Florida
Emerald Sink (Leon Sinks)
- Max depth61 m (200 ft)
- CertificationFull cave
- SpecialExperienced divers
Diving and fills
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Fills nearby
- Extreme Exposure (High Springs)Air, nitrox (32 %, 50 %), O₂ (AL40) and trimix ('mix' in doubles); walk-in fills of your own tanks: ask
- Cave Country Dive Shop (High Springs)Air, nitrox 32 % and 50 %, O₂, helium; trimix 21/35, 18/45, 10/70 and custom; CCR O₂ fills
- Ginnie Springs dive shopAir (high-volume) and nitrox 32 %; no trimix listed. Prices 2026, excluding tax: air $9, doubles air $14, nitrox single cylinder $15, nitrox $0.15 per cubic foot (for top-offs and doubles)
What it looks like
All 1 videos and posts
Videos and posts
From other divers, via YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. They only load when you click; after that, Google's or Meta's privacy rules apply.
Search for more onYouTube ↗Instagram ↗Facebook ↗
Other people's footage, not advice: how someone else dives here says nothing about what suits your team. Dive within your training.
The dive
One of the prettiest entrances to the Leon Sinks system. Upstream, the first T takes you right along a pretty passage to Cheryl Sink and Split Sink; left runs a shallower, darker route.
Part of Wakulla–Leon Sinks system. Also in this system: Wakulla Springs, Clearcut Sink (Leon Sinks)
1 earlier accident or incident has been reported at this cave. Read what happened ↓
Profile and sections
One of the prettiest entrances to the Leon Sinks system. Upstream, the first T takes you right along a pretty passage to Cheryl Sink and Split Sink; left runs a shallower, darker route. Both meet and continue to the Black Abyss, a huge room where the cave drops to great depth. The water is usually dark and undivable, but sometimes crystal clear.
Emerald Sink is part of the Wakulla–Leon Sinks system mapped by the Woodville Karst Plain Project. According to the WKPP, a sixteen-storey building would fit in the Black Abyss.
Practical: the same park has Clearcut Sink (cave) and Cherokee Sink (open water); diving in Wakulla Spring itself is not allowed.
- Depth and profile
- Upstream a long stretch at -12 to -21 m · the Black Abyss drops to beyond -61 m (200 ft+) · downstream deep throughout · after an accident a diver was found about 300 m in at more than -46 m
- Configuration
- Backmount and sidemount; CCR possible (estimate, no source names configurations).
- DPV: unknown
- Long, deep passages; no source on scooters.
- Gas
- Trimix from 45 m (148 ft)
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR
- Goes down to 61 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park (open 8:00 to sundown; $6 per vehicle with 2–8 occupants). According to the park, certified cave divers may dive Emerald Sink; the number of divers is limited, so make arrangements beforehand (+1 850 561 7276). In the past you first had to be on a list approved by a panel (full cave, trimix, 100 cave dives and dive insurance), and older sources still call it closed to the public: ask the park for today's rules.
Around Emerald Sink (Leon Sinks)
Fills3 fill stations · nearest 0 km
Extreme Exposure (High Springs)
18481 High Springs Main Street, High Springs, FL 32643
Air, nitrox (32 %, 50 %), O₂ (AL40) and trimix ('mix' in doubles); walk-in fills of your own tanks: ask
Daily 8:00–18:00
Tech and cave shop since 1995. Rents singles, stages and doubles (steel/alu, air, nitrox or mix), regulators, backplate/wing, lights and scooters; training.
Cave Country Dive Shop (High Springs)
19808 N US Hwy 441, High Springs, FL 32643
Air, nitrox 32 % and 50 %, O₂, helium; trimix 21/35, 18/45, 10/70 and custom; CCR O₂ fills
Daily 7:00–19:00
Prices per cu ft online (e.g. 18/45 $2.04, 10/70 $3.15, O₂ $0.50; CCR O₂ min. $6). Rentals: backmount/sidemount doubles $14/day, trimix bailout cylinder $16, SUEX scooter $85/day, Shearwater computers. Cave courses from cavern to full cave and CCR cave (TDI, IANTD, NSS-CDS) by the owner's BJL Diving, and guided cave and spring dives, also with scooter, CCR, trimix and stages.
Ginnie Springs dive shop
Ginnie Springs Outdoors (in the park), near High Springs, FL
Air (high-volume) and nitrox 32 %; no trimix listed. Prices 2026, excluding tax: air $9, doubles air $14, nitrox single cylinder $15, nitrox $0.15 per cubic foot (for top-offs and doubles)
Park hours: Mon–Thu 8:00–17:00, Fri–Sat 8:00–19:00, Sun 8:00–18:00. Last fill between 15:00 and 17:00, depending on the fill technician's availability
Rents cylinders (incl. nitrox steel 85), BCs, regulators, suits and lights. Personal compressors are banned in the park.
Drive times from High Springs: we don't know this site's exact spot.
News
All (1)
Accidents and incidents
What happened at this cave before, with the sources. No names are given; read it as a lesson for your own planning.
- In May 2001 a 23-year-old diver with only an open-water certification died here; he was found about 300 m in at more than -46 m.
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 5 Nov 2026.
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