Florida caverns&Dema

[Lone Wolf]

We just got back from a great two weeks of cavern diving in Florida. We took a cavern class, with Dori, a great class. We did our first day at Ginnie, and the Devils system. Then moved to Orange Grove on Sunday. The vis in the springs is incredible. We dove several different springs, Troy, Ginnie, Devils, Orange Grove, Peacock,Jug Hole{aka Blue Hole, and Catfish Hotel at Manatee springs. Jug Hole was our favorite, it was a ten minute walk to get to it, but it was incredibly beautiful!! We fell in love with cave diving, and we will definitely be back.

 

[daehag]

We just got back from a great two weeks of cavern diving in Florida. We took a cavern class, with Dori, a great class. We did our first day at Ginnie, and the Devils system. Then moved to Orange Grove on Sunday. The vis in the springs is incredible. We dove several different springs, Troy, Ginnie, Devils, Orange Grove, Peacock,Jug Hole{aka Blue ******, and Catfish Hotel at Manatee springs. Jug Hole was our favorite, it was a ten minute walk to get to it, but it was incredibly beautiful!! We fell in love with cave diving, and we will definitely be back.

Great! and Congratulation for your Cavern certification!

 

[Lone Wolf]

Thanks!!

 

[SkimFisher]

What other cavern (if any) is there at Ginnie besides the Ballroom at the springhead? I went a few weeks ago and was kind of disappointed with how short of a dive it was. Is that the only one?

 

[Bazooka Joe]

What other cavern (if any) is there at Ginnie besides the Ballroom at the springhead? I went a few weeks ago and was kind of disappointed with how short of a dive it was. Is that the only one?

You can enter the cave opening Devils, but you cannot take a light and you are limited to where light ends in those system.

I have the same feeling about the ballroom, the way people spoke of it I thought it was much more.

Joe

 

[daehag]

You can enter the cave opening Devils, but you cannot take a light and you are limited to where light ends in those system.

I have the same feeling about the ballroom, the way people spoke of it I thought it was much more.

Joe

There is nothing to see in Caverns or Caves except wet rocks. But there are somebody who loves to see those.

Cavern diving is very limited diving, if you compare with other type of diving. But It is starting point to enjoy little different relaxation too.

 

[Lone Wolf]

There are four caverns at Ginnie springs outdoors. The Ginnie Ballroom, The Devils Ear, The Devils eye, and Lttle Devils. Ginnie is in a separate run from the others. You must drive about two hundred yards upstream to dive the other three. If you are cavern certfied, you may carry a lght, but you can only dive a single cylinder. Devils ear is a large verticle crack, with a good sized cavern at the bottom. It has an incredible flow, and is quite a lot of work to enter. Devils eye is a round opening, and again it has a good sized cavern. The flow is not as swift as the ear. Little Devils is a narrow verticle crack, not much of a cavern, but fun to look up from the bottom. We spent a couple of hours in Ginnie Ballroom and didn't see all of it. You have to explore all the nooks and crannies. Cavern diving is somewhat limiting when compared to cave, but we found that there is a lot to see in the caverns, and they are incredibly beautiful. You just have to slow down and look around, you will be amazed at what you can see!!

 

[TSandM]

Sometimes the cavern zone is some of the prettiest space in a cave, especially with the way light comes in from outside. The cavern zone at Jackson Blue is huge, and very pretty. Plus you can get a whole bunch of practice in good technique in caverns -- the Ballroom is a great place to learn about how flow stratifies in a cave, and how very small changes in where you are in the water column can make huge differences in how easy it is to swim.

 

[Get out and Dive]

Caverns around Florida may be smaller than in Mexico and other locations, but the geological beauty is a bit more diverse and dramatic. Just because you do not cover "distance" do not discount the wonders of the cavern. As for Ginnie main bowl cavern - slow down, take another look and savor the magic.....and if cannot - well enjoy the salty world.

As stated above - "just wet rocks" - but then again, ah what rocks they are! No wonder he, I and others trek down I-95 to worship oh so often....and then again, my deco time in the cavern of the eye may be the best part of every dive.

Cheers!