Question Saltwater Diving near Crystal River, Florida

[Rob9876]

We're considering a brief family trip (2 divers, 2 non-divers who snorkel [but can't dive for various reasons]) in mid-March to the Crystal River area, with the idea being that all of us would snorkel with manatees in the morning, and drift dive/snorkel down Rainbow River in the afternoon. Other than a day or 2 doing that, is there any decent saltwater diving (not caverns/springs/caves) somewhat near Crystal River?

I'd love to drive across to SE Florida, but don't think our schedule will permit it. So, it would be nice if my son and I could get a couple of days of saltwater dives somewhere fairly near the Crystal River area -- especially good if there were some activities, a decent beach or snorkeling for our other 2 family members near where we would dive.

We're familiar with Gulf diving in the Panama City Beach and Pensacola areas, so I know not to expect blue water and great viz -- but was hoping we might get some decent Gulf diving not too far away from Crystal River.

 

[Craine]

If you can swing the drive down to Clearwater (about a 2 hour drive) I’d recommend some gulf diving with 2 Shea Charters. There’s a decent artificial reef system in Pinellas County, with some good life to see, so long as you’re not expecting to see thr aquariums you’d get in the Caribbean or SE Florida.

For the non divers, Clearwater Beach is a nice spot to spend all day. Good beaches, lots of shops and touristy things to do. No much in the way of snorkeling (mostly baitfish off the beach), but it’s not nothing.

 

[Redfoot]

The manatee trip was a blast for us when we went- we booked a full day with Plantation at Crystal River and got some great experiences with the manatees. Enjoy that trip.

There are a couple of ops in Sarasota/Venice you can contact, but the diving is nothing spectacular. In Venice, you can do the shark tooth dives. Decent snorkel at Point of Rocks on Siesta Key Beach and I have seen people shore dive there.

Have fun

 

[Manatee Diver]

The nearest charter is probably Narcosis Scuba out of Tarpon Springs.

 

[Johnoly]

in mid-March

The near shore gulf side in mid march is just zero viz from all the winter storms. It takes weeks for it to settle and the weather windows are so tight at a day or 2 that it's really tough just to get 10ft of viz

... decent saltwater diving (not caverns/springs/caves) somewhat near Crystal River?

Nearshore from Crystal river is extremely shallow at 20-30 deep even 10miles out of the inlet. There are no public routine running charters except when it's scallop season (July1st). The only structure in the near shore area are pipes, culverts, trash dives. There's no live reef.

Your plan for manatees and then Rainbow river is a good plan. One other "unique" dive suggestion to accommodate snorklers and divers would be 45 mins away at Devil's Den. It's one of those cool dives that you say " Been there, did that, bought the teeshirt,,,Next! ". You'll get good reviews from the family members just for the 'Instagram-Cool-Factor'.

 

[Rob9876]

The near shore gulf side in mid march is just zero viz from all the winter storms. It takes weeks for it to settle and the weather windows are so tight at a day or 2 that it's really tough just to get 10ft of viz

. . .

One other "unique" dive suggestion to accommodate snorklers and divers would be 45 mins away at Devil's Den.

As far as bad viz in March, is that just near Crystal River -- or would that be the same down near Clearwater too?

As to Devil's Den, thanks for the suggestion but honestly caverns/caves/springs/cenotes bore me so much I'd rather pull chewing gum off of my shoe. I know some people love them -- to each their own.

 

[Johnoly]

As far as bad viz in March, is that just near Crystal River -- or would that be the same down near Clearwater too?

Rating viz is difficult . In Clearwater/Tampa it drastically changes based on the winds. I've spent 2hrs going 60 miles offshore to find 5ft of viz and on the way back in at depths of 45 deep it's 40-50ft of viz when you would expect the opposite to happen. That's why it's really important to keep in touch with local dive boats in that area. I'll follow 2-shea charters(deeper) as well as AquaNuts(very shallow) to get an idea what's going on and then call some spearo friends to see what they are finding.

Just my 2cents, but Clearwater has a coarser heavier sand bottom which falls out of suspension faster making quicker changes in viz. Crystal River has so much grass bottom that it's a fine silt and takes calm weeks for it to settle out of the water column and clean up viz.

So yes, Clearwater is faster to go from zero to 10ft of viz, but it's still nothing like the Keys or WPB areas.