Alexander Springs Dive Report

[Below H2O]

In the past, I haven't seen a whole lot about Alexander Springs so I thought I would give my impression of it. I did a lot of reading about this spring prior to going out there today and am glad I did. We ended up out there about 11:30am and was greeted by a very nice lady at the gate. Nothing like the crotchety old hag at Blue Springs that we encountered last week. She took our C-cards and told us how to get down to the spring seeing as we had never been there before. The fee was $5/person.

We scouted out the area and was a little disappointed in what we saw. There were some snorkelers out there and heard them talking about turtles and fish. From the shore, it looked too shallow to dive. The snorkelers were pulling themselves along by the bottom. We decided that as long as we were there, we would gear up and give it a try.

Once in the water, our impression of the spring changed 180 degrees. I have read in other threads that it was easy to silt the place up so we were careful not to. It was also enjoyable because we had the spring all to ourselves. It was just the two of us in the water. It was definitely worth our trip out there. The depth of the water was deceiving from the shore. We bottomed out at 25 feet. There was an abundance of fish to see as well.

I caught a glimpse of a turtle swimming away as we entered the water and remembered the general direction that he was heading. Fifteen minutes later after checking out the hole, I headed in that general direction. As I was coming up over the weeds, I saw what looked like four feet and a tail. Sure enough, it was a gator about 40 feet in front of me cruising along the shoreline. It was way cool. I never did see the turtle though. Kept an eye on the gator until he disappeared into some thick weeds. Every now and then I would see his tail, but it wasn't moving.

We explored the rest of the spring including the lily pads and other nooks and crannies. The bluegill followed us around the whole time. It seemed like every time I turned around there would be a dozen of them in my face.

Overall, this was an awesome day. The gator made the "wow" factor increase tenfold. In my limited experience, I would recommend this dive over Blue Springs any day. There is so much more to look at. Anyway, I just wanted to give Alexander Springs my stamp of approval. I think I found a new favorite cheap springs dive

-Mark

 

[dvrgaryc]

Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Alexander Springs is real nice when you have the place to yourself as you did. Add a few dozen open water students doing their certification dives and you have a whole new beast. The first time I dove there I was leading a group out of an Orlando store doing their first two dives. When we got there, we were the only ones diving. It was the middle of summer and the walk from the parking lot to the water made you look forward to the 72 degree water. We would lead our groups to the other side of the hole and perform initial skills in the shallow water. We would then lead them on a tour around the spring to perfect their buoyancy control. Needless to say, there was really no buoyancy involved and half a dozen students kicking around the sand slopes reduced visibility to near zero. That's not the worst of it. When you swim through the sand cloud, the sand gets EVERYWHERE! I didn't really notice it until the long ride back to Orlando. I must have brushed about a pound of sand out of my hair. I've since developed a way to get rid of the sand once you finish diving there. Go off to the side of the spring and get out of the sand cloud, kneel on the bottom, remove your mask, then blow bubbles out your nose and shake the sand out. Doing this gets rid of ALL the sand.
If you're interested in another cheap dive, check out Manatee Springs in Chiefland. It's also $5.00 to get in, but they only allow 30 divers at a time in the water. If you get there and they have already reached the 30 diver limit, you can get in but you cannot dive until someone checks out. Anyway, get there early and have a great time diving.

 

[fgray1]

Boring and a long walk
But if it was the only place to dive I'd go. It's deeper than my pool
Oh ya I forgot the sand in every crack and crevis on your body for days and days and days.
Fred

 

[FLArmyBrat]

Not near as long a walk geared up as Blue Spring!!!

I like both springs. I have to agree though...the sand is hard to get rid of. Oh well...a small price to pay to say wet!

Laurel- The Frog Queen
:royal:

 

[dive4funOften]

The 4 + hour drive to ge to TRoy Springs@! YUK!!!! I thought I was going to get to dive a wreck of an old steamship! The remains are there but in about 6 inches of water. WE got dropped off in 32 degree wether and the boat operator must have forgot that we said no more than 2 hours! He left us there for 4 hours and we were FREEZING!!!!

Anyway someone may have liked it!

 

[OneBrightGator]

fyi... Troy Springs is a state park now, $5 to get in, standard state park stuff but a long zig-zag walk to the water, but very well built, if you haven't been in a while it's worth a trip back.

Ben

P.S. Alexander is a great dive for $5

 

[dive4funOften]

I did not realize that it was now a park. Last time I went we had to drag our gear over a BIG hill and back up again. It was not real fun at all. I thought I had stepped into a scene from Deliverance or something!

Sounds much better now! May try it again for $5!

 

[ew1usnr]

Alexander is nice. I play the part of a wimp and bring a hand cart and roll my gear down to the water. I don't want to carry that stuff across the parking lot and all the way down the board walk. If there is a dive class in ther it is best to wait untill about a half hour after they get out. It takes about that long for all the stirred up sand to settle.

 

[FLArmyBrat]

It not whimpy at all! Gotta love the picnic tables and benches they put in close to the water. Makes for a less strenuous gear up/down time. We carry our suits and BCs in large gear bags and the "incidentals" (wieghts, lights, fins etc) in a big Rubbermaid box on wheels. Easy to do at Alexander. Especially if the rugrats are with us and can carry stuff too!! LOL

Laurel- The Frog Queen
:royal:

 

[UCFDiver85]

I thought gators didn't hang out in spinrgs? Too cold? Hmm...I will now be looking over my shoulder the next time I'm in a spring...I'll take sharks any day over a gator.