Madison Blue
Out of the way, but definitely worth it. Madison Blue is located near the towns of Madison and Lee, just south of the Georgia border. What distinguishes this cave are its unique formations and the fact it’s a gateway to an even larger, more advanced cave system.
Getting there
Madison Blue Spring State Park is 15 minutes west of I-75 Exit 486 on State Route 6. If coming via I-10, it is 15 minutes north of Exit 282. The closest dive centers with fills are Cave Excursions and Dive Outpost near Peacock, 45 minutes to the south.
Checking in
The procedure here is similar to the one at Peacock. Shortly after pulling in, you’ll find a self-service kiosk. Here you need to do two things:
- Pull an admission envelope from the dispenser, insert the modest admission fee and attach the tear-off portion to your mirror. Put the sealed envelope into the slot on the dispenser.
- Adjacent to the dispenser is a stand with a sign-in clipboard. List your name, certification level and training agency here.
As at Peacock, leave your c-card clearly visible on your dash.
Diving Madison Blue
Madison Blue has three accessible entrances.
- The main entrance is the one divers most often use. It’s large, and the guideline starts right at the entrance.
- Occasionally, when the flow is strong enough to make using the main entrance difficult, divers will use the Rabbit Hole This is a small opening just to the left of the main entrance. You will need to run a reel from here straight in to the gold line.
- The Martz Sink entrance is approximately 200 m/660 ft past the main parking area. Using this entrance will get you further into the cave — but using it isn’t easy, despite the stairs.
In addition to the main line and the aforementioned Martz Sink offshoot, there are two particular areas of interest:
- A jump near the front of the cave will take you to the Godzilla Room circuit. This is one most divers can easily complete without breaking thirds. The unusual formations, the way the cave topography changes by the minute (not to mention the plastic statue of Godzilla himself) make this a fun dive.
- Further into the cave, the Mount Offshoot leads to the aptly named Rocky Horror. As the accompanying video shows, the is a fairly gnarly tunnel — but one that leads to an entirely separate cave system known as The Courtyard. This is a fairly advanced dive, requiring stage bottles and Trimix.
Also nearby
As popular cave diving sites go, Madison Blue is kind of off by itself. The closest popular sites are Peacock and Cow, nearly an hour away.
There are several smaller, lesser-known sites in the general vicinity of Madison, such as Pot Spring, Morgan, Falmouth, Suwannacoochee, Edwards and Cathedral Canyon. None of these are remotely appropriate for new cave divers.
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