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Hudson Grotto |
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Reviewer |
Site Condition |
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| Name: | Jason NYC | Entry: | 
5.00
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| Email: | Click Here | Bottom: | 
2.00
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| City: | Los Angeles | Reef: | 
1.00
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| State: | CA | Animal: |
1.00
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| Country: | USA | Plant: |
1.00
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| Diving: | 12 years | Facilities: |
5.00
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| Dives: | 325 | Solitude: |
5.00
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| Roads: |
5.00
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Evaluation |
*Average: | 
2.47 |
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| My wife and I went to Tampa, Florida for a wedding and wanted to practice using our new DUI TLS350's. We figured the springs would be a good place to do this but we didn't want to drive 3 hours just to practice and the Gulf of Mexico was not cooperating. Thus, our hunt for a convenient dive began! Enter Ned DeLoach's DIVING GUIDE TO UNDERWATER FLORIDA. I love this book. Ned says, "This is a typical gulf coast sink that resembles a pond. It slopes gently to 15 feet where the sink walls plunge almost vertically to 110 feet. Below 80 feet there is a salt water level with a slight intrusion of hydrogen sulfide." I say, "This dive scared the hell out of me." Seriously though, not a good place to practice anything unless you are with an instructor or you are very comfortable diving in very low light conditions. I couldn't even see the first training platform (located at a depth of 20 ft.) from the surface! Eventually we did find it and could see the dock above us thanks to the noon sun shining down through the water. The visibility was about 20 feet but it was pitch black due to the tannic water. Our lights did nothing for us. The temp. was 68. We never went deeper than 22 feet. Hudson Grotto has so much potential though. The owners of Scuba West, located across the street from the gated grotto, were pleasant. They own and operate Hudson Grotto. The facility has picnic tables, a nice floating dock, underwater training platforms, covered classroom areas with blackboards and tables, parking, and nice signs explaining how the grotto came to be and how best to dive it. The total cost for this dive was just under $50 bucks including admission for two, 2 tanks and 2 sets of weights. We chose to do one dive only due to time constraints but I'm sure the friendly folks at Scuba West would have allowed us to spend the entire day there if we wanted. | |||
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Enjoyment Level |
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| Snorkel: |
1.00
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| Beginner: | 
3.00
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| Intermediate: | 
4.00
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| Advanced: |
5.00
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| Night diving: |
4.00
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Seasonal Information |
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| Season: | Summer | ||
| Year: | 2004 | ||
| Visibility: |
2.00 |
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| Current: |
5.00
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| Surf: |
5.00 |
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