Mike Emanuel's Cave Diving Page

Diepolder III

Diepolder II

Diepolder III

LOCATION:

The Diepolder sinks are located on the Sand Hill Scout Reservation off highway 50, just East of Weeki Wachee in Hernando County, FL. Since the sinks are on private property and due to the extreme depths involved, access is restricted.

DESCRIPTION:

The Diepolder sinks are two of the deepest, most spectacular dives in central Florida with depths in the huge room of #3 reaching 300' and #2 reaching 360'+ . All dive activity at this site is currently regulated by the Florida Speleological Researchers (FSR) who act as stewards of the sinks on behalf of the property owners, the Gulf Ridge Council and the West Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Much work has been done by the FSR over the years to maintain this relationship and preserve access for qualified divers. Like many other state managed and privately owned sites, a guide program has been established to ensure safety and limit the impact to these unique underwater treasures.

Diving at this site is limited to individuals with an established record of deep diving & mixed gas experience. The guides will usually require a few "get acquainted" dives in #3 before allowing anyone to progress into the more challenging #2.

Here are some of the basic requirements (other requirements and restrictions may apply):
  • Divers must be certified as Full Cave Divers by an FSR recognized certification agency (NACD or NSS-CDS)
  • Divers must be certified as Mixed Gas Divers through an FSR recognized certification agency (IANTD or TDI).
  • Divers must posses an Abe Davis, Wakulla award or proof of 100 safe cave dives.
  • Divers must be active members of the FSR.
  • GUIDES:

    Rob Anderson - randerson007(a)alltel.net
    Lloyd Bailey - lwb(a)atlantic.net
    Dustin Clesi - steamboat(a)atlantic.net (386)935-2283
    Rick Crawford - odincrawford(a)windstream.net
    Greg Flanagan - greg(a)gsflaw.com
    Larry Green - lgreen(a)atlantic.net
    Bill Main - hogarth(a)gru.net
    Bill Oestreich - bird(a)birdsunderwater.com
    Johnny Richards - johnny(a)cavediving.com
    Dale Sweet - dsweet3(a)tampabay.rr.com
    Alex Warren - Warren1(a)tampabay.rr.com

    Aerial showing relationship of Diepolder to nearby systems

    Video of Diepolder #3 Room (mpeg, video by Larry Green)

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