Blue Grotto
Williston, Florida
Hours of operation- 7 days a week 8:00 to 17:00
Night dives- Yes, with appointment (18:00 to 21:00)
Rental gear- Yes (Full gear)
Entrance fee- yes ($40.00)
Max depth- 96 feet
Style- cavern and separate cave
I am new to diving and have recently been able to acquire my own set of gear. After doing much reading, both online, and refereeing to my favorite Christmas gift, Underwater Florida,I became attracted to the Blue Grotto. The site is basically a large hole located in someone’s backyard. The dive site is located in Williston Florida which is approximately twenty miles south of Gainesville. The location is a cavern, but is designated as being so safe that divers are only needed to have an open water certification. The location was recently purchased by new owners who have completed several renovations and opened the cave to certified cave divers.
01/17/2016 (Sunday)
We set out on the road heading northbound on Highway 27 out of Polk County. The route to the location was very easy as we stayed on this highway until reaching the turnpike. After approximately one hour we exited back onto Highway 27 and drove towards Williston. Shortly after reaching Williston, we arrived at the Blue Grotto diving facility, two and a half hours after hitting the road. The facility is located down a small, dirt road. The road passes by houses and in no way appears to be the entrance to one of Florida’s premier spring dives. Upon first sight of the grounds at Blue Grotto, I was impressed. The building appeared to be relatively new and in good working order. There were several covered pavilions which you could park at to assemble gear and enjoy lunch. The sight also has grilles spaced throughout the grounds near the pavilions.
I was shocked at the amount of people at the location to dive this day. I expected that the 53 degree weather would keep back the crowds, but I was wrong. The location had several people but everyone was already diving as we got a late start on our adventure. We entered the office and was greeted by a female employee. Right from the start I noticed that for paying forty dollars for an entrance fee, you don’t get much customer service. The tenant asked what we were in need of. The first hurdle to jump was the fact that there were three of us and we wanted to get in two dives. We requested to rent six scuba tanks from the world class dive rental shop, as advertised. The employee laughed at us and said we are out and have zero tanks left. After persuading her to at least look for some, three tanks were suddenly found. Next we had to rent one 5mm wet suit. The barn had numerous, top dollar, brand new condition suits. The problem was, those weren’t allowed to be rented. Instead we were given a wetsuit that had holes in the armpits, down the zipper, and in the shoulders. When asked if we could rent the new suits, we were told that they were not theirs and were left by unknown people at an unknown time….And then the employee left. Our third problem was weight. One person in the group had to rent weight for his gear. They provided us with one, six pound weight and stated “It’s all we got”.
After driving two and a half hours and paying a combined $195.00 we realized that we had better make the best of what was offered to us. We took the gear and were able to squeeze into a pavilion thanks to some fine folks who let us share a table. I began to assemble my gear and pressurized the system. I could hear the air free flowing from a bad seal. Upon further inspection I observed that the seal was fine but the opening on the tanks valve was dinged, causing the air to free flow from the open space. Luckily the staff was able to dig up another scuba cylinder which was holding 3,200 PSI. We geared up and walked down to the wooden platform which provided easy entry into the 72 degree water.
I chose to ease into the water using the steps instead of a giant stride entry. Once everyone was in and gave the “ok” signal, we dropped down. The site opens up into a large room and I immediately observed submerged docks. The first dock was conveniently submerged at a depth of fifteen feet. The visibility was approximately one eighty feet. This may be attributed to the complete cloud coverage as they advertise a constant two hundred foot visibility. There is a guide rope which will guide you towards the bottom of the site. There are a few fresh water fish which tend to congregate around the docks. The sandy bottom is littered here and there with neat looking rocks. Peace rock is located approximately sixty feet under water. In this area is a submerged dolphin statue to photograph. We located the second rope which specifically guides you to the bottom of the site which was ninety six feet deep according to my Zoop computer. The lower portion is much narrower than I anticipated and can only be seen by using a flash light.
We spent five minutes at the deepest portion of the site. We slowly ascended back up to the main portion of the site. At this time I observed the best part about Blue Grotto, The view looking from the bottom up. You can really get a feel of how deep into the Earth’s surface you really are. We explored the famous air bell which was a unique experience in itself. We completed the dive by swimming along the walls of the main room, and checking under the docks for catfish. We rose to fifteen feet and did an easy safety stop by resting on the large platform. While counting down our three minutes, Virgil, the local turtle came by to visit. Virgil stayed with us the remainder of the stop and came to investigate what we were doing. According to the website, you can purchase food to feed Virgil, although we forgot to purchase any. At the end of the day we were only able to complete one dive, which lasted forty five minutes. The third member of our party was unable to dive due to only having six pounds of weight. He was still able to enjoy the view from the surface, and wait for our return on the floating platform.
After eating lunch we returned to the office where a discount was given to the diver who was unable to experience the site. Blue Grotto was a good place to see and a nice site to check off the list. However, after diving the site once I will not be returning in the future. The location was a very safe dive for the books and a fantastic location to test near gear, or get familiar with skills. There are numerous people diving at this location who are obtaining their open water certification. I would recommend diving this location if it is within reasonable driving distance from your location. Don’t forget your turtle food for Virgil.
Williston, Florida
Hours of operation- 7 days a week 8:00 to 17:00
Night dives- Yes, with appointment (18:00 to 21:00)
Rental gear- Yes (Full gear)
Entrance fee- yes ($40.00)
Max depth- 96 feet
Style- cavern and separate cave
I am new to diving and have recently been able to acquire my own set of gear. After doing much reading, both online, and refereeing to my favorite Christmas gift, Underwater Florida,I became attracted to the Blue Grotto. The site is basically a large hole located in someone’s backyard. The dive site is located in Williston Florida which is approximately twenty miles south of Gainesville. The location is a cavern, but is designated as being so safe that divers are only needed to have an open water certification. The location was recently purchased by new owners who have completed several renovations and opened the cave to certified cave divers.
01/17/2016 (Sunday)
We set out on the road heading northbound on Highway 27 out of Polk County. The route to the location was very easy as we stayed on this highway until reaching the turnpike. After approximately one hour we exited back onto Highway 27 and drove towards Williston. Shortly after reaching Williston, we arrived at the Blue Grotto diving facility, two and a half hours after hitting the road. The facility is located down a small, dirt road. The road passes by houses and in no way appears to be the entrance to one of Florida’s premier spring dives. Upon first sight of the grounds at Blue Grotto, I was impressed. The building appeared to be relatively new and in good working order. There were several covered pavilions which you could park at to assemble gear and enjoy lunch. The sight also has grilles spaced throughout the grounds near the pavilions.
I was shocked at the amount of people at the location to dive this day. I expected that the 53 degree weather would keep back the crowds, but I was wrong. The location had several people but everyone was already diving as we got a late start on our adventure. We entered the office and was greeted by a female employee. Right from the start I noticed that for paying forty dollars for an entrance fee, you don’t get much customer service. The tenant asked what we were in need of. The first hurdle to jump was the fact that there were three of us and we wanted to get in two dives. We requested to rent six scuba tanks from the world class dive rental shop, as advertised. The employee laughed at us and said we are out and have zero tanks left. After persuading her to at least look for some, three tanks were suddenly found. Next we had to rent one 5mm wet suit. The barn had numerous, top dollar, brand new condition suits. The problem was, those weren’t allowed to be rented. Instead we were given a wetsuit that had holes in the armpits, down the zipper, and in the shoulders. When asked if we could rent the new suits, we were told that they were not theirs and were left by unknown people at an unknown time….And then the employee left. Our third problem was weight. One person in the group had to rent weight for his gear. They provided us with one, six pound weight and stated “It’s all we got”.
After driving two and a half hours and paying a combined $195.00 we realized that we had better make the best of what was offered to us. We took the gear and were able to squeeze into a pavilion thanks to some fine folks who let us share a table. I began to assemble my gear and pressurized the system. I could hear the air free flowing from a bad seal. Upon further inspection I observed that the seal was fine but the opening on the tanks valve was dinged, causing the air to free flow from the open space. Luckily the staff was able to dig up another scuba cylinder which was holding 3,200 PSI. We geared up and walked down to the wooden platform which provided easy entry into the 72 degree water.
I chose to ease into the water using the steps instead of a giant stride entry. Once everyone was in and gave the “ok” signal, we dropped down. The site opens up into a large room and I immediately observed submerged docks. The first dock was conveniently submerged at a depth of fifteen feet. The visibility was approximately one eighty feet. This may be attributed to the complete cloud coverage as they advertise a constant two hundred foot visibility. There is a guide rope which will guide you towards the bottom of the site. There are a few fresh water fish which tend to congregate around the docks. The sandy bottom is littered here and there with neat looking rocks. Peace rock is located approximately sixty feet under water. In this area is a submerged dolphin statue to photograph. We located the second rope which specifically guides you to the bottom of the site which was ninety six feet deep according to my Zoop computer. The lower portion is much narrower than I anticipated and can only be seen by using a flash light.
We spent five minutes at the deepest portion of the site. We slowly ascended back up to the main portion of the site. At this time I observed the best part about Blue Grotto, The view looking from the bottom up. You can really get a feel of how deep into the Earth’s surface you really are. We explored the famous air bell which was a unique experience in itself. We completed the dive by swimming along the walls of the main room, and checking under the docks for catfish. We rose to fifteen feet and did an easy safety stop by resting on the large platform. While counting down our three minutes, Virgil, the local turtle came by to visit. Virgil stayed with us the remainder of the stop and came to investigate what we were doing. According to the website, you can purchase food to feed Virgil, although we forgot to purchase any. At the end of the day we were only able to complete one dive, which lasted forty five minutes. The third member of our party was unable to dive due to only having six pounds of weight. He was still able to enjoy the view from the surface, and wait for our return on the floating platform.
After eating lunch we returned to the office where a discount was given to the diver who was unable to experience the site. Blue Grotto was a good place to see and a nice site to check off the list. However, after diving the site once I will not be returning in the future. The location was a very safe dive for the books and a fantastic location to test near gear, or get familiar with skills. There are numerous people diving at this location who are obtaining their open water certification. I would recommend diving this location if it is within reasonable driving distance from your location. Don’t forget your turtle food for Virgil.
