Florida Springs Diving Recommendations for Junior Open Water Diver

[Waverider58]

My son and I are taking a road trip through Florida down to Key Largo to do some diving for Christmas break.

With that said, we plan on stopping off at the Rainbow River near Ocala to do a river drift dive or two. We'd also like to dive in some springs near Ocala. We would also like to dive some springs between Ocala and Key Largo.

I did some google searches but the end result is that my head is spinning with so much information.

My son is limited to 40 foot depth. With that limitation, can anyone recommend any good diving in some springs between Ocala and Key Largo? We have all of our equipment so we will only need to refill the tanks.

 

[mselenaous]

The basin & the run at Ginnie Springs as well as a drift dive on Santa Fe River are another good option.

Another good stop is the Blue Heron Bridge in WPB, max 20ft deep. It is tidal dependant so hookup with some locals like Scuba Jenny to show you around. There is a thread with tons more info call Blue Heron Bridge Trolls.

But I'm partial to my own back yard, Key Largo. Most if the reefs are 30ft or less and even a few shallow wrecks like the Benwood.
If I can be of help while you are here, shoot me a PM.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[sportxlh]

The Rainbow River drift dive is fun: you should enjoy it. Devils Den is a very easy cavern dive suitable for open water certified divers. If you don't mind dropping a few bucks more than normal, try the dive at Epcot's Living Seas. If you google Disney Dive Quest you should find info. A young person would really get a kick out of the experience.

 

[Waverider58]

Many thanks for the advice.

After some more thought and looking at our time & budget, I'm thinking about just limiting the diving for anything along Florida's Atlantic coast on the way to Key Largo. We'll be coming in through the sunshine state on I-95. Going any where else would cost us too much time and $. So, the Blue Heron bridge looks like a very attractive option.

Any other suggestions for diving along the east coast of Florida (like Blue Heron Bridge) would be very welcome.
I'm looking forward to diving somewhere other than a quarry in Ohio. I'm not sure if I can take the of diving in water where the visibility is greater than two feet:scared:

 

[sportxlh]

Blue Heron Bridge like you said, the shallow reef in Pompano is only 30 feet deep or so, plus you can beach dive Lauderdale by the Sea. Gold Coast Scuba or Force-E are two good shops that can rent tanks and give you advice on beach diving.

 

[geogator]

Since you're coming down I-95, you could also make a quick & easy side trip over to Alexander Springs Recreation Area just west of Daytona. You get off at State Road 40 in Ormond Beach and head west for about 30 minutes. When you cross over the St. Johns River at Astor, go another couple of miles and you'll see the signs to turn left and the road will take you right there. It's a fantastic dive for a beginner - only 26 feet max, crystal clear 90+ feet of viz, constant 72 degree water and only $7.50 each to get in and dive. Bring a picnic lunch with you (just watch out for the squirrel thieves) and all of your own gear (incl. tanks) as there's no gear rental or fills nearby. There's plenty of paved parking, an outdoor shower to rinse gear and indoor showers/changing area for afterwards. A lot of dive shops use it as an OW training area and it's got a nice hiking trail boardwalk you can checkout as well. A perfect low-key place to get a practice dive or 2 in before you get to West Palm about 3 hours south of there.

 

[MB]

Agreed on Alexander Springs! Very nice natural spring for a new OW diver.