Need beginner shore dive somewhere between Talahassee , crystal river, Clearwater.

[00wabbit]

My wife and I are taking the rv to the keys. We have a fairly tight schedule. We already plan to stop in Talahasee and Clearwater on the way. We were looking at doing manatee snorkel in Crystal Rover but were told they would be moving out by time we go there in mid april. My wife just got certified so this will be her first dive after class. It is basically just a dive so she can practice and we can get familiar with diving together before we hit Key Largo.

Here is what I am looking for.
1. Shore entry (don't want to pay for boats- admission fee is ok but free is better)
2. Shallow 30ft or so
3. Excellent Vis
4. Some fish or animals are preferred but not necessary.
5. Salt water preferred so we can check our weighting, but no necessary.
6. Must be on or very near our route. We can't take hours to drive to a site. This dive is really just a checkout dive for us.

Please recommend some places. As mentioned we plan to stop in Talahassee and Clear water. We can easily stop in crystal river.


Thanks.

 

[ReefGuy]

As you head down I75, there's Blue Grotto, Devil's Den, Paradise Springs, ginnie springs that I can think of off the top of my head. Visibility on the gulf side is hit or miss near the shore. There's Venice beach, about 50 miles south of Clearwater. You can find sharks' teeth there, and depth of no more than 25' or so, unless you really swim.

 

[scubastingray]

I really like manatee springs in that area. Ginnie has rubbed me wrong both times I've gone, so I'm not dying to go back.

I just spent time at
Wes skilles peacock- Orange grove sink
Manatee Springs
Rainbow River
Cyrstal river
and Ginnie.

Of those, orange grove is a bit deeper, but a good practice area.

Manatee has two dive areas. The main spring is more shallow, and the catfish sink goes down to 70ft at the cave entrance.

Crystal river is a boat out to kings spring, and that's deeper. There is a shore entry spring at Hunters Spring park, but that tops out around 20ft and isn't super interesting. There's also one called catfish hole, but again it's a boat ride as the nearby dock gets upset if you try to wade into the water from their boat dock.

Ginnie has a few sites, and a fun spring basin/run that fits your qualities, but I always feel like I'm being treated like **** there. I feel like I'm inconveniencing them to hand them $30 and dive their springs.

Rainbow river could also be fun. You drive up to KP hole park in Dunnellon, and call the rainbow river water taxi. I know you said you don't want a boat, but you basically are driven a mile up river. It's $10 a head, 5 minimum. I've used him a few times, and it's a great dive. Average depth is 10ft, with deepest around 25ft. This is a dive used by some of the local LDSs for check out dives. There are lots of springs along the river, and you can even poke your head into one (you can't go more than 5ft in). You park, ride upriver, and drift back. It can take an hour if you're finning pretty heavily to an hour and a half if you just swim side to side.

 

[diversteve]

Some options just south of Clearwater - there's a linked map with shore options - Florida Underwater Sports

Excellent vis is often optional in that area...lol