Manatee Springs

[chrispete]

I just found out that there is a good possibility that I may be staying at Manatee Springs State Park in November for a few days. I have tried to get information on the place, but the state site is sorely lacking in diving related info, and most of the books (older) say that there are very few manatees actually there, yet I've been told that it offers better diving conditions and more manatees than Crystal River. Any nuggets of wisdom from you guys would be great.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

Manatee is an awesome place! The manatees actually rarely come into the spring during these months, but every now and then they can be seen in the mouth of the run at the river.
Diving is 5 bucks which is a deal considering most places here run 30 to dive! Let me know when you will be there and I will come up for a day trip or two!
The main spring is fairly cool. Do the superman over the downed log for a quick thrill.
The really cool thing about manatee is the sinkhole "catfish Sink" or catfish "Hotel" as it is signed. Only SCUBA is allowed in there.
The basin is pretty cool just watch out on getting too low to the cave or you will be drawn into the cave system. There is a moderate overhead environment as a shelf jutts out a short ways on the left side.
They have recently cleaned all, and I mean ALL the sea cabbage off the water so it is very clear for light penetration.
There are two camping areas. On the way in, ask if you can look around and choose the campsite first after paying and they will let you in to look around. G to the camp area on the RIGHT side of the road beore the spring area. There s a set of sites that are CHOICE in the back left corner before the handicapped areas. They have electricity, are next to the bath house, and are the shortest walk through the treeline to the dive sites. I wish I could remember the site numbers!
If you let us know when you will be there, I can plan ahead to come out and meet you at the gate for a day of diving and possibly a weekend campout! It is only a 40 minute tip to my house and cheap to dive. It is also a very cool place to camp.
Call or message me if you need more info.
I grew up in the North Central Area and have been a freediver since I was ten or so. I have a ot of info on some sites that have become favs.

 

[Wendy]

Ok according to the Ned DeLoach Giude to Underwater Florida "Divers w/out cave cert are not allowed to carry lights.There are 2 good dives here, Manatee Springs and Catfish Sink. Both are 100 yard hike from the parking lot.Catfish Sink is 120 foot circular basin covered with duckweed, its 35' deep and silts up easily. Manatee springs is 40' deep, very silty. Diving and swimming are restricted to the basin and the first 200 feet of the spring run. You can camp there. Although the park and spring receive thir name from the famed sea cows, only a few nmow venture up the run to escape the cool river water in the winter. Hopefully they will return now that boat traffic is not allowed in the run".

Ok so basically that means to me, not much ow diving, and if you silt it out then you aren't going to have much vis. This site is popular with cave divers cuz both sites in the park contain caves. Its a state park so its a $5 to dive, additional fees for camping I assume. Since it is a state park they may have rules regarding contact with manatees, I know Blue Springs State Park does, so you may want to call and ask.

I hope this helps.

 

[metaldector]

This site http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/springs_of_fl/aaj7320/content.html
and you can review all of Florida's Springs. Hope this helps.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

No you may not carry dive lights unless certified for and are cave diving. The silt gets stirred up VERY easilly, mainly by snorkelling kids. Manatees are a rare sight in the run at this time and standard procedures apply. Unless a warden sees them coming down the run.
They often will order everyone out of the springs. Snorkellers anyway, since most divers can't hear them yelling at us.
Fortunately the silt disappears quickly... UNLESS it is stirred up in catfish sink, then it drifts through the cave and into manatee. That takes a little more time to clean out, and the cavers say it kills viz when it happens.
There is a large swim area considering. The deepest we have ever hit without entering the caves was 45 feet in the spring and 55 in the sink. I did my first OW cert dives there. There are two covered pavillions and many picnic tables.
There is a snack bar at the spring area and a convenience store right outside the park. There is a large play area for kids and a shallow beach on the far ide of the spring. They have made a TON of improvements this year, INCLUDING putting rails on the sink platform and building steps and platforms in the main spring area.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

I have a good digital camera that I will be starting to use when we go to the springs. I want to start a new web album of shots of spring areas and campgrounds. Looks like Manatee may be he first on that list.
:scuba:

 

[chris_b]

Something others haven't mentioned yet: call ahead to reserve "dive space" if you want to dive there. We were there this spring and found out from a local shop that they limit the number of divers allowed in for each day-- it was a relatively low number. We were glad we called ahead rather than just showing up, because they were completely full for several days. Unfortunately when we were there it had been raining for several days and the main springs had been flooded by the river. Only Catfish Hotel was open. This was ok but very very small; got boring pretty quick. I was told it's a lot more fun when the main spring is open and you have two dive sites.

 

[Wendy]

chris_b once bubbled...
Something others haven't mentioned yet: call ahead to reserve "dive space" if you want to dive there. We were there this spring and found out from a local shop that they limit the number of divers allowed in for each day-- it was a relatively low number. We were glad we called ahead rather than just showing up, because they were completely full for several days. Unfortunately when we were there it had been raining for several days and the main springs had been flooded by the river. Only Catfish Hotel was open. This was ok but very very small; got boring pretty quick. I was told it's a lot more fun when the main spring is open and you have two dive sites.

I forgot about them limitig the number of divers a day. I didn't know if this was for cave divers only or for all divers in general. You can look here for updates on the conditions (this site geared towards cave divers though). http://www.cavediver.net/springs/spring_frm.htm

 

[chris_b]

Wendy once bubbled...
I didn't know if this was for cave divers only or for all divers in general.

As I recall, they have two limits: one for the number of cave divers, one for the number of OW divers. The latter was something quite low, around a dozen or so? Anyway, just call ahead and you should be fine!