Caves & Family

[scowens]

Just courious, has anyone brought a non-diving family to NFL? Seems the best option is to do the river/tube thing at Ginnie. Not that that is bad, looks pretty good, especially after a dive and getting a tube for the cooler..... Is there anything else?

Know this isn't technical, but this will allow me to get more experience to ask better questions...

Thanks
Steve

 

[MikeFerrara]

Just courious, has anyone brought a non-diving family to NFL? Seems the best option is to do the river/tube thing at Ginnie. Not that that is bad, looks pretty good, especially after a dive and getting a tube for the cooler..... Is there anything else?

Know this isn't technical, but this will allow me to get more experience to ask better questions...

Thanks
Steve

My daughter comes with us and she doesn't dive and the last time we were down my son couldn't dive because of a broken hand.

We usually camp at Jim Hollis place and we do some canoeing and artifact hunting on the river between dives.

I haven't really looked for anything else. I'll bet the fishing is pretty good if you're interested in that.

That far south there has to be some great bass ponds and I see people small mouth fishing the river all the time.

One of these times I'll spring for an out-of-state license and give it a try.

 

[Robinhood]

Just courious, has anyone brought a non-diving family to NFL? Seems the best option is to do the river/tube thing at Ginnie. Not that that is bad, looks pretty good, especially after a dive and getting a tube for the cooler..... Is there anything else?

Know this isn't technical, but this will allow me to get more experience to ask better questions...

Thanks
Steve

When I try to get the family involved with my diving, we stay at Jim Hollis' as well. Its great for younger kids (has playground, trampoline, convict spring set up as a swimming pool) and has some great campsites right on the Suwannee. Hollis' place also has a rifle range should you be interested in doing some target practice.
Other than tubing at Ginnie, you can rent tubes and go down the Ichetucknee River (www.ichetucknee.org)..real nice time.

 

[JDostal]

Luckily, everyone I go on vacation with dives Never had to worry about it!

 

[simbrooks]

I thought this was going to be a "do you consider your family and their loss when you go cave diving" kind of thread.

Ginnie has stuff to do for the family, it takes the best part of two hours to do the full drift on a tube and then drag it back up to the start again. They can free dive some areas and i took my kayak the other time for a non-diving day (when i knew my buddies from the FL section BBQ trip would be going home too early in the day). Other places have other things to do, there should be enough to really keep them entertained during your diving.

Again i dont have the problem so far, only those who arent willing to get in the water for as much time as they can per day!

 

[scowens]

Sounds like Jim Hollis's place and/or tubing.

Thanks for the helpful replies!!! If there are more places that you can think of, please reply!

Thanks
Steve

 

[crawford]

Sounds like Jim Hollis's place and/or tubing.

Thanks for the helpful replies!!! If there are more places that you can think of, please reply!

Thanks
Steve

I'm looking at the same thing, except my son is OW and will want to do that, and I'll want to work in some Intro level cave dives.

Manatee has camping and swimming area, and am also looking at Fanning Springs, which seems to have a nice swimming area for the smaller kids.

Any experience with the above....anyone....

 

[The Chairman]

Just a note...

artifact hunting

for any native American artifacts is illegal in Florida. They can take it pretty seriously too. Finding the odd arrowhead is one thing... digging into a shell mound is quite another. You can probably take all of the settler artifacts you want (but I am not sure), but not those of indigenous peoples. Take only pictures, leave only footprints.

 

[adder70]

Itchetucknee is very good, a day of entertainment, and you don't have to lug the tube all over creation, as you can drop the tubes, drive to the bottom, and get a bus ride back to the top of the run.

Don't forget, you're only about an hour and a half from nice beaches. Crescent beach is a nice somewhat out of the way white sand beach (not much surfing in Fl, no waves), and St. Augustine is pretty neat for seeing the Spanish presence in historical Florida. The many alligator farms (one or two in St. Augustine) give you a chance to see the local wildlife in a closed environment, and yes, most have a resident "idiot" who will put his whole arm (or head if really an idiot) in between the jaws of a gator, and afterwards tap the mouth to get a nice snap shut, accompanied by a sound similar to homerun baseball hit.

BTW, Crescent has a small entry fee to drive on the beach from Memorial Day to Labor day. At other times, it's free, but the beach is not kept up as well, and you can get stuck if not careful. Be sure to keep your drive wheels nearest to the water/driving area when parking.