Blue Grotto - The Good and The Bad

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

I dove Blue Grotto last winter when I was doing my "deep diver" speciality for my master diver cert. It was adequate for what was needed and the dive shop picked up the fees. With weather at that time of year so uncertain is was a good option, but I'm not compelled to dive it again.

 

[ltw123]

Well, unlike a lot of people, I like the Blue Grotto, at least for the purpose that I see for it.

If a person just wants to dive and doesn't care where, then there are a LOT of better/cheaper options.

If an OW diver wants to experience the cavern/cave environment in a "fairly safe" manner, then this is a great site for doing so. OW divers can take lights into the cavern and even though I don't necessarily recommend doing so, you can find yourself past the cavern zone looking for daylight.

The huge cavern area is a good place to practice buoyancy and other skills midwater, and the platforms make a great place to practice with a nearby reference point. You can also practice timing ascents/stops pretty easily.

And if you don't get bored easily, you can spend all day there and $40 isn't all that bad.

Also, unlike the other OW Cavern sites, this has a larger and more open cavern. The water is clearer at Ginnie, there's more to see at Paradise, Devil's Den is a cool geologic formation, but when it comes to the variety of things that you can do at each place, Blue Grotto wins.

Personally though, I don't have any reasons to go back for myself, but I would be more than happy to go again with anyone who wanted to experience it for the above reasons...but I'm easily entertained!

 

[Fox-Cousteau]

I like diving the Grotto because I can practice my cavern skills. It is also a good dive if you are into rocks and photography.

Speaking of which here is my video contribution from B. G.

 

[Keith & Sharon]

I dove Blue Grotto (BG) earlier this year and really enjoyed the dive. I even bought a shirt, which was back before the market crashed in Oct. Yes, those were the good old days... when I had $25 to sling around.

Anyway, BG was the first dive to make me want to pursue my Cavern Certification. I really enjoyed the dive. Yes, it is available to OW divers to 60ft and AOW to the bottom (97ffw at the time), but it just gave me a feeling I needed more training for the overhead environment and it didn't take much for someone to silt up the bottom. I knew it wasn't the last time I would find a cavern to dive in, so I figured the Cavern Cert. was a no brainer. Mission accomplished.

You don't know what you don't know, but your gut seems to understand.

Dive within your training.

Keith

 

[cyberfed]

I can't say I agree, I like Blue Grotto its a fun place to dive and I enjoy it. No one has ever been rude to me there. I was there this weekend and no one was there due to the cold front. It was great we had the entire grotto to ourselves, no silt...perfect.
Its probably my high paying salary talking but I could care less that its $40 to dive there.
I have dove there many times and will continue to do so. Along with every other place up in North FL.

 

[brucetrinity]

I went diving last friday with several others on the board but I will leave out their names since this is what I think and not necessarily what their opinions of the site are.

The Good:

• Crystal Clear Water
• Decent Size for a Cavern/Spring dive
• Lots of room for setup; each setup area has tables and tents
• Good depth, I hit 90ft.
• Cool Air Bell
• Platforms for equipment checks and skills drills before decending.

The bad:

• 2 hours from Orlando
• 40 dollars per person to dive a hole, are you freaking kidding me?
• 25 dollars for a Tshirt, now I know you are crazy.
• The staff (possibly owner) was sort of rude. Maybe just not a friendly person IDK.

Over all i was pleased with the site but not the price or the long drive for the overall value of the dive. For about the same amount of money and time we could have been in West Palm and been in Salt Water.

I will probably not be diving this site again for a very long time, if at all.

Pretty much my sentiments .... did it but don't have the T-shirt.

 

[342DIVER]

I'm going to be in Orlando next month on business, only have one day to dive, any suggestions on where to go, I have just over 200 dives, friend that will be with me just got his advanced, appreciate any suggestions? John

 

[cyberfed]

Devils Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie Springs and Hudson Grotto are all good places to dive.
DD is not deep (maybe 50-60 ft) BG is 100ft Ginnie is about 50 and Hudson is 130 ft give or take a few feet.
All of them will have water temps of about 72 degrees year round.

 

[ScubaJeff123]

I dove there and didn't really care much for it. I would rather dive Ginnie Springs. At Ginnie, you have a variety of dive situations (springs and river). I got bored pretty quick at Blue Grotto.

 

[Fox-Cousteau]

I'm going to be in Orlando next month on business, only have one day to dive . . . appreciate any suggestions? John

Devils Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie Springs and Hudson Grotto are all good places to dive.
DD is not deep (maybe 50-60 ft) BG is 100ft Ginnie is about 50 and Hudson is 130 ft give or take a few feet.
All of them will have water temps of about 72 degrees year round.

Devil's Den is most unique dive I've experienced. It is underground and Open water (kinda) I've heard some people call it underwater rock climbing. You'll need a good light
Blue Grotto--it's already described in this thread
Ginnie has a fun cavern that Open Water divers are allowed to enter and that is kinda cool.
I've never dove Hudson.