| Caves |
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| Monday, 10 March 2008 | |
 Click on images below to enlarge Jackson Blue  Located on Merritt's Mill Pond in Marianna, Florida. Merritt's Mill Pond is a man made lake which is fed by a magnitude one spring called Blue Spring or "Jackson Blue". Jackson Blue is a big, beautiful, white, pristine cave that many divers consider the most beautiful cave they have ever seen. The main line goes back almost 5000' with 1000s more feet of side passages along the way. The main passage is fairly large, but there is also plenty of small passage for the side mount diver. In recent years a drought in N. Florida has caused the flow to go down quite a bit and swimming the cave has been easy. In the beginning of 2008, several days of heavy rain caused the flow to come back up. It's still possible to swim the cave, but it's definitely easier to scooter it (and we do rent scooters). In order to dive Jackson Blue you will need to sign in at the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and pay a fee. Diving is now allowed year round. When diving when the park is open, just show your pass to the park attendant. When the park is closed (Labor Day through Memorial Day), you'll receive a key to the gate. Visit Blue Springs Recreational Area for more information on the park. Twin Caves 
Just up the pond about 500 yards from Jackson Blue is "Twin Caves". Twin Caves has a couple of openings into its cavern with another couple of openings to the main passage at about 60' called the Subway Tunnel. The Subway Tunnel extends back several hundred feet with 3 passages that drop down to a deeper section. The first jump is recommended for side mount divers with good buoyancy only. If you get nervous in small places, this isn't the passage for you. The next drop down is a T to the deep section followed by a turn in the main line a few hundred feet past that also takes you to the deep section. This is a low flow cave and easily silted out if you're not careful.You'll need a boat to dive this one (did I mention our rental pontoon boats?). It's just a short boat ride from our dock to the caves twin openings. Twin Caves also has a dock, thanks to some generous cave divers whose names you can find on a plaque attached to the dock. Hole in the Wall 
Just up the pond 300 yards from our dock is "Hole in the Wall". This cave has some big passage. You start out entering the hole in the wall and drop down a large chimney to about 80'. You will find two passages at the bottom of the chimney, an upstream and a downstream. There is more cave downstream than there is upstream, but both are great to dive. This is a low flow cave and usually siphons in the colder months. Right now it has been good for quite a while. It also has a nice new dock,(thanks to the same great guys). Hole in the Wall is home to the Blind Cave Salamander.Other Mill Pond Caves  
Also in the Mill Pond are many other caves such as "Shangri-la" (sidemount), "Gator Hole", "Indian Washtub", and others I don't even know the names of. There may even be caves here that haven't been found yet. Take one of our pontoon boats out and see if you can find a cave to lay line in!Other Marianna Area Caves 
There are also several other caves in the Marianna area outside of Merritt's Mill Pond. One of the more popular caves is Springboard. Until recently Springboard was a sneak dive by land or a 3 hour long (if you're lucky) canoe trip by water. Cave Adventurers is now offering guided dives by land at Springboard. See our Guided Dives page for details. Make sure you also check out the Mill Pond Springs Development website for information about a new development in the area that will allow access to Springboard.Bozell, Maddachalk, Gadsen and many other springs are located in the area. Stop by and get information on diving these great caves! Maps of many of these systems are available for sale at the shop. |
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 June 2009 ) |