Mike Emanuel's Cave Diving Page

Sawyers Basin Sinks

Picture of Sawyers Basin

Sawyers Basin facing North West

LOCATION: Sink #1 (lat. 28°13'03.81" N., long. 82°45'06.72" W.)

Sink #2 (lat. 28°13'16.37" N., long. 82°45'17.63" W.)

The sinks are located on either side of Strauber Memorial Hwy in New Port Richey, FL. From US19N, turn West on Trouble Creek Rd. After rounding a bend to the South, Trouble Creek Rd becomes Stauber. Go 1/2 mi to where the culverts run under the road draining Sawyers Basin to the Gulf. Sink #1 is in the basin, approx 900 ft East of the roadway. Sink #2 is located West of the roadway, approx 1000 ft out the bayou to towards the Gulf.

DESCRIPTION:

For years, I had hoped to verify a connection between these sinks and Spring Lake Sink, a huge sink further inland. What a dive that would be, a 1.8 mile traverse. While my theory may be correct, any drainage that was occurring from Spring Lake obviously quit taking place many years ago. Both Spring Lake Sink and the coastal sinks are completely clogged with decaying organics and have a lot of hydrogen sulfide that keeps things looking prettty dead at the bottom. Max depth is around 40' and water temp is 70ish at the bottom due to lack of sunlight from sulfide layer. Sink #1 is round in shape and approx. 125 ft across, Sink #2 is oblong in shape and approx. 140' x 90'. Sink #2 must have been pretty awesome 50-60 years ago before all the silt and rotting piles of sea grass plugged it up. When I was a kid, the guy down the street told me about it and said that he had sounded the hole at 60ft. If true, that means its been accumulating almost a foot of mung per year. I'd need a dredge to vacuum it out and see if there is cave!

DIVELOG:

Sink #2- Coastal sink was a real let down. Rim was at 10 ft with sheer vertical walls down straight down to 35ft, no undercut. Mung bottom with lots of sulfide. Heading West across the bottom, max depth was around 40'. Had hoped for much deeper hourglass shape, but that didn't pan out.

Aerial View Of Spring Lake Relative to Sawyers Basin

Here's the exploration rig I often use when scouting out new sinkholes

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