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The
voice on the telephone drawled at me, "I can guarantee you
manatees in the morning and 30 ft visibility in the afternoon!".
I thought, if nothing else, I must test this outrageous claim,
and so I booked a day's diving. The location was the town
of Crystal River on Florida's west coast, a diving destination
that I had heard much about and as an underwater photographer
the thought of gin clear water was too much to resist.
I
was visiting Florida on a family holiday, staying in Orlando
and following the Disney World trail. However, before departure
from England I had cunningly realised that the famous Florida
springs were would be extremely close at hand and managed
to sneak a Nikonos system in with the beach shoes and rubber
rings! On arrival I bought a copy of Scuba Times in order
to track down a likely looking dive operator. The list was
surprisingly long so I narrowed down the possibilities by
restricting my selection to those based in the town of Crystal
River, where there are still quite a number to choose from.
I finally decided on Talley's Pro Dive, not only due to the
outrageous claim but also because the cost of a day's diving
was extremely reasonable. I had come without any equipment
and found that the range of prices for equipment hire, and
the dives, was quite alarming elsewhere.
The
day after my telephone call found me driving the two hours
north west from Orlando to Crystal River, which proved to
be an easy journey. My first impression was that the site
looked very unlikely for a dive location. However, once kitted
out, myself and the two other divers for the day followed
our guide down a lane into the woods which finally emerged
onto a narrow inlet of the Crystal River, where the boats
were moored. We loaded up and edged our way out towards the
estuary of the Crystal River where we had been promised we
could find manatees. Most of the estuary is covered by the
State of Florida Conservation Order which ensures that all
boats travel slowly, so as to reduce the risk of collision
with manatees. Dependent on where you encounter the manatees
in the river divers may only use snorkel equipment to approach
the mammals. This particular day was not to be our lucky one,
for, despite spotting manatees in the distance, we were unable
to get close enough to swim with them.
After
our disappointment, we continued across the estuary to King
Springs for the first dive of the day. The King Spring emerges
from a cave system formed by freshwater flow through limestone
rock. Water depth is approximately 30 ft to the entrance of
the cave and it is then a fairly narrow squeeze into the cave
itself, which reaches a maximum depth of 60 ft. The visibility
in the cave system, where the spring emerges, is extremely
good, but falls to 50-60 ft just outside. The river bed outside
the caves resembles a dead coral reef, which is in fact the
origin of the vast majority of the Florida peninsula. Much
of the freshwater vegetation resembles Mediterranean eel grass,
but the fish life is quite prolific. We saw shoals of very
blue gilled chub, sheepshead and mullet before we returned
to the boat for the return journey to our launching point.
Following
a lunch break, we set out in convoy to our second dive site
of the day. Our journey took us further inland, following
the course of the Rainbow River, through heavily wooded countryside,
again very unlikely looking diving country. Our destination
proved to be a riverside beach, which our guide informed us
was about a mile and a half from the spring head. We loaded
up the boat and headed slowly up river, against a reasonable
current, over water that was distinctly clearer than that
of the Crystal River estuary. We passed over several small
spring areas where the visibility improved dramatically -
this was beginning to look good! On either side of these spring
areas there are riverbank notices forbidding SCUBA diving
in the vicinity of the spring. The water here had the proverbial
gin clarity that we had been promised.
Once
kitted up in snorkel gear I was quickly over the side to experience
the stunning sensation of being suspended in water so clear
it resembled air! The river bed was bright white undulating
sand and in the depressions the river bed could be seen to
"bubble" as spring water emerged. Weed banks, which shed fine
streams of bubbles in the current, carpeted the slopes. These
harboured shoals of bream and more blue-gilled chub. Estimating
exposure in these very bright conditions is quite difficult
due to the amount of reflected light and the photographer
must be careful to meter on the dominant subject of the picture.
The sun is generally shining here, which makes flash unnecessary
unless you are targeting fish under overhanging trees along
the riverbank. The maximum depth of the spring is 30 ft and
the water temperature is between 65-70o, similar to the Red
Sea. It is therefore advisable to wear a full 6 mm wet suit,
as an hour or so in the water is very chilling - my rented
1/8" suit was definitely too thin!
Once
our snorkel was completed we moved the boat out of the spring
area to the point where SCUBA diving is permitted and kitted
up for a drift dive back towards our launch point. The drop
in visibility was dramatic, from 300 ft to a misty 20-30 ft,
due to the current flow over a much softer river bed, which
is easily stirred by boat and diver movement. The river meanders
in large sweeps and the bends provide shelter from the current
for both fish and divers. The most interesting species we
encountered were freshwater garfish, or Peckerels (members
of the Pike family), which hung in groups of 20 or so, close
to the banks. These fish are surprisingly large, averaging
3 ft, and each group seemed to be patrolled by one or two
very large lone males, perhaps 4-5 ft in length! The scene
was very reminiscent of shoaling barracuda. As we made our
way slowly down river, we also encountered many turtles in
groups of two or three, but they were too skittish to get
a clear photograph. Although I surfaced due to the onset of
hypothermia, this dive and also lasted more than an hour!
There
are many other rivers and springs in the immediate area of
Crystal River, which could provide interesting diving for
a week or so. Alternatively a dive in the area could be mixed
with a visit to the Florida Keys or a family holiday - like
mine. Accommodation is plentiful and cheap throughout Florida
and with a favourable exchange rate and availability of cheap
flights, a trip can be quite economical, even when compared
to the Mediterranean or Red Sea.
Reproduced
from in focus 46. Dec. 92 with kind permission of Mark Webster
(http://www.photec.co.uk)
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