Ginnie Springs - Is it worth it?

Hi There,

Myself and my partner will both be visiting Florida from the Cayman's towards the end of January. We are both avid divers, and i have read a little about the cave and cavern diving at Ginnie Springs, and as such would not mind having a go. We are not cave / cavern certified, but i have heard there are one or two dives you can do at Ginnie without cavern or cave qualifications, to give you a kind of "taste" of the whole thing. I was wondering if anyone could tell me a little about these dives, and whether they think it is worth spending a day at Ginnie doing a couple of dives (i have always been curious about the whole cavern / cave thing.) I was also wondering what the average visibility is at Ginnie, and what kind of wetsuit we would need to dive there, and whether or not you can hire wetsuits from the shop based at the springs.

Many Thanks - Bob

If you are not cave certified, you can still go in what they call "the ballroom", which is a large cavern. Just inside there is a guide line to the rear of the cavern, probably a max of 100 feet to the rear of the cavern, 30' max depth. It gets dark 1/3 the way in so you will need a light. From the rear of the cavern you can still see the ambient light of the opening. Vis is usually about 40', and water temp is 72 year round, and they probably rent wetsuits. Check out their website www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com for more info.

There are a couple of alternatives in the immediate area, Blue Grotto, and Devil's Den. Devils's Den is a dome shaped area that can't even be termed a cavern, in which you walk down steps to a large platform and enter the water. It is a large limestone area with large limestone boulders under the water. Max depth is 60', if you are willing to swim between the limestone boulders. The vis is usually about 25', depending on how many divers are in the water and again water temps are 72'. Check out www.devilsden.com for more info.

Blue Grotto is a large open spring that angles down to 100'. You enter off a floating dock and descend into a large opening, following a line to the deepest depth, returning on another line to the surface. Vis varies as it can really get silted up, depending on how many divers are in the grotto. There are training platforms in the grotto for students and sometimes they really silt up the place. Vis varies from 80' to almost nothing. Water temp again is 72'. They have a large freshwater softshell turtle, named Virgil, that is diver friendly. He is really cool to play with, a neat creature. For more info check out www.floridacaves.com/bgrotto.htm

If you have more time shoot across to West Palm Beach or Boynton Beach for some great drift diving in the ocean. Hope I have helped.

Ranger,

Thanks for the info, so basically i take it as an uncertified cave/cavern diver if we go to Ginnie, the only cavern experiences we are going to get is in the Ginnie Spring itself? What do you think of the Devil Spring system, which according to the Ginnie website you can go into as an uncertified cave/cavern diver, but without torches. We would like to do this as a kind of new and different experience, but we are flying into Tampa, and i am assuming it would take a couple of hours to drive from Tampa to Ginnie, so it has really got to be worth the drive so to speak for the two dives.

Cheers - Bob

Ok, here is the deal, i have dove the Ballroom more times than i care to recall. Its a two dive max, you can see it all in minute detail in two, a quick tour in one dive. It maxes out at 55ft at the grate (where the flow comes from), there are bits around to the left as you go in that are almost cave like, but dont go off into a system. There is also the devils system, you cant take lights in if you arent cavern+ cert'd, but you can still poke around. All 3 on that run can combine to 1/2 a tank if you push it. Depending on viz in the river you might burn the other half drifting the river back to the ballroom run. You can do the whole place OW in two tanks. Personally i keep being intruiged by the area and keep going back. If you want to do some cavern training whilst you are there, Ginnie can arrange that for a fee over a weekend (2-3 days) and will include Ginnie and probably Peacock Springs as your checkout dives. I think you can spend a day doing it, and of course if you become cavern or cave cert'd, then there is more to see - i am just exploring that new part of the system with my intro to cave cert!

Those other options around Ocala are all 1-2 tank max dives to see everything. If you check out the www.floridacaves.com site, there are descriptions on all of those springs i believe. I would recommend Devils Den over Paradise Springs over Blue Grotto, only problem is that viz can be shot in any of them as they are no/low flow and people just love crashing into the bottom there and stirring it up!

Have fun wherever you end up. There are various groups coming in february, march and april for get togethers at Ginnie.

Coming up for Tampa, hit the Ocala group, its an hour closer and you have a little more to do!

BTW, i took the liberty of moving this thread to the Florida section where you may have more luck with getting answers.

I agree with Simon, and am glad he corrected the earlier note about the Ballroom depth. I'd advise avoiding the outpocket to the left side of the ballroom unless you're very comfortable with overhead environments, as I've had a diver become stuck there for a few moments, leading to a bit of anxiety.

I'm also intrigued by Ginnie - Clear water, interesting rock formations, relaxing, shallow diving. It's not a place to see lots of fish, manatees, etc., but can provide a very enjoyable day of diving.

Best wishes,
Grier

I enjoyed Ginnie the two days I was there, and I'm looking forward to getting back over there in Feb.

I would say its worth the trip.