Matachuck 7 Continuing to Exit with Reduced Visibility

Matachuck Spring. 10/19/24. AKA Maddachalk, Matachalk, Peacock Springs (Calhoun) and others. This is a fairly shallow (less than 40ft max depth a mid to low river levels) cave on the Chipola River. It is located on the western bank of the Chipola River South West of Altha Florida. 274 Crosses the Chipola River. WIllis Bridge Park is located at the Bridge. The Cave is appoximately 300 to 400 yds up stream on the Western Side of the River.
Info can be found here:
www.caveatlas.c...
and it is named Peacock Springs (Calhoun) here:
floridasprings...
I typically dive this cave when the water level is fairly low (6 ft or less at the US90 Chipola River gauge) which tends to make finding it easier. I gear up under Willis Bridge and use a DPV to take me upstream.
I have dove this location 6 times or so over the past 14-15 years and I have never had less than 60 ft visibility, usually 80 plus. This was the first time I dove this cave with a DPV or a rebreather. The cave seems to always have moderate to heavy flow (likely less with higher water levels). Johnny Boy Landing is a boat launch North (upstream) of the Spring.
I have usually seen many large catfish in the cavern. It has been a decade since I had dove this location and I only saw 2 large catfish this day.
KISS Sidewinder. mCCR rebreather. Cave Diving. Technical Diving. Seacraft DPVs. Seacraft Ghost. Seacraft Future.
As always, videos are unedited. They are named for the cave/dive-site followed by a number indicating the order in which they were filmed and a brief description. Videos are also listed under playlist which are organized by dive site.