A DAY OF DIVING AT BLUE GROTTO

By

Mark Quaintance

Taking the day off from work and gathering some of my best dive buddies it's off to Blue Grotto for a day of diving. Arriving at the dive site on a weekday and finding we are the only divers is as good as gold!

After diving several springs in the area, you quickly realize diving during the week is the ideal time. With visibility around 200 feet it's well worth taking the day off work.

After we signed the releases and watched the short video presentation, we surveyed the dive site. It’s hard to believe how clear spring water can be prior to any diver entering the water. From the surface we were able to see the three platforms provided by Blue Grotto. These platforms are for the purpose of allowing a diver a place to kneel without disturbing the bottom. Classes are also able to conduct check out dives on these platforms. Blue Grotto recommends open-water diver to stay within the 50ft area. Advanced divers are allowed to go past this point. The facilities at Blue Grotto include hot showers, picnic tables and an area to rinse off your gear.

Upon entering the water, our first stop was Blue Grotto’s famous air bell. Supplied by fresh air, you can hang in the air bell without your regulator and talk over the dive plan with your buddies. Since the air inside the bell is compressed, we had to remember that time spent in the air bell counted towards our dive time. It’s part of the dive you certainly don’t want to miss. It is interesting being 30 feet under and able to see divers on the outside.

Following the line we conducted our dive down into the cavern as the video suggested. It’s highly recommend while diving in the cavern to be aware of your fin kicks and stay off the bottom to avoid a silt out. Reaching a depth of around 95 feet we spent as much time as our Nitrox mix would allow. We spent most of our time in the upper room, which was great place to practice buoyancy control and trim. We were able to see catfish and blue gills and we even saw a turtle. It was too soon and our first dive was over.

Spring diving is very laid back during the weekdays and its good idea to pack a lunch for the surface interval. While waiting for our second dive, it’s great to have your buddies to hang out with and let you know just how bad you stirred up the bottom.

Blue Grotto is definitely well worth the trip. The water is cold but the diving is great! Diving Blue Grotto first and making your next dive at Devils Den, which is just down the street would be a perfect day of diving.