"air bell"?

[MKDVR]

To answer your question. IMO it's doable. As a scuba diver and newbie freediver I've done all three sites.

Blue Grotto falls back more. It's not as vertical as Blue Springs. The general plan is to follow the permanent line down to the left to 100'. Loop around the breakdown pile and ascend from the other side. You basically swim a horseshoe. On the ascent you can stop and hang out in the air bell before surfacing. With more than 2 divers it gets a little crowded. I haven't dove there in years but know the water level is down quite a bit since then.

Another point is that Blue Springs is up for sale and recently received no bids at auction. I don't what the current status is but you may want to call ahead.

I wouldn't reccommend using the bell except for emergencies. On another note having had an experience with bad air in a wreck I wouldn't reccommend that either. Fortunately I just started coughing right away and didn't just go hypoxic.

As for Devil's Den I definitely wouldn't freedive in there. The vis. can be real crappy sometimes. Especially in the afternoon. It can be difficult to determine the surface from the ceiling sometimes and can you could possibly get lost temporarily. It's a really cool scuba dive with a good light.

[Chad Carney]

(I have edited my original statement, because I believe I should not recommend what others can do.) I have, and know many other divers that have, mixed casual shallow scuba and occasional shallow freediving for decades with no problems. Mixing either type of dives to extreme, can and has caused problems.

The water level in Devils Den and Blue Grotto is actually quite high and clear right now. The stairs platform, that is often dry (second photo), was about 5 feet deep.

This is John L, the resident monster cat at Devil's Den! I'm guessing he goes about 40 lbs. You have to stalk him to get a photo, and he wouldn't let me get him in line with my student for a size reference.

Chad

[superhornet59]

actually i will be making an air bell possibly. i have a small creek and large basin, and im going to go to the government and see if i can make a dam to flood the basin, making a small lake/ large pond. there is a bridge with three "tunnels" that i will use as a base for my dam, and im hoping that one of the tunnels will go as such:

a wall goes from the top to one meter from the bottom, swimmer reaches bottom and does a U type thing (goes under wall then goes up). normaly it would flood to like 2 or 3 meters until pressure is equal, and either way water bottom will always be equal to how low the wall goes. instead there will be a "pool" to contain the water, and i will open a few scuba air tanks to get the pressure in there. itd be very very large (25 meters long by 3 meters high by 6 meters wide). would rock.

EDIT: and for those of you talking about gasses, there would be plants, special solar lamps would trigger photosynthesis, and negative ion air filters should get rid of other filth.

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by Chad Carney

DT,

You can scuba and freedive for a long time in 40 feet with no concerns,
trust me on this one.

Don't be offended if I'll avoid doing that in the future.

[SThompson]

To be frank, there is nothing worth risking the use of that bell. While it's mildly interesting from a novelty point while on scuba, there really isn't that much to see. And if something goes bad you are in an overhead environment which reduces your already low chances of survival in case of blackout to pretty much nil.

Devil's Den is an interesting freedive just becuase of the catfish. As you can probably tell from the pictures, the cavern has a very small opening in comparison to the cavern itself. Greenery often obscures it even more. On an overcast day it can be VERY difficult to determine where the surface of the water is located.

In addition, every time I went there it was fairly dark. You will need at least 2 lights (primary and backup) and PLEASE check your batteries before you go. Tech diving safety measures apply to freedivers just like scoobies.

The pool itself is relatively shallow around the top, but is fun to play in. The bottom is silt covered rocks. Because inexperienced scuba divers often come here and bounce off the bottom repeatedly, visibility can be good or complete crap just depending on the day. The problem really lies in the overhead environment of a cavern. Anything deeper than 20-30 feet you will be swimming through openings between fallen slabs of rock or in completely submerged caverns. If you bump your head, you are screwed because any buddy breathing on the surface is gonna have a hard time finding you and you aren't going to float to the surface.

I used to live in that area, and while I went a couple of times it's just not as good a dive as the state park in Orange City. It's dark, often times hard to see, and once you have scouted the main cavern and played feeding the catfish there just isnt that much to do. I think I hit a max of 60feet in this cavern but it scared the bejeesus outta me. It was dark, cramped, and I found myself squeezing through small openings to peek at the scoobies. Finally I came to the realization that this was REALLY stupid diving (huge risk to see.....rocks and catfish in an overhead environment).

Orange City is the best freediving in the area that I have found. Fun, clear, safe, relatively deep, and manatees. The only other place that I found any depth and fun was a small sinkhole that was just north of Tampa in the waterways of a housing development. Although you sometimes have to compete with fishermen, in the winter the warm water provides a wonderful haven for the manatees and they are instinctively curious and LOVE to be scratched. While it's pretty murky on top, it clears up about 25 feet down although you will still need a light. Lot's of large fish to peek at and it's a fun dive. A word of warning though, coming face to face with a 1 ton manatee coming at you aggressively out of the murk becuase it wants you to keep scratching can be a......wetsuit cleaning experience.

Best of Luck and be Safe!

[flyboy748]

Scot, good to see you on here again! Keepin' well I hope?

I'll second the Orange City suggestion... One of the coolest places I've ever been diving. And, umm... ya, you won't catch me breathing out of any air bell while freediving anytime soon. It's an interesting concept while on scuba though... Good way to do a safety stop.

Cheers all,
Aaron