Tampa visit

[Turtledr]

Hey everyone. I am going to be visiting my girlfriend who lives in Tampa next week. I am trying to find a close, relatively shallow, but ok to good dive for us to do. She has not dove much and has some anxiety issues that we are trying to work on but do to the short length of my trip don't have time to go out for a day on a boat dive. Is there any placed off of St. Pete or clearwater (beach dives) that are ok with some vis...? or are there any springs that are with in a hour to hour and a half from Tampa??? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks and happy diving to all.

 

[I Dive]

Blue Grotto and Devil's Den are right around an hour and a half from Tampa but I'm not sure I would recommend them to a new diver trying to work through anxiety issues. The water is unbelievably clear but both of them have overhead environments on the bottom. You don't need to go in them, but just the sight of them may bother her. Hudson Grotto would be another good one, but the water is a bit tanic so I don't know how she would feel about that. And, it gets really dark below maybe 40 feet or so. I can't think of any saltwater shore dives to recommend. The best I can think of is take a day and head to Weeki Wachee. It's a great one-time dive, the water is as clear as tap water, it bottoms out at 35 feet, and you can't go in there w/o a DM or Instructor from a certified shop. So, it seems to me all of the elements for the most stress free dive possible for your girlfriend would be present. Heck, she may want to take a SCUBA refresher course while she is there for added confidence. And, there are some other things you can do at the park or even up in that area so it's not like you have to make that long drive just for the dive.

 

[eandiver]

Lake Denton south east of Tampa near Avon Park is a good choice.

 

[Turtledr]

Thank you I will look into those ideas...

 

[I Dive]

I never heard of or dove the place EAN suggested, but if he suggested it, it must be worthwhile!

 

[giles45shop]

It's a pretty popular training spot for OW divers. Clear water, white sand in the well traveled areas, a few small sunken boats and depths to ~ 40' depending on water level. Also lots of fish. Bring bologna or hots dogs for some feeding frenzy fun.

 

[Turtledr]

So I went onto the website for the camp at Lake Denton and it seems that there is a big event for Oct 4th. Do you think that it would still be an ok day to dive there??? Does it get pretty crowded with an event like that?

 

[K Mejean]

I don't know about the event but if you contact the camp prior to you should be able to book you a spot.

 

[Scuba Crab]

Alexander Springs near Ocala is very nice easy dive for a beginers and it is only a few dollars to dive

Alexander Springs