Location
Bonnet Springs is considered part of the Peacock Springs state recreation area. It is located between Luraville and the main Peacock entrance, on 180th Street. Coming from Luraville, the entrance will be found on the South side of the road just before a left-hand bend. A locked metal gate blocks off the entrance. There are NO amenities of any kind at this location! Please be sure to pack out your trash!
Access
Bonnet Springs is a restricted access area. You MUST check in with the Peacock Springs ranger (who will give you the combination for the gate), be Full Cave certified, have PROOF of 100 full cave dives, and be guided by someone who has been diving at Bonnet before and is on the rangers 'list'. Only one dive team will be allowed in at a time. These rules are in place to protect both you and this fragile cave environment.
Preparing To Dive
As you approach the spring, you will be pleasantly surprised by the large, crystal clear pool of water. Looking out over the spring pool from the end of the road/parking area, the Suwanee River will be on the far side and the cavern entrance will be on your right, near the shore.
The flow here is normally very light, hardly even noticeable, and the water tends to be clear. In fact, both the flow and the clarity can be closely compared to nearby Peacock Springs. As with all springs that are close to rivers, seasonal flooding can darken the visibility and even reduce it to near zero.
Be very careful getting into the water at the Bonnet head spring. The rocky shores tend to be very slippery at this location. Once you are in, there are numerous places to tie off your primary reel near the cavern entrance. The main line is located just inside the cavern zone, on the right side as you are going in.
Cave System Overview
Bonnet Springs is one of the few remaining springs in Florida that has not been horribly damaged by students and unskilled (or even untrained) cave divers. There are some spots where the colorful rock has been worn away to white by hands and tanks, but the majority of this cave is still pristine.
The first section of cave is very similar to Peacock. You will find floor to ceiling heights of as much as six feet, with a thick silty floor. The walls are still very colorful. The first section of cave dive involves a single duck under that will briefly place you in the cave's deepest section - 42 feet. The rest of the cave averages depths of 20-30 feet.
After about 1000 feet or so you will come to what many consider to be the prettiest part of the cave. It is a tight, jagged rocky section that twists and turns called "Debtors Payment." This section continues for several hundred feet and provides some excellent photo opportunities.
The remainder of this cave tends to be quite low and tight, but is still backmount territory. This along with the thick, silty floors and several T-s (rather than jumps) make this an advanced cave dive. In spite of these hazards, this cave continues to be beautiful, right to the end of the line.
Be sure to check out the Amphipod Party Room where the water (for some reason) gets colder and there are lots of little critters on the floor. Also be prepared for a long dive due to the shallow depths and very light flow. It is not uncommon to have bottom times around two hours in this system. It is also recommended that you dive in teams of two, or no more than three. You will most likely be disturbing some sediment on the floor and team members in the back of the line will not see much of the cave!
Please be very sure of your abilities before attempting a dive at Bonnet. It is our responsibility to keep this cave system in good shape. It is one of the few that we have left that can still be saved for future generations of cave divers to enjoy.