5 Hole, Suwannee River State Park

This weekend we were off to 5 Hole, an extensive cave system at Suwannee River State Park. A few of us had been asked to help make a video to show the park staff what a beautiful system they’re protecting. Since this site is permit only, it’s very pristine, but lines aren’t kept up to date as well as park caves. We were only able to get usable video for the first 400-500ft of the system due to lines being ripped out from recent flooding. Jeff Marchand and Michael Gibby are going back next weekend to fix that. Conditions are amazing for this site right now, so we’ll be back VERY soon!

5hole from James Garrett on Vimeo.

Jug Hole – Well worth the walk!

8am sharp my alarm clock disrupted my sleep pattern, and it was time to clean the car out to make room for dive gear!  Today was the first weekend that Jug Hole would be open to cave diving for the season!  My dive here almost a year ago was one of my first side mount dives, so revisiting it should be a whole lot more fun.   It’s close to home, cheap ($4 entry fee), and a beautiful walk to the dive site, even though it’s far.  After talking to the ranger, we found out that we were the first to dive here since it opened yesterday.

Jug is a beautiful cave, albeit a short one.  Most popular for it’s amazing cavern and light chimney, the cave is just under 700ft in linear penetration, with a single jump which leads to a nasty restriction where most of the water comes from.  It has a well known restriction, called “Diamond Sands”, which refers to the minerals  in the sand near it, which reflect like diamonds.  There’s a clay room with beautiful layering, and several large rooms along the way.

October is FINALLY here! One of my favorite springs! from James Garrett on Vimeo.