Open Water Friendly Florida Springs?

[mheaster]

I am heading to the Florida Freshwater Springs diving with my son this Thursday. Want to try some new places around High Springs, Florida.

Who knows good Open Water Friendly Springs near High Springs, Florida (OTHER than Blue Grotto/Devil's Den) as we've done those two before.
Currently considering Troy Springs and Paradise Springs and/or Peacock Springs.

Also how does a (Out of State) Scuba Instructor purchase a Florida "Commercial Dive Permit" required by State Parks to conduct course at their facilities? Not required this trip but I am curious. . . .

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I will be reading this thread with interest; I just went to that area for the first time in December and I loved it!

I only dived two days, and it was Devil's Den and Blue Grotto, so that's not much help; but have you seen the nice reference on the Chipola Divers site? It might be a useful supplement to "local knowledge" from this thread.

Troy is one of the ones that I thought sounded nice from the description.

Chipola Divers - Florida Freshwater Springs

I know this thread is going to make me want to go back even more

 

[CamG]

Greetings fellow SB'ers consider diving Orange Grove at Peacock.
It is a very pretty pool we just visited last week.
There is always Ginnie, you can check it out on line.
If you consider Ginnie consider a night dive as the critters really come out and it is really cool.
I am sure you will find some more options.

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

Well very few of the springs here are "open water" most of them are sinks like Blue Grotto/Devils Den. I just dove Paradise springs last friday and I had a blast. I got to 128ft and had a good 12ft+ left but I got narked a lil bit so I wanted to accend.

Most all the Cavern sinks around here are open to Open water divers but are not open water dives. All simmilar to BG/DD in the over head environment. Also 40 Fathom Grotto is a good place to look at. They also have a commerical diving school so they could answer any questions you have about FL permits.

Check out this list of spring sites
Ones to look at are:
Hudson Grotto
Hospital hole

 

[BabyDuck]

i don't think 40 fathom is open unless you're in a class. i could be wrong, though!

peacock isn't open water, but orange grove in the same place (peacock springs state park) is. (just clarifying what cam said.)

ginnie - though it's pretty expensive, there is the ballroom which is fascinating and the river drift dive which is lots of fun.

i'm very sure there are more - i haven't been diving at troy, though it looks nice from land.

 

[ucfdiver]

I would suggest posting over here...a bit more OW guys in this area. I know lots of cave divers who haven't seen many springs that aren't verified caves.-
Florida Conch Divers - ScubaBoard

 

[Stu S.]

Troy Springs is interesting. Call them in advance as the visibility there has been known to change depending on Suwanee River conditions. Crystal River diving also has Kings Spring, a cavern. Have you looked into that?

 

[Dive-aholic]

With the current drought, Troy is fine. Unless we get a big downpour, it will be that way for a while.

Alexander Springs is also a great OW site. I don't recommend Paradise for OW. The OW section is very small and only about 15-20' deep. The passage drops down to about 140' from there and it's very dark just 40' from OW. There's also a very silty bottom. Ginnie Springs is a cavern dive, too. The basin, which is OW is only about 10' deep right now. You can snorkel that. Why not take a cavern class? That will expand the possibilities quite a bit.

As for the commercial dive permit, you just have to present your instructor card to a park ranger and pay the fee. Unless you're coming down here a few times a year, it may not be worth it. They recently changed their pricing schedule and are still developing the commercial dive permit program, but will be in the range of $250-500/year.

 

[mheaster]

Thanks to all for timely replies!

As a clarification, We will stop for 1st day at Ginnie Springs. My son is AOW but hasn't been in the water for a couple of years. We have been to the area several times. We always seem to dive GS, BG and DD. We have also done Snorkeling w/Manatees, King's Cavern and Rainbow River before.

We are just looking for some variety this time. We like staying in High Springs area.

Thanks to Rob (Dive-aholic - "Crack Dealer" lol) - We are fairly locked into Troy and Alexander Springs now!

I am Cavern certified; my son is not.
I am funding this trip, he can get his Cavern certification whenever he likes (to pay for it!)

Was just curious about the Commercial Dive Permit - saw mentions of it but never any details online. I am not "teaching" any classes this trip but . . . .

 

[LiteHedded]

manatee is open to open water divers. there are a couple of cool dives there