North Florida Dive recommendation to build experience

[aviator8]

I am looking for a place to go diving in the N Florida springs over a long weekend 10/24-10/27. This will be to do fun dives and gain experience for my daughter. I am aware that FallFest is during that weekend, but Ginnie does not allow divers younger than 12 and she is 11. Ideally we could camp at the site where we dive, but that is not 100% necessary as long as the dive site(s) are close enough to where we can camp. I am looking for sites that will be good for a beginner to have fun and work on skills. Ideally I want sites that are not a madhouse of divers as well. I know that may be a tall order over a weekend, but it never hurts to ask.

One suggestion I got was to dive at Morrison Springs, and maybe camp at Vortex Springs. I understand that Vortex can get quite busy and I am not big on crowds so please shoot me any other suggestions you may have. I will be driving down from the ATL area so looking for north Florida.

 

[sportxlh]

I've done a few dives at Vortex and Morrison. Thursday and Friday should not be too crowded, weekends may be another story. I haven't camped at Vortex but they seem to have a decent camp ground.

If you get to Devils Den or Blue Grotto (Williston Florida area) early in the morning, they aren't too bad on the weekends before noon. Thursday and Friday should also be slower than weekends. If I recall, DD has a camp ground or at least relatively cheap cabins

 

[James79]

Another option would be the St. Andrews jetties... Pretty benign environment, beach side of the jetty is 30-40 ft deep at the end with shallow sloping sand bottom from beach to jetty tip. If the conditions aren't right, it's only an hour back north to Morrison. I've taken my 13 y.o. there and it was pretty nice, and he enjoyed it more than the fresh water springs.

 

[aviator8]

I've done a few dives at Vortex and Morrison. Thursday and Friday should not be too crowded, weekends may be another story. I haven't camped at Vortex but they seem to have a decent camp ground.

If you get to Devils Den or Blue Grotto (Williston Florida area) early in the morning, they aren't too bad on the weekends before noon. Thursday and Friday should also be slower than weekends. If I recall, DD has a camp ground or at least relatively cheap cabins

Do you know if Vortex would rent tanks that I can take to Morrison for a dive, or do they restrict usage to only Vortex dives?

 

[James79]

If vortex won't rent tanks for off site (I have no idea if they do or not) there's a dive shop right outside st Andrews state park if you try that route, or there's a shop in enterprise Alabama (a little out of your way) that's super laid back.

 

[The Chairman]

That's a shame about Ginnie. Close to Ginnie, there is Troy Springs where you can dive the CS Madison, Royal Springs, Orange Grove Springs (Part of the Peacock System) as well as a few other springs off the Suwannee. Further West there is Lafayette Springs while further south you have Alexander Springs, Paradise Springs, Blue Spring, Blue Grotto and devil's Den. In other words, you can camp with us at Ginnie and still drive a short bit to go diving elsewhere.

 

[sportxlh]

Regarding whether Vortex will rent tanks or not, I ran into some divers at Morrison two years ago that had rented their tanks at vortex. However, it's probably safest to call and confirm what they still do this