Ginnie Springs since early on when I first started diving the comments where "Have you been to Ginnie Springs, you need to go." Simply if you haven't dove Ginnie Springs you must. Even with the water as low as it is all over the Northeast District of Florida Ginnie Springs is worth the trip.
Check in at the gate, next head to their Dive Shop-Outdoor Store and Camp Grocery. Sign your releases watch a intro video that explains the dive site and dangers of the caverns and caves. Then go diving.
There are two springs Ginnie and Devil plus the Santa Fe river to dive at Ginnie Springs. We started at Devil Spring. Devil Spring is a four-foot-wide fracture at the head of the spring system. It is 50 feet long and almost as deep. You who descend to the bottom of the crack the look up a to a great view as you look skyward.
You ascend from Devil Spring and drift down the run toward the Santa Fe River. Just before the confluence there are two more spring feeds, Devil's eye and Devil's ear.
Devil's Eye is a round opening, that is about 20 feet across and all most as deep. At the bottom is the entrance to a small cavern. Shaun was my dive buddy on this dive we explored this then when Tige, James and Mike arrived we watch Tige put James through his rescue diver training with Mike acting as "the victim"
Devil's Ear is a canyon-like opening located right where Devil Spring run joins the Santa Fe River. The ear his a high flow spring. Trying to get to peak in at the bottom of the canyon is a challenge. The flow is so strong it can take your mask off if you look the wrong way or depending on how sensitive you regular is, the force of the flow can depress your purge button on your second stage. The water from the spring and the water for the Santa Fe on this day had a definite demarcation point. The spring was crystal clear the river brown and muddy. A row of grass seem to frame the two flows that touch but did not seem to mix, it was a very cool to see. The spring is moving but calm, the river moving about 1 knot or so was rushing by.
Topside I found that many of the springs where diver can dive, beside picnic tables and pavilions they have gear assembly benches. A place with a waist high bench and back where you can place and secure you cylinder, assemble your gear, the slip right into it when you are ready to go. If you have ever been boat diving it is like assembling your kit on a boat but standing. Very convenient.
Ginnie Spring is a large-bowl like depression that is about 15 to 20 ft deep and has a short run to out to meet the Santa Fe river. Here I spent the afternoon working with my divemaster candidate on some of the skills and workshops that will assist him to achieve his divemaster certification. It was great to do this part of the divemater course in warm clear water. Once we where done, we assisted soon to be a Rescue Diver James with more of his surface scenarios need to completed his certification.
Later in the afternoon we cooked up some burgers and dogs on one of the grills waiting for nightfall. The we geared up for our night dive of the Ginnie Cavern and "the Ballroom". You enter the cavern into what is known as the upper room, it is large room it has can hold several divers, the limestone wall are almost polished from the flow of the water. You continue to the back of the room around a small out cropping and you are in a massive space called "The Ballroom". There where six of us on this dive and we could have easily fit another 10 to 12 divers before you felt a bit crowded. There is a high flow spring feed at the bottom of the room, depth about 50 feet, the spring opening is gated off so you can not go further. As is typical of high flow springs that I have now seen and is noticeable in this room is the sediment the comes along with the flow creates and amphitheater silt sloping up and away from the flow. Lots of cool formations of rocks and limestone. While I am told the sunlight does pentrate into the the ballroom during the day, it is very dark at night. At one point during the dive we where all together we hooded our lights. it was dark. There is a guide rope strung along the roof of the ball room that runs into the upper room so there is no doubt which way is out. Which is a nice touch.
This is on my list to do again.