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5.16.2004 - Buford Sink
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| WOW! There are not many words that I know that would truly describe this awesome dive site. I could thank James 1,000 times for taking me here but I am not sure that would accurately express my gratitude. Buford Sink is by far the best cavern dive in Florida! As an added bonus, Jitka and Jakob met us for this dive. They were on rebreathers. Unfortunately they had to make one more trip than we did. Humping the rebreather and the bailout jug would have really sucked. Buford Sink is close to Eagles Nest but no where near as accessible. There is about a half mile hike from the access road to the sink. IT IS WORTH IT! We were lucky as the bugs were not swarming and it wasn't 100 degrees. JL and James did this dive last week and it was about 10 degrees warmer. Getting there is at least half of the adventure for this dive. We geared up (completely -- wetsuits, tanks, everything) and started hiking towards the sink. Most of the hike isn't that eventful. It is the last 100 yards that is a test of your metal. I was only sinking up to my knees while lugging a 104 on my back in full cave regalia. That last step is defiantly the hardest. There is a method to the madness of gearing up and humping all the gear. Once you find the crystal blue pool in the middle of the swamp, the last thing you want to do it muck up the visibility with your gearing up in the pond. Once you clear the 4' alligator who calls this place home (thanks Jitka and Jakob) and the mesh of trees in the surface pool, Buford Sink opens up to a beautiful cavern. The cavern carries much of the same geology as Blue Grotto, Hal's, etc with the exception of Buford having a spectacular wall and some nice caves off to the sides that only a side-mount rig would work in. The line starts at the entrance of the hole and is laid across the ceiling. Once at the bottom of the sink the line breaks off to a nice circuit around the bottom of the cavern. There is not much penetration here; only about 200'. The absolute bottom, as surveyed is about 160' I could go on and on about this dive but I suggest you check out the pictures to get a better idea of the awesome beauty of Buford Sink. Click here to check them out. If you find yourself lucky enough to make this dive drop me a line and tell me what you find at the end of the line. Dive Profile Maximum Depth: 158' |