United States » Ebro Blue

Overview Location & Specifics Conditions Resources Nearby Systems  
Portions of the following information were taken from Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 66.

Washington Blue Spring Choctawhatchee (Ebro Blue) is surrounded by private land, 5.5 miles northwest of Ebro. The spring run enters the Choctawhatchee River from the east side. The spring is accessible by boat. From the intersection of I-10 and SR 79 travel south 17.5 miles to New Hope. At the intersection of SR 79 and CR 284 in New Hope, drive west (right) on CR 284 for 3.8 miles and turn south (left) onto CR 284A. Travel 3.6 miles ending at a boat ramp on Holmes Creek. From the boat landing head downriver approximately 3.5 miles to the confluence with the Choctawhatchee River. The spring is 0.9 miles upstream of the confluence.

Description - The Washington Blue Spring Choctawhatchee spring pool is nearly circular and measures 111 ft in diameter from north to south. The vent is near the center of the pool and discharges from a fissure beneath a limestone ledge. The ledge has prominent bedding planes, and the limestone is soft and chalky. The depth measured near the vent is 22 ft. The water is clear and bluish and there is a large boil on the pool surface. Aquatic plants occur within the spring pool. High ground borders the south side of the pool and rises steeply to approximately 20 ft above the water surface, forming a bluff face with limestone and clay cropping out. A mixed pine and hardwood forest covers the high ground. This region has changed considerably since the USGS topographic maps were updated. The spring run used to flow into lower Holmes Creek in the 1970’s. The Choctawhatchee River has since migrated eastward and captured Boynton Cutoff and lower Holmes Creek. Holmes Creek’s confluence with the Choctawhatchee River is presently farther upstream than the 1982 7 1/2 minute topographic maps depict. The wide spring run flows a total distance of 0.9 miles southwestward entering the Choctawhatchee River from the east approximately 1.8 miles downstream from the mouth of Holmes Creek. Deadhead logs, old docks and vessel remains from turn-of-the 19th century logging industry are abundant in and along spring run. Exotic aquatic vegetation is present in the spring run. Apple snails also are common. There may be additional springs along the spring run approximately 500 ft downstream where the run widens and there are deep circular pools along the run; however, there was no visible flow from these pools in August 2002. The authors also heard reports of a spring approximately 0.25 miles north of the spring run within Mill Lake. Flow from Mill Lake enters the spring run from the north 0.4 miles (downstream from Washington Blue Spring Choctawhatchee. The spring and its run are within the lowland floodplain of the Choctawhatchee River. This floodplain supports a mature cypress and tupelo forest.

Utilization - The spring is undeveloped and surrounded by private land. It is used locally for swimming.
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Latitude: 30.5134
Longitude: -85.84652
Zone:
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 Cave Diving
 Cavern Diving
 Open Water Diving
Washington Blue
Date Submitter Visbility Remarks
3/12/2016 Ryan Hoffman 30-40 Very nice dive today. The last two months or so every time I have dove Ebro there was river water in the basin. Today the basin was completely clear. River level at Caryville was 9.06 ft. The flow in the cave was normal but the vis was low only about 30-40 ft. We scootered to the blue water tunnel and made the jump and the vis never really improved. Over all great dive.
1/31/2016 Derek Villiard 30' River is way up. Visible boil, flow is lower than my last dive here but still very high! Vis is crystal clear at the vent but diminished shortly into the system. Travelled the blue water tunnel to 3300'.
11/24/2012 Ryan Hoffman 50 ft The basin was clear with a boil on the surface. Dove to about 700 ft back. It was clear the whole way.
9/2/2012 Ryan Hoffman 50' Dove the basin and about 100' into the cave. The basin was clear and the spring run was clear about half way to the river. Also dove Potters cavern, there was damage to the lines. The lines went down into the bottom of the cavern and then were broken off into a debris pile. There was a small restriction that I did not go through but the lines were either berried under a lot of sand or broken. Just be prepared to repair lines if you go there.
2/5/2012 David Dewberry 40' - 50' Basin clear with visible boil on surface. Very strong reg purging flow on entry, decreasing to moderate in the system. Percolation reduced vis to 30'ish on exit.
3/30/2011 David Dewberry 40' Spring run began to clear about 100' from the river. Water level in basin up with visibilty 15'; large boil on the surface. Flow exiting the vent very strong, decreasing to moderate inside the system.
11/22/2010 Andreas 30-50' The spring run was clear all the way out to the river. Incredibly strong flow, but still very silty walls and ceiling. Percolation from ceiling really bad.
5/8/2010 Mathew Bull 50' Waterlevels higher than I've ever seen, river water right up to the basin, but still a strong boil. Flow was noticably down due to the head pressure, but still very prevelant.
3/20/2010 Mathew Bull 50' Water level is way up, but the spring is still pumping hard, no noticable reduction in flow. Vis is great in the cave, basin is blown.
3/7/2009 Forrest Wilson 50' Current moderate, Viz good. River was up some.
1/24/2009 Mathew Bull 40-50' Flows really ripping, but cave is great. Basin's even clear.
12/28/2008 Mathew Bull 40-50' Water levels in the basin were high, but the water was clear. Strong boil with clear water and the cave was still clear, flows pumping hard.
12/14/2008 Mathew Bull 50' Basin is inundated with floodwater, but there's still an impressive boil. Lots of flow going into the cave and noticable flow throughout the dive. Visibility within the cave isn't suffering despite floodwaters in the surrounding areas and the flow is still strong and shows no sign of blowing out.
4/8/2008 Mathew Bull 60-80 Flows ripping, cave is outstanding
3/22/2008 Mathew Bull 40-50' easily Water levels are up enough to make transit through the run easy, but low enough to keep the run and basin clear. Flow is up, expect regs to purge and to go hand over hand on the rope to enter the system.
12/1/2007 Mathew Bull 50-60' River and run are flooded, basin is trashed, cave is great, flow is down.
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Description Type Date Author Remarks
Sslect Search Radius:
System Depth Cave Cavern OW Last Report Distance (mi)
 Overview Information Available for Cypress Spring  Cypress Spring 70 False True True 11/25/2023 13.9
 Overview Information Available for Morrison Springs  Morrison Springs 50 False True True 2/4/2023 10.5