Florida State Parks that allow Diving (List)

[mksmith713]

Might want to check on Birch....I think they allow diving there.

 

[c333davis]

You may also need to educate some of the park rangers on the annual pass. There have been times when the employee or volunteer on duty isn't aware that annual pass holders don't have to pay an additional fee. The most recent incident I heard of was at Manatee, but it was resolved and the diving fee refunded before the end of the day.

As of now, the official FL State Park website makes it sound as though the Annual Pass DOESN'T waive other fees like diving fees... here's a quote from the site:

"Annual Entrance Passes allow park entrance in lieu of the daily entrance fee... Does not waive other special use fees charged at some parks for special events, camping or activities such as boat tours, tubing, fishing piers, gardens admission, use of Buccaneer Bay at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, etc. "
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Dive-aholic, your post makes me think you have experience with this issue... Can you point me to a specific citation on the site or elsewhere that says that diving fees ARE waived with the Annual Pass? I just bought a Family Annual Pass and want to be sure that I get the full benefit from it!

Edited to say: Just read through the rest of the thread after Dive-aholic's quoted post... my question may be moot if there are no longer diving fees in any state park, though it sounds as though even that is in question based on peoples' recent experiences at the park gates... Anyone tried emailing the State Park webmaster to find out definitively what is charged and where?

 

[Dive-aholic]

The website hasn't been updated. I received an e-mail from one of the park managers several months ago regarding the fees.

 

[jeandiver]

Up here at the State Parks , if you have an Annual Pass, there is NO FEE for diving !
Without the annual pass, you just pay the entrance fee.

Thanks!
Jean

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

There are 53 State Parks on the chopping block as the new governor is looking for cuts to get Florida out of its financial hole. Several of them allow diving. Please send out some mail to the people who can prevent this from happening, let them know how you feel.

Herschel Vinyard
Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection
3900 Commonwealth Blvd,MS 49
Tallahassee,FL.,32399

Office of the Governor Rick Scott
State of Florida
400 S Monroe St.
Tallahassee,FL.,32399-0001

Rep Leonard Bembry
District Office
304 NW Crane Ave
Building 36
Madison,FL.,32340- 1423
(covers Hamilton,Madison,Columbia,and Dixie)

Rep Elizabeth Porter
District Office
678 SE Baya Dr.
Lake City,FL.,32025-6038
(covers Gilchrist,Lafayette,Suwannee)

Senator Charles Dean Sr.
302 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe St.
Tallahassee,FL.,32399-1100

Do you plan your vacation to these locations?
Do you live in Florida,but got there in lieu of a vacation to other locations?
Do you experience the ecotourism in these parks?
Do you spend money in the community?
Would you recommend a higher entrance/activity fee?
How many visits did you make to each park in the last year?

 

[Mike Walsh]

I your looking to get a good dive in next to Ft. Pierce State Park in Florida there's Pepper Park . It's about 1 mile north on Rt. 1 FREE parking & no entrance fee !!! Clean rest rooms ,clean beach nice reef-lines .. Best time to dive is when the wind is out of the west ! For more info e-mail me
scubadmike@yahoo.com

 

[agesilaus]

I just did my first day Open Water class dive at Fanning Springs. It was $6 a carload and no other fees. The Ranger told us we would have to leave our cert card at the Ranger check in station once we qualified and didn't mention any $15 fees. This was mid December 2013 (it was 60 degrees air temp and freezing too)

Manatee Springs where we did our 4th day dives (catfish hotel and the main springs) was the same $6 a carload. Troy too and they allow us to us a hookah for our first post cert dive.

 

[DennisC]

has anyone been to any of the Boca Grande or Naples parks? I'd like to figure out which one is the best for shore diving?

 

[Imbodie]

I'm not sure why this is showing up as "recent" in my list, but I moved to Florida in 2010 and never paid $15 to dive at any of the sites listed as $15... Someone needs to at least update this list.

 

[Saltwater_Parrot]

Not a state park -- but does anyone know if you are allowed to shore dive off of Fort De Soto?

I know there aren't necessarily any specific attractions there, but people snorkel there so it seems like it could be a fun leisure / check out spot for new equipment or weighting, buoyancy checks, etc.