warm while changing so that should help keep us warm.
If we can only get there tomorrow?

 

[ScubaBunga]

Hope you make it. I don't have a dry suit but 56-58 degree water is doable for me in wetsuit, I may have to try this site sometime. Is there much to see above 70 or even 50'? I have boys that are not ready to go too deep. How does it compare to say mermet?

 

[dwellerbottom]

There are no attractions sunk to see, most people just go to check out the cavern.
There are a lot of trout though.

 

[Scuba J7]

Not a lot to see, but it's a lot of fun playing in the cavern. Tons of trout, sculpin, and crawdads, maybe a chance to see a hellbender salamander although none have been spotted in a long while. Make sure you have cutting tools, I didn't get tangled but I watched a trout get caught up and had to free him. After that my buddy and I decided to begin removing line, could of done that all day long and there would still be plenty of it. The line seems to accumulate on the sides of the cavern at the entrance as the flow creates an eddy there that goes in to the mouth of the cavern.

 

[dwellerbottom]

Well we ended up making 2 dives on Saturday
Air temps were 20 degrees and freezing rain when we went in, water was 55 degrees.
We really didn't want to get out until spring, it was brutally cold loading gear after we were done.
Everything was frozen by the time we left, all in all we had a couple of cool dives, made it down to 80ft where the water was really flowing.
It was very clear and we saw tons of trout, sculpin, and a few crawdads.
It is a pretty cool dive & if you have never done it I would recommend you give it a try sometime, earlier in the year might be a better plan to avoid the freezing temps.
We had 5 divers total and 1 fair weather safety diver that stayed on the surface.
I shot some video but I don't have a clue how to edit video from my gopro, something I need to learn so i can add music and just keep the best parts of the video.
I am ready for spring to warm up the lakes so we can get back to diving more often.
One thing of note we saw very little fishing line, only a couple of small pieces the whole time.