Swimming with Manatees with SDI
01/14/12 – Our first adventure of the year began with a great drive downAlabama andFlorida back roads to Ponce De Leon, Florida. Even though the official start of the Manatee Trip didn’t begin for another day, I was headed to Vortex Springs to launch a few new divers on a path to lifelong underwater exploration. After passing manyerie looking trees draped with Spanish moss, I pulled onto the sandy roads of the Vortex Springs campgrounds.
At the Vortex Springs dive shop were a couple of excited student divers anxiously waiting to finish up their Open Water training dives. The plan was to complete three training dives for the course today and the fourth and final dive tomorrow on theRainbowRiver. The advantage of diving Vortex springs in the winter months is the fact that the water temperature is constantly a balmy 68 degrees. When the air temperature is cold, the water is covered with steamy shadows dancing across it’s entire surface. It reminds you of a cup of hot soup on a cold winter day,
Hanging with us in the water, were a couple of PADI Divemaster friends. One was completing a Dry Suit specialty course and the other was hanging with us to assist with the Open Water course. As we completed the first two exciting dives and were sitting on the surface of the water , I saw some divers who were also going to be joining us on the manatee trip. With a great shout as they dipped into our toasty aquatic realm, they said hello and we all finished our last dive of the day. After returning to the surface, we packed up our gear and headed toTallahasseefor the night.
01/15/12 -The alarm clock went off at 0700 like a siren. The manatee trip had begun! I jumped up and went to the dining area for a great expanded hot continental breakfast. I met with several of the folks going on the trip, had my waffles, eggs, yogurt and orange juice and we all hit the road to KP Hole County Park.
Located in DunnellonFlorida, KP Hole County Park is a 3 hour drive fromTallahassee. We stopped and grabbed a quick drive-thru snack for lunch at around 1130. Bynoon, we were pulling into the park and eager to get into theRainbowRiver. Our boat was scheduled to leave the dock at 1300 sharp and with a quick check with Captain Bill, everything was confirmed. Our drift dive would begin in less than an hour.
We had several certified divers, several snorkelers as well as three student divers. TheRainbowRiverflows billions of gallons of fresh clear spring water per hour from the head spring area downstream to many areas inFlorida. As we pulled back from the dock, I instructed everyone to look back at the exit area so that they could choose the correct path to get out of the water as they drifted back. Tooling up the river, Capt Bill pointed out several creatures, underwater features, and navigational aids to help our group navigate the river safely. With final instructions to “stay close to the dive buoy”, everyone hopped off the boat. The certified divers and snorkelers stepped off in knee high water and began their trek down the river while the student divers and I exited the boat with a giant stride entry into the water of the area known as “Deep Hole”. The Deep Hole is the deepest part of the river and is really only around 21ft deep.
We swam to the shore near the “Deep Hole”, stood and completed a briefing on the skills required for the final dive. Our dive crew consisted of three student divers, one certified diver there to show support and me. The skills to be completed were underwater navigation, hovering and mask removal and replacement. After a 30 minute dive including underwater exploration of the deep hole, everyone was shown the magic slate. It read “Congratulations you are a certified diver, Southeastern Divers Inc”
After our safety stop, we returned to the surface for a briefing on our first advanced open water dive, the drift dive. The drift dive began with a slow decent into the deep hole, where we untied the line from a log, adjusted our buoyancy and joined the flow of the river.
Handling the line and surface buoy is a necessary part of drift diving and as we soared over the waving green grasses of the river, everyone got a chance to release the line as we crossed deeper water and reel it in again as we cruised closer to the surface. There were many popcorn springs where water appeared to bubble up through the sand while constantly churning small shells and rocks from the bottom. There were several caverns and cracks on the bottom where a diver could feel warm water being released from the depths of the earth. After passing Gar Alley, several turtles, bream, catfish and birds diving underwater, the exit area could be seen in the distance.
We navigated around the boats at the dock and kicked over the swimmer’s exit. We exited the water very excited while offering congratulations and hi fives to the newly certified divers . It was hard to believe almost an hour had passed since we left the dock at the start of our dive. Wow!!! What a dive. Now let’s pack up and on to Homosassa Springs….
45 minutes later we were checking in at the Riverside Resort. The plans had been laid to meet at the Crabhouse Restaurant at7pm. Everyone showed up hungry and we had a great menu selection of great menu choices. I had the grouper wrap and baked potato. Stuffed, we all hit the sack to get rest for an early start to what we all had been looking forward to…MANATEES.
01/16/12 – We loaded the pontoon boats at8am, did a quick tour around monkey island, handed out biscuits and tooled up the river to visit our warm blooded friends. As we approached the wildlife reserve area, we discussed appropriate manatee interaction etiquette.
As soon as we anchored, we tied the two boats together and snorkelers slipped as silently as possible into the water. Immediately, a huge manatee lay across the anchor line and moved the two boats. As the snorkelers moved around in the water more and more manatee started showing up. Snorkelers on all sides soon found themselves scratching and petting playful manatee as they twisted and turned in the water with their short stubby flippers and mono-tail.
After a couple of hours, we all loaded the boats and said farewell to the manatees and our friends the Manatee Watch, who are posted in the area in order to make sure the manatee are not harassed by the humans who interact with them. The boat ride back was a happy ride with excited tales of manatee back scratching and tummy rubs.
One more circle around monkey island and everyone hopped off the boat, showered, packed up and hit the highway for the journey home. The adventure ended much as it had began, travelling theAlabamaandFloridaroads. The greatest difference is that many more people have had a chance to share a great experience with these gentle aquatic giants.
Come join us on our future adventures. Hope to see you soon.
Sean
