Vortex Spring

We went to Vortex Spring this past weekend. It was great. We didn't have an underwater camera, but here are the pictures from land:

Welcome!

Long, sandy road into the spring.
Panoramic of the site.
Decorative dive flag .
Koi.
Get in line.
Sneaking up on dinner.
Cannibal! (Not my hand in the pic.)
I touched it! (Not my hand in the pic.)
Mmmm...goldfish. (Not my hand in the pic.)
They mobbed us.
Another cannibal!
Fresh water shark?
Just chillin'.
Bye!

Fishy video.

Vortex Spring is a small spring in Ponce de Leon, Florida. It's about an hour north of Panama City. There is a cave area that open water divers can go into, and there is a true cave. There are artificial cave-like swim-throughs for those learning to cave dive. The open water approved cave is beautiful. There are freshwater eels, which are kinda cool. Even though they aren't dangerous, they still freak me out a little. The air pools on the ceiling, and it makes very beautiful little bubbles. There are also places where it pools that are large enough to stick your head in, but that sorta freaked me out a little. It was pretty cool overall.

We stayed in the lodge at Vortex. And, I don't recommend that at all. We thought it was a great idea. We'd be right there first thing in the morning, we could sleep later, get up, and get right in the water. Except that it didn't go quite like that. I had a panic attach because of all the bugs. There were bugs all over the room. I mean, tons of bugs. I almost slept in the truck. But, Travis took me to get bug spray and bug repellent. I actually slept ok after that. I definitely wouldn't recommend it, though. For $100, it's just not worth it, at all. I could have camped for next to nothing, and kept the bugs out of my tent better than that. The lady at the desk did comp our dives (saved us $50), so it wasn't a complete loss, but I highly doubt they would have done that if one of the guys had been at the desk instead of the girl. Girls know bugs are gross. Guys think I'm a wuss. And, maybe I am, but I didn't pay $100 to sleep with fucking cockroaches. Ick.