Me and a buddy are wanted to do some spring diving for 2 days soon. Other than Blue Grotto and Devils Den, what other options are there that offer on site cabins? We do not cave dive, cavern ok and we use Nitrox and will need refills. Thanks for any suggestions!
Spring dive suggestions
- Thread starter 2Bobbyo
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I'm unaware of others with on-site cabins; Ginnie Springs has camping. You could probably find a budget motel in the general area to use as 'base camp'. Once you get in the Williston/High Springs area, you're fairly close to several diveable springs.
Ginnie used to have a cabin, it was removed about a year or so ago. I watched them carry it down the road.
I’d suggest picking one of the springs with cabins and using it as a base of operations - most of the central springs are within an hour or two’s drive of Williston.
Cabins available: Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Vortex.
Camping available: Ginnie, Manatee, Ichetucknee (cavern cert required to dive),
On-site fills: Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie.
There are also some budget options for overnight accommodations - a number of folks on this board have diver rentals in High Springs, Dive Outpost offers cheap accommodations out by Peacock, Cave Adventurers has accommodations out by Jackson Blue, etc.
You also don’t need on-site fills; north central Florida is blessed with many dive shops that will cave fill nitrox (and hell trimix, if you had the certs).
For fills, stop by Extreme Exposure or Cave Country (High Springs ), Bird’s Underwater (Crystal River), Amigo’s (Ft White), Ocala Dive Center (Ocala), Big Guy Scuba (Peacock), etc…this list isn’t comprehensive, there are a lot more great shops out there too.
Amigo’s is worth a stop if you’ve never been there by the way; it’s a self-service fill station open 24/7. You can fill up your tanks anytime of day or night with air, 32%, etc.
In terms of springs, the flooding on the Suwannee has shut down a lot of dive sites; a few are reopening but vis is questionable/not the best. For open water/cavern, your best bets in the near future are the private springs (Ginnie, Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Paradise), Jug Hole at Ichetucknee (requires cavern cert), Manatee (Catfish & headspring), Rainbow River, and Buford (although I hear visibility yesterday with the storm rolling in was quite bad). The panhandle springs (Vortex, Morrison) should be okay.
There’s a map of the springs here.
Cabins available: Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Vortex.
Camping available: Ginnie, Manatee, Ichetucknee (cavern cert required to dive),
On-site fills: Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie.
There are also some budget options for overnight accommodations - a number of folks on this board have diver rentals in High Springs, Dive Outpost offers cheap accommodations out by Peacock, Cave Adventurers has accommodations out by Jackson Blue, etc.
You also don’t need on-site fills; north central Florida is blessed with many dive shops that will cave fill nitrox (and hell trimix, if you had the certs).
For fills, stop by Extreme Exposure or Cave Country (High Springs ), Bird’s Underwater (Crystal River), Amigo’s (Ft White), Ocala Dive Center (Ocala), Big Guy Scuba (Peacock), etc…this list isn’t comprehensive, there are a lot more great shops out there too.
Amigo’s is worth a stop if you’ve never been there by the way; it’s a self-service fill station open 24/7. You can fill up your tanks anytime of day or night with air, 32%, etc.
In terms of springs, the flooding on the Suwannee has shut down a lot of dive sites; a few are reopening but vis is questionable/not the best. For open water/cavern, your best bets in the near future are the private springs (Ginnie, Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Paradise), Jug Hole at Ichetucknee (requires cavern cert), Manatee (Catfish & headspring), Rainbow River, and Buford (although I hear visibility yesterday with the storm rolling in was quite bad). The panhandle springs (Vortex, Morrison) should be okay.
There’s a map of the springs here.
soduh
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Also if you are looking for a cabin, it won't be on-site but a lot of the state parks offer cabins with pretty nice set ups for a reasonable rate and there are quite a few in that area.
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