One dead and one Missing at Buford Springs (FL, USA)

[Marie13]

From a FB group, someone posted the dead divers were single tank.

 

[lukeb]

It used to be a very difficult to access site. But they put a boardwalk in a couple of years ago. It made it much easier to get to the spring, but it does mean that a lot more divers are now diving it than before. Previously having to find the spring in the middle of a swamp probably put most people off.

 

[lukeb]

This thread from 2020 has some pictures of the boardwalk and the spring itself. It also has a discussion about what effects the easier access to the site could lead to...

Buford Sink

Hi, Has only one been diving in Bueford since they installed the boardwalk.Interested to know how the access is now compared to walking in 7 years ago? Thanks,Jerry

scubaboard.com

 

[Keith Blair]

This is such a shame and so sad for the families involved. Buford is an absolutely beautiful place to dive, but you really need to keep a constant watch on your depth and stay within the limits of your training. It's not a place for bravado or inexperienced divers.

 

[reddeaddiver]

https://www.rnews.news/story/2022/06/20/news/two-cave-divers-confirmed-dead-in-weeki-wachee/170.html?fbclid=IwAR0cEVriDtD8zw6qzHfWwAzoZ_cqiZqnUxsv0DEtZS5bB1PGVBC6Xx1X7U0

Looks like the second one was recovered. So sad. Also hearing from the rumor mill it was single AL80s and these guys had a habit of doing dangerous things before.

 

[sourdough]

What happened?

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

Frustrating and sad. Knew it would happen at some point

 

[SlugLife]

The vis can be really good, but it can also be pretty terrible. Below ~70', you're in an overhead environment. Past the big rock (~110' there on the pic) it gets a bit smaller but it's still pretty open top in general.
That said, freedivers will often start stirring up silt in the 60-70' range, reducing visibility. OW divers who get near the bottom tend to also help reduce visibility.
It's not uncommon to see single tank recreational divers past the big rock at that site.

View attachment 729644

I think I recognize that image/cave from dive-talk, where they frequently talk about cave-diving.

What happened?

Without more details, it's probably a standard "two divers not properly trained for cave diving, decide to dive into a cave." The divers are inevitable under-equipped or under-trained for the environment, often get narc'd, lost or have an equipment failure (for which cave-divers have redundancy), and are unable to make it back to the exit/surface before running out of air.

Plenty of highly experienced divers, who lack specific cave-diving training, have died in caves. Based on a quick look at the map, it looks like no single-tank diver or one without cave-diving training should go past "the big rock."

 

[lukeb]

Frustrating and sad. Knew it would happen at some point

@UCFKnightDiver You called it back in 2020 after the boardwalk was put in.

 

[DiveTucson]

Totally 100% hearsay but I keep hearing it was two divers in standard single tank recreational kit…