Hidden lights in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  1 Response »
Dec 172012
 
Hidden lights in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the site Piccaninnie Ponds is a sinkhole rated site out of Mt Gambier. With a permit you can snorkel there, and clear water means you can watch cave divers descending into the darkness. The dappled sunshine, white walls and green weed in the open sections means Pics is a regular feature in tourist videos of the Limestone Coast – it’s a very pretty dive. About the dive Usually I try and get into Pics for the first booking slot on Saturday morning. While the booking slots are spaced three hours apart to let the water settle out between divers, once a number of groups have been through on a [read more...]

Snell’s window in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  4 Responses »
Sep 122011
 
Snell's window in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the site I’ve previously talked about diving in Piccaninnie Ponds, and I’m about to again. Unlike other caves where I’ve had to work to find different angles on photos, the Ponds seem to be photogenic from every angle. The stunning blue, green and white colours, the clarity of the water, and the chance to contrast sunlight with the darkness inside the Cathedral create photographic opportunities everywhere you look. About the dive On this particular day, we’d booked permits to get in early in the morning for the best water clarity, and closer to midday for the best sunshine. The Chasm in the Ponds runs roughly North-South, so early and [read more...]

Bathtub in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  No Responses »
Aug 082011
 
Bathtub in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the dive The eagle eyed may have noted an extra diver in the background of the last Piccaninnie Ponds shot I talked about here. The little white speck in the distance is actually a diver heading into the usually-forbidden depths of the cave. The photo was taken on a weekend reserved for research into some of the more unusual aspects of this unique wetlands and cave site. In particular, the team was checking on salinity monitors that had been installed in the cave on a previous project weekend. Piccaninnie Ponds is just over the sand dunes from the ocean, and a reduction in ground water flows following the recent [read more...]

Cathedral in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  2 Responses »
Jun 062011
 
Cathedral in Piccaninnie Ponds

About the dive Piccaninnie Ponds is one of my favourite sites for cave photography. As well as the crystal clear water and very white rock, there’s the novel aspect of being able to get natural light in the shot. The main drawback is that, once inside the Cathedral, you don’t have very long to experiment before silt starts to drift down off the roof. Naturally, taking advantage of the opportunities is also dependent on the sun coming out to play. I previously talked about a photo taken in the Chasm of Pics, looking up through the scalloped limestone walls. Swimming forward from here divers move under a limestone ceiling, and [read more...]

The Chasm in Piccaninnie Ponds

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  1 Response »
May 092011
 
The Chasm in Piccaninnie Ponds

  About the dive Piccaninnie Ponds is a spectacular freshwater cave formation in South Australia, where spring water filtering up through the limestone has created beautiful formations up the walls. Normally the water is crystal clear on entry, with limitless visibility. After swimming across the First Pond and through the fringing reeds, divers descend into the canyon-like Chasm, where the Dogleg at 40m can be seen from the surface. At the far end the Chasm develops a roof to form the Cathedral. On this particular dive, I turned up at the Ponds with my parents to discover recent rainfall had led to muddy water running off the surrounding swamp and [read more...]