Name some decent open water sites in cave country

[JamesK]

that's a lot packed in to a day on some days. Your first day could easily be moved in to two days. The work that the North Florida Springs Alliance has done at Peacock is great. The interpretive trail walk is a must. If you are in to photography you could spend the entire day here. Itchetuknee is just flat out beautiful. Make sure while you are there you walk down to Jug (Blue) Hole. It is worth the walk. I would suggest snorkeling it and admiring the cavern below. Again, a camera is a must here.

Ginnie is nice, but gets very crowded on certain days. The locals can be just as fun to watch as the nature, or more annoying then a crying two year old at a movie theatre. It's worth the risk. A camera here may or may not be a good thing! lol

Devils Den I could do without, but it is one of those places I recommend at least once.

I agree with the good gentleman above on Paradise, but the rest of the schedule looks solid.

As for lodging I recommend staying in Fort White or High Springs at Hotel California, Chateau H2O, or many of the other homes that cave divers rent out. I usually crash on a friends couch, stay at one of the above, or stay at The Cadillac Motel in High Springs. I tried The High Springs Country Inn, and the nastiness, to include boogers wiped on the shower wall, will keep me out of there.

While in High Springs grab a bite at The Great Outdoors. Try it on a Friday or Saturday night for some decent live music outside. The High Springs Diner is a great little diner with a good burger. And if you post a picture from there on your facebook page you get a free root beer float! For a treat for your son, depending on his age, the old ladies at the fudge shop in High Springs are wonderful and have some really good fudge. While in Luraville, stop in at the Luraville Country Store for a sandwich. Branford now has a McDonald's, so they are moving up in the world! lol.

I recommend packing a cooler with lunch and plenty of drinks. Some bug spray is a must as well for most of the year.

I also recommend stopping off at the many great dive shops in the area such as Cave Country Dive Shop, Extreme Exposure, Amigos, Cave Excursions, and Dive Outpost. Some are small "shops" with not to much to see, but the people you can meet and the stuff you can learn is worth it.

When I think of more, I will add it.

 

[JesperS]

Been to all of those places. Some are more fun than others. Paradise kinda sucks. It'd be ok if it were 6 bucks to get in, but depending on how many people are there, it's a real craphole. Alexander is cheap and easy. Blue Springs is definitely neat and worth seeing once. It's a long walk to the hole, be prepared.

Thanks for the notes. I'm keeping Paradise on the "maybe" list, and might replace it with another destination in the area, possibly just go to Silver Springs and snorkel.

I've heard great things about Blue Springs. Is that where "the hole" is?

that's a lot packed in to a day on some days. Your first day could easily be moved in to two days. The work that the North Florida Springs Alliance has done at Peacock is great. The interpretive trail walk is a must. If you are in to photography you could spend the entire day here. Itchetuknee is just flat out beautiful. Make sure while you are there you walk down to Jug (Blue) Hole. It is worth the walk. I would suggest snorkeling it and admiring the cavern below. Again, a camera is a must here.

Ginnie is nice, but gets very crowded on certain days. The locals can be just as fun to watch as the nature, or more annoying then a crying two year old at a movie theatre. It's worth the risk. A camera here may or may not be a good thing! lol

Devils Den I could do without, but it is one of those places I recommend at least once.

I agree with the good gentleman above on Paradise, but the rest of the schedule looks solid.

As for lodging I recommend staying in Fort White or High Springs at Hotel California, Chateau H2O, or many of the other homes that cave divers rent out. I usually crash on a friends couch, stay at one of the above, or stay at The Cadillac Motel in High Springs. I tried The High Springs Country Inn, and the nastiness, to include boogers wiped on the shower wall, will keep me out of there.

While in High Springs grab a bite at The Great Outdoors. Try it on a Friday or Saturday night for some decent live music outside. The High Springs Diner is a great little diner with a good burger. And if you post a picture from there on your facebook page you get a free root beer float! For a treat for your son, depending on his age, the old ladies at the fudge shop in High Springs are wonderful and have some really good fudge. While in Luraville, stop in at the Luraville Country Store for a sandwich. Branford now has a McDonald's, so they are moving up in the world! lol.

I recommend packing a cooler with lunch and plenty of drinks. Some bug spray is a must as well for most of the year.

I also recommend stopping off at the many great dive shops in the area such as Cave Country Dive Shop, Extreme Exposure, Amigos, Cave Excursions, and Dive Outpost. Some are small "shops" with not to much to see, but the people you can meet and the stuff you can learn is worth it.

When I think of more, I will add it.

Awesome notes, thank you! I'll give some thought into splitting up day 1 into two days, I really don't want to rush it.

Going to hit Ginnie on a weekday, hoping to avoid the worst of the crowds.

Devils Den will surely be a one-time only thing, but it definitely looks cool enough to dive the one time.

Kid is 14, so a candy store still has allure....hell, I'm all about the sweets.

Thank you so much for all your good advice, I'm going to start adding the dive shops and food recommendations to my map.

Spring can't get here soon enough.

 

[JamesK]

The problem with "blue springs" is a lot of springs share that name. The one I am speaking of is in Ichetuknee Springs State Park. People call it Blue, Blue Hole, Jug, and Jug Hole. The good thing about Ichetuknee is it has a couple springs to swim and snorkel in.

 

[JesperS]

We'll definitely check out the hole when we're @ Ichetuknee. The Blue Spring on my list is over near the Orlando area. LINK

 

[JamesK]

Ahhh that Blue. Yeah, worth the trip IMO.

 

[Akoni]

I've never stayed at the Cadillac, do they have tile/linoleum floors or carpeting? Can't understand why places that have a lot of diver traffic wouldn't just have floors that are easy to keep clean/dry up. I guess that would apply to any cut rate place though regardless of clientele.

We had fun on the trip. I got quite a bit of cave time in (>25 hrs) but the gf got sick and was only able to dive Troy. Lucky for me, she enjoyed herself enough that talk of 'next time' doesn't elicit a sour face!

 

[karstdvr]

I've never stayed at the Cadillac, do they have tile/linoleum floors or carpeting? Can't understand why places that have a lot of diver traffic wouldn't just have floors that are easy to keep clean/dry up. I guess that would apply to any cut rate place though regardless of clientele.

We had fun on the trip. I got quite a bit of cave time in (>25 hrs) but the gf got sick and was only able to dive Troy. Lucky for me, she enjoyed herself enough that talk of 'next time' doesn't elicit a sour face!

Cadillac is carpeted. A nice place to stay is Lake City-nice accomodations that aren't too expensive,a lot of eating choices,and equidistant to many springs.

 

[JamesK]

Cadillac is carpeted. A nice place to stay is Lake City-nice accomodations that aren't too expensive,a lot of eating choices,and equidistant to many springs.

I agree. I used to stay at Lake City every time I came down. More for the accommodations then anything. Having more choices for food and drink at night helped. Now I just pick what area I am diving, and stay in that area since my trips are usually a day trip or overnight.

 

[scubaskipper]

You might want to check out Crystal River. Might be some manatees to look at.

You don't scuba with manatee, snork. only.

 

[jasonb751]

This may sound weird, but I had a nice dive in the mill pond in Marianna.