Central Florida Advice

[Paul Lenharr]

Hello all,

I will be visiting Titusville in a few weeks. My wife and are going to attempt to find a spring / cave somewhat close to titusville. The closest I could find online was Alexander Spring.

I am NACD cavern certified, and if I can find a buddy, I will attempt the cavern. My wife is only AOW and will stay out of the cave / cavern completely.

1. Does Alexander allow OW divers?

2. Do they have rentals?

3. Does anyone know of a closer spring to dive?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Hippocampus]

Hello there,

I live in Titusville and the closest real cavern would be Blue Spring State Park.

Alexander Spring has one very small tunnel like 'cavern' at the bottom, but it is so small that only one can pass through at a time, so, technically you are not 'allowed' to go in there anyway with your NACD cavern.

Blue Spring however is a lot nicer if you want a 'real' cavern like experience, the limestone opening is about 30-50 feet wide, kind of elliptical and goes down to about 120ft. There is a sign at about 60 feet and after that it gets pretty dark, no lights allowed there unless cave certified.

If you want to go, I'm always up for a dive there.

Alexander does not have any scuba related rentals, but it's still a very enjoyable dive, just been there on saturday.

 

[Paul Lenharr]

Thanks for the quick reply!

Do you know if they allow AOW divers to dive? Some springs won't allow non-cave / cavern divers to dive at all. I think we can try both places.

 

[Hippocampus]

Both Alexander Spring and Blue Spring are open to even the most basic open water divers, plenty of classes are run there each week.

If you want to rent in Titusville, I recommend Adventure Scuba and Travel on US 1.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Both sites allow OW divers. At Blue Springs(OC), the OW diver won't be allowed to bring lights.

 

[Paul Lenharr]

Funny you should mention Adventure Scuba. We will be doing some boat diving with them a couple days during our stay. I will be bringing 3 tanks down with me. One of them will be one time use as I understand that nobody in Florida will fill it (pre 94 luxfor?). I hope to be good with tanks, and everything else, we own.

 

[Paul Lenharr]

What is the process to dive in Blue Springs? I know it's a state park.... Any fees?

 

[Stu S.]

All divers welcomed. Blue Springs requires a buddy, and you dive to the limits of the lesser qualified buddy. I believe Alexander is a solo dive, if you like. Neither have rentals or air. Alexander is simple, 27 feet deep, and gin-clear. We go there sometimes just to relax. Blue Springs is best done with somebody who has been there before. It is not dangerous, but there are a few things that are good to know. OW divers at Blue Springs have to stop at the 60 foot sign, and a cavern diver can't proceed deeper without a cavern buddy.

Blue Springs will charge $10, Alexander $5. Water temp is 72 year around, so you can prepare for the temperature. The typical "cutoff" date on aluminum tank fills is 1990 around here. There may be exceptions.

Have fun,

Stu.

 

[Paul Lenharr]

Awesome! thanks for the info! I took my tank to Ginnie for my cavern training and they would not fill it, so it must be pre 1991.... Anyway, I plan on visiting both Alexander and Blue Springs. Thanks for the great advice guys and gals! Hopefully, my wife wont freak out at the springs......

 

[sskasser]

I'm pretty near to both springs and would be glad to come dive with you if our schedules mesh. Let me know. If you're concerned about your wife freaking out, it may be good to go with someone who's been there before...and work out any issues up front. Panic is no fun, for either party.