Devil's Den vs. Blue Grotto

[SanDiegoSidemount]

If you were limited on time, and could only dive one of these, which would it be? They both get good reviews from TripAdvisor.

As I understand it, both are privately owned, have an admission fee, but also offer a bit of resort-style amenities?

 

[SavageRon]

I actually have the same decision to make (Moving away from Florida soon) so will be watching this thread with particular interest, but I am leaning very much towards Devil's Den based on a few conversations here and there, but mostly from watching a few dives at each on youtube.

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

Seems to me like Devil's Den has more interesting features to explore? Maybe a little more down-home vibe than Blue Grotto? Also, interesting sights at 40 feet or less would be better for my son, who's a junior diver with a 40' depth limit.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

I dove both on the same day. The Blue Grotto was very crowded the day I went. Someone counted heads in the water and there were 65 divers in the water at once. My preference would be Devils Den.

 

[iluvtheocean]

I would go with Devil's Den --- but personally i plan on trying both ... neither require cave/cavern but.... it is an enclosed environment

now i did see that Devil's lists what EQ they don't permit - -couldn't find anything on blue grotto's site -
The water Temperature is 72 degrees year round.
Open water certification is REQUIRED for scuba diving.
Must show certification card with photo I.D.
Cave/Cavern Certification is not required.
Must have a dive buddy, NO EXCEPTIONS.

Doubles, reels, re-breathers, knives, or cave entry is
NOT ALLOWED.

Nitrox not avail at Devil's Den -- actually says to go to Blue Grotto to get nitrox.

$24 for an RV site for 4? not bad at all... anybody got an idea how long of a drive it is to them from Ft Lauderdale area? might be able to make a weekend of it soon -- depending on who else might want to join me.

 

[acteg]

I've done both in the same day on multiple occasions. (Friends/family in town that want to check it out).

Personally, I find them both a little underwhelming, but it is still diving. If I had to pick only one though, I would do devils den.

 

[kelemvor]

devil's den

 

[Instructor_Tom]

Blue grotto - you can't get very deep in devils den, it can get very crowed with just a few people and you can dive the whole site in about 15min.

At least at blue grotto you have both the upper open water section and the lower cavern zone along with interesting decent and ascent paths.

When I DM for the shop we will do day 1 at the den because they have a pool and all the day 2 dives at blue grotto followed by a deep dive at the end to suck down the tanks.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[SanDiegoSidemount]

I've done both in the same day on multiple occasions. (Friends/family in town that want to check it out).

Personally, I find them both a little underwhelming, but it is still diving. If I had to pick only one though, I would do devils den.

Why underwhelming? Are there better spots, or are you just not a fan of caverns/caves?

 

[sportxlh]

Devil's Den! But the Blue Grotto is worth diving once as well. Devil's Den has a bunch of swim throughs and more interesting underwater topography. But Blue Grotto is also a fun dive. I think they are only 20 minutes apart so you might be able to hit both on one day. Both sites have really good vis unless a bunch of students are being trained and then they can get silted up a bit.