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Outside Magazine August 2003

DESTINATIONS: Scuba Camping
Domestic Abyss
Springs of the Suwannee River Basin & Resurrection Bay

By Michael Roberts

Channel Islands, CA, & Isle Royale Nat'l Park, MI | The Swannee River Basin, FL, & Resurrection Bay, AK | Wyoming, Hawaii, Maine

SPRINGS OF THE SUWANNEE RIVER BASIN
THE WATER
Tucked into lush forests along the lazy Suwannee River, these freshwater springs offer shallow open pools with 200-foot visibility. Conditions are mild and predictable for novice divers, and spectacular fun for certified cave divers, who can twist in Man from Atlantis fashion through extensive labyrinths of limestone tunnels and chambers.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
In the pools, you might see an alligator—ideally, from a distance—and in the caves, search for fossils of 30-million-year-old marine invertebrates.
>>NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA
ABOVE THE SURFACE
Float the Ichetucknee River, 12 miles east of the Suwannee, in an inner tube. Contact Ichetucknee Springs State Park (386-497-2511, www.ichetuckneeriver.com).
THE DIGS
The privately run Ginnie Springs park has tent sites for $16 per person per night and a full-service dive center that offers cavern tours for certified divers (386-454-7188, www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com).
LOCAL WISDOM
Don't be dumb enough to cave-dive without obtaining proper certification, or to check out a new cave without a local guide.
HOW TO GO
Local dive shops include the Steamboat Dive Inn, in Branford (386-935-2283). Driving directions and detailed descriptions of diving the Suwannee's springs are available online from Global Underwater Explorers (www.gue.com).

RESURRECTION BAY
THE WATER
Colder seawater means more oxygen, which means more plankton, which means abundant and huge filter-feeding critters. Anemones, which are as big as your fist off California, grow to the size of a pumpkin off Alaska. Also, divers can encounter entirely different organisms as the angle of the 100- to 300-foot undersea cliff walls change, thanks to variations in light conditions, water turbidity, and currents.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The giant Pacific octopus, with its eight-foot-long tentacles, and the wolf eel, a fierce-looking fish with powerful jaws that eats crabs (but not humans).
>>GULF OF ALASKA
ABOVE THE SURFACE
Hike to lookout points at the top of 2,400-foot Resurrection Peninsula for a panoramic view over hundreds of miles of the Gulf of Alaska.
THE DIGS
A rustic private wilderness lodge on Resurrection Peninsula with cooking facilities and—a sweet antidote to those 40-degree plunges—a wood-heated sauna.
LOCAL WISDOM
When you're not underwater, coat yourself in deet or be eaten alive by bloodthirsty blackflies.
HOW TO GO
From Anchorage, drive 2.5 hours south to Seward, where Dive Alaska launches two-day trips that include diving and accommodations on the peninsula for $500 per person (907-770-1778, www.divealaska.net).

Next Page: Yellowstone Lake, WY; Lanai Island, HI; & Acadia

Channel Islands, CA, & Isle Royale Nat'l Park, MI | The Swannee River Basin, FL, & Resurrection Bay, AK | Wyoming, Hawaii, Maine