Dive at Blue Hole

On June 3, 2023, I carried out my 17th logged scuba dive at a picturesque spot in North Florida - Blue Hole Spring. This place is also known as Jug Hole, and is part of the Ichetucknee Springs State Park. I had two buddies with me - Nicole and Ignacio, who were considerably more experienced.

The trek to the site was... different. Unlike other sites in North Florida where you can park close to the dive spot, we had to drag our gear on carts along a half-mile trail. The going was treacherous to say the least. Exposed roots and steep slopes threatened to upend our carts at a few points. Finally, we came to a wooden platform:

There were benches that made suiting up very easy. The water was extremely clear and blue. Springs and rivers in this part of the country are at a constant 72 degrees F (22 C) year-round, so we didn't need thick wetsuits. Mine was the equivalent of about 3mm neoprene.

At the bottom of the lake/spring, reeds waved in the slight current from the hole. We barely felt the current until we arrived at the mouth of Blue Hole and looked down.

We could see all the way to the bottom, about 35 feet down. Ignacio was the biggest of us and carried the heaviest gear (including a double tank) so he easily descended against the upward current without much kicking. Nicole followed suit and me last.

Because I had only 4 pounds of ballast, I had to turn head-first against the current so I could kick my way down. This made equalization difficult. I wasn't experienced enough to equalize when inverted, so after some struggling, I grabbed onto the side of the hole. After some patient experimentation with my head position, I found that tilting my head forward while doing the Valsalva equalized my ears, and I was able to kick the rest of the way down.

The scene before me was a brilliant blue. It felt almost like a shrine, with a seemingly solid sunbeam enamating from the natural skylight where we had come from. We found plenty of debris from the surface, including branches and animal bones, that had fallen or drifted down from the surface.

This chamber opened up into a second chamber. The current at this opening was much stronger, probably because it was no longer damped by the previous chamber.

Right before this dive, we had agreed on our plan. As the least experienced member of the trio, I was expected to stay behind while my buddies investigated the second chamber. Ignacio went first, kicking against the current, and we watched his flashlight beam jump around the dark chamber for a few minutes before Nicole ventured into it. The current was strong enough that I had to hold onto a fallen branch just to stay in position.

After my buddies did their rounds, I got a chance to investigate. This chamber was much lower and bare, with at least one more exit leading off into the cave system. There was a warning sign right in front of it, which we didn't dare disobey. Cave diving is dangerous, especially for the insufficiently trained.

Having seen enough, we returned to the first chamber, letting the current push us along. There were few fish in this area, and we even caught a glimpse of the white belly of a water snake before it flashed away into a crevice. Finally, with a third of our air remaining, we began our ascents. We had our safety stops inside the mouth of Blue Hole then the current easily brought us to the surface.

Dive time: 29 minutes

Max. depth: 48 feet (15 m)

Ballast: 4 lb (2 kg)