Diving with the Devil in Devil's Den

[pollywogg]

I wasn't sure where to post this thread, but this spot looked better than any. We just finished up a weekend of diving in the Devil's Den in Williston, Fl. It's a sinkhole in the middle of the state, connected to springs(read that as cold, clear, fresh water). It was my first dive in fresh water, much less a sinkhole. It was awesome. There were multiple cave entrances for the cave diver, but since my girlfriend and I are OW, we just looked at those with curiosity and moved on. There were a few swimthroughs, but they were very tame, so I had no problem navigating. The water was crystal clear and the vis was limitless. There were catfish as big as my leg swimming around. The rock formations were very impressive.
The accomodations were cool. Just avoid the trailer!!!We stayed there 2 nights, they only had a cabin available on Saturday, so we had to book the trailer for Friday night. I will leave it at this:Just avoid the trailer!!! The cabin was nice. It sleeps four, but don't expect privacy, it's basically a room and a loft. Really nice and cozy, and more than sufficient for two people. The grounds were pretty cool, too.
We are already planning a trip back there soon. We want to hit a couple more areas. We heard Blue Grotto and King Springs are a must, so we might hit those too.
The water temp is a year-round 71 degrees, I believe. The only thing I can say is that I wish I had more insulation. I had a 3-mil full suit, a 2-mil hooded vest, AND a 6 mil hood, and I was cold. I ordered a 5 mil for the trip, but that's another story.
Here are some pics that my girlfriend took topside on her digital. I am going to get my pics developed, I'll post those soon

 

[cyberfed]

Nice report thank you for that! I was there on Sunday and you are right visibility was great, better than usual. I have dived DD many times and Sunday was probably the most fun I've had there (maybe cause I was diving my dry suit and wasn't freezing!).

I'm glad you had a great time, DD by far has the coolest entrance to any spring I've been to. Check out Blue Grotto its great and right next door to DD. Its deep (95 ft) to the bottom but very very large.

I do want to warn you about King's Spring (in Crystal River) its not that great at all. Visibility is usually very poor and the cavern itself is tiny. You can cover the whole cavern in about 2 minutes. Not worth making a special dive to it. If you are in the area and seeing the manatee's sure its good for a quick dip, I would not however plan a trip for Kings Spring itself. Just my 2 cents..

If you enjoyed DD you should check out Paradise Springs and Ginnie Springs as well. They are both top notch spring dives in my book! Let me know next time you dive maybe we can share some bubbles together!