Best Spring/ River Diving in Florida

The wife and I are heading down to the Keys in mid July. We want to try and get a spring or river dive in on our way down and when coming back north. In your Opinion, what is the best spring/ river dive in the state of Florida. Any advice is greatly appreciated. We wanted to do the manatee thing, but looks like we picked the wrong time of year. Thanks again.

Chad

Without a doubt, my vote would be for the Rainbow River. One of the most beautiful bodies of fresh water you will ever see. Crystal clear, lots of wildlife. You can do a nice drift dive down the river. There are a number of dive ops that will shuttle you up the river on the boat and pick you up at the end of the drift. This spring fed river is considered one of the cleanest bodies of fresh water in the world. There is even a scale model of it at the Smithsonian.

As far as springs go, there are many many options. It really depends on what kind of diving you want to do. If it is strictly OW, then some are better than others. Some are more intersting for cavern/cave divers. I like all the springs, so I can't recommend only one. Ginnie, Manatee, Peacock, and Troy Springs are all fun to dive. There is also Paradise Spring, Blue Grotto, Devils Den. That's just for starters

You pretty much nailed them all.....I like Paradise Spring a lot!

Ditto to what was said above. Rainbow River is just incredible.

you could also dive some wrecks or even the Middle Grounds...

Another vote for Rainbow River. As for springs, there's not a whole lot that doesn't involve going into the overhead. Alexander and Troy are both nice and have lots of OW.

Hi

Anyone got any recommendations for a dive shop for Rainbow River please?...I'll be in Kissimmee in August and may get time off to go for a dive and this sounds interesting.......I'd need to hire tanks,reg, BCD(maybe,if I haven't bought one yet) and would need a guide/DM/buddy

Thanks

Rob

Try Bird's Underwater.

I too will vote for Rainbow River. My wife and I did our OW check out dives there through American Pro Dive Center. Beautiful water and nice dive. I would do it again any day.

robandliza:

Hi

Anyone got any recommendations for a dive shop for Rainbow River please?...I'll be in Kissimmee in August and may get time off to go for a dive and this sounds interesting.......I'd need to hire tanks,reg, BCD(maybe,if I haven't bought one yet) and would need a guide/DM/buddy

Thanks

Rob

Click to expand...

I went out with American Pro Diving Center in Crystal River, FL on June 13th. Quinn Atkinson took us to King's Bay to snorkel with manatees. Within 15 minutes from the dock, we saw a 3 month old manatee and its mother. The young manatee came right up to us and stayed around for about 45 minutes. After the mantee encounter, Quinn took me to a cavern and we did a 50' for 40 minutes dive. I was the only scuba diver on the boat. Both the manatee snorkeling and the cavern dive were well worth the trip. Quinn created a DVD of the trip and it turned out great.

Later that afternoon, Quinn took us to Rainbow river. Me and another diver did a 53 minute drift dive and my wife (who doesn't dive) snorkeled along with us. This river is amazing. There are springs all along the river. Some bubble up through the sand and look like popcorn popping and one big spring is large enough to get into. This spring will knock your mask off if you are not careful. The water shoots out like a fire hose. I saw lots of bass from less than a pound to one who was more than 5 pounds. There were pan fish everywhere. The water is extremely clear. If I lived closer, I would do this dive over and over.

I enjoyed the full day and I'm glad I did both Rainbow River and the manatee trip. Here's one of my pictures from Rainbow River: