Ginnie is closer to Central FL than anything else, there are tons of springs near it(around Gainsville/HighSprings). Its not called cave country for nothing
There really isn't a whole lot of springs in SOUTH FL, but some there are a few sinkholes, ect... generally not too appealling to OW divers though.
About 10-15min South of Vortex is Morrison. Free admission. Natural setting, there is one submerged training platform. Beautiful cavern thats huge and pretty much OW friendly if you are comfortable in an overhead environment(has eels, rockbass, catfish, gnomes, and geese in it). It has a smaller cavern thats kinda coolish. When the water levels are low, the outskirts of the basin and spring run contain a ton of life(bream, bass, dogfish, flounder, mullet, gar, pike, turtles, ect). Its probably my single most favorite spring. There is running cold water(non potable), cold showers, bathrooms, changing rooms, ect. Bring your own gear or rent it from Vortex to take to Morrison. If you camp, camp at Vortex, and dive at Morrison
Morrison can get very very clear at times, but on average, atleast lately, vis has been... well... average(20-30-40' in the basin). The cavern is always gin clear though.
Cypress is on Holmes Creek, in Vernon FL. The land around it is private property now, so you have to get their by small boat or canoe. The spring pushes out an amazing amount of water so the spring is always gin clear. The cavern is small, but nice. The run is usually too shallow to dive, but the basin has alot to look at. Beautiful spring and always super clear.
Becton is on Holmes Creek too. You gotta reach it by boat as well. The spring is small, doesn't flow as much, so it gets flooded easily. It can be kinda interesting though... Its like 2 miles downstream of Cypress.
Merrits Mill Pond in Marianna, FL. Not awhole lot for OW divers to see from what I understand(haven't been there yet, but will in Sept), but you can look at the openings to several different caves from the pond. I'd imagine you can find alot of life around the outskirts of the pond and lots of fish. Supposed to be crystal clear. Jackson Blue supposedly has a nice big cavern to look at thats fairly forgiving if you don't get into the cave itself. Access by boat unless you have atleast Intro Cave Cert.
