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A Weeki WeekendJanuary 15, 2000 through January 16, 2000
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Diving in Florida may be a year round sport, but during the winter months divers are either "drysuitting it," travelling as far south as they can, or diving in Florida's many freshwater springs. The Floridian aquifer is well known as a source of water; and one of the places this water surfaces from its maze of underground nooks, crannies, and cave systems is the Weeki Wachee spring. Weeki Wachee is the name of many things: a small city, a water park, a spring, and a river. The Weeki Wachee spring is the start of the Weeki Wachee river, which flows twelve miles out to the ocean. The water park surrounds the spring. Weeki Wachee is "The Home of the Mermaids;" they put on shows year round, with mermaids dancing and swimming inside the spring, sometimes using very elaborate coreography. The spring is a balmy 74 degrees F all year round, and the mermaids show excellent breath and buoyancy control, using no weights or BC vests, and swimming in a mermaid tail, obtaining air from an "hooka" hose, whose airflow is only regulated by a manual valve. Just outside of the head spring itself is an area called "Buccaneer's Bay;" during the summer, the bay is open to swimmers, and offers cool spring water to swim in. There are several water slides that empty into "Buccaneer's Bay." At the time of this writing, Weeki Wachee no longer offers diving in the spring, unfortunately. But at one time it was possible to dive between mermaid shows. As there was access to the spring from a river that led out to the ocean, it was also a likely spot for people to see (and possibly touch) a manatee ... in fact, they have been known to bump mermaids during the show! My sister and I had discussed visiting other fresh water springs, but when Weeki Wachee offered diving, they also offered packages that included a nights stay. Night diving was also not out of the question at Weeki Wachee. On To The Dives
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By Eric Stewart - The Dive Log - Blog - Mastodon © 1999-2024 Eric Stewart - Contact: eric@ericdives.com - Wanna use what you see? This site is ad free. |