Kayak diving around Tampa

[Katch]

Are there any good places to kayak dive around the Tampa area +/- 50 or so miles?

I'm driving down later this week for the holidays and planning to bring my Sevylor. Aside from the shark tooth diving in Venice (I'll start a new thread for that), I'm looking for cool places to check out. I'm even considering bringing my underwater metal detector.

Thanks all...
Steve

 

[geogator]

Try going up to Rainbow River in Dunnellon, about an hour & 45 min north of Tampa. You can launch at KP Hole Park and paddle upstream to the edge of the State Park property (big sign in the river marking it), hop in and drift back with boat in tow. (Make sure to bring a flag to put on the kayak.) It's free to launch at the boat ramp at KP Hole and you can park your car across the street. If you park in the main parking lot you'll need to pay the daily entrance fee but it's cheap. Search the threads for Rainbow River and KP Hole and you'll find lots more info.

BTW, my avatar pic was taken at the head spring at the State Park to give you an idea of the water clarity.

 

[danvolker]

You might try the point of rocks at Crescent Beach on Siesta key....but most of the diving off Tampa is 20 miles out, AND not very good be standards of Palm Beach/Lauderdale/Keys or other actual "dive destinations"...
I was diving when i was going to USF , and tried many of the sites, but they were always a let down. A 3 or 4 hour drive across the state, is a much better plan than you are going to find off of Tampa

 

[jfoster33702]

Old thread but I'll put in my .02. I live near Tampa and have been diving a bunch. It takes a long time to get out to deeper water here so Kayak "diving" isn't really a thing. Like Danvolker said, the vis is usually not anywhere near what it is on the East coast...BUT I'll say this.... hogfish and grouper are plentiful and maybe a little dumber over here I never get as many fish when I go to places like the KEYS, compared to the Gulf. There are just a ton of fish here.