The Best Diving in Florida

This natural spring is easily one of the best hidden gems in Florida. The pool of water is crystal clear for swimming, scuba-diving, and jumping in from off on a cliff to the side. The water is also about 70 degrees - a perfect compliment to the hot, humid climate of Florida. A rip current in the...

A few hours north and many worlds away from Disney, the Santa Fe River winds its way through the woods of north central Florida, headed for the Suwannee River. This is the real Florida. Although the river is dark during most of the year (except the dry summer months), there are dozens of crystal ...

At Ichetucknee Springs State Park, there are 2 main entrances - to get to Blue Hole (aka Jug Hole), go to the NORTH entrance. This is also where the main headspring is. If you accidentally go to the south entrance, you are only a few miles away, don't worry! Ask for directions at the guard shack....

Egmont Key Sate Park is only accessibly by boat, so be sure to book ahead if you need a ride. Several tour companies offer relatively cheap rides to and from the island, paired with snorkeling excursions at the ruins on the west side of the island.The island ferry departs from Fort De Soto State ...

Starting at Cotton Landing, you paddle about a quarter of a mile downstream until you encounter the spring run to the right/north. Another tenth of a mile or so up the run will take you to one of the most beautiful spring-fed swimming holes you will ever find. Fed by a 2nd magnitude spring, this ...

Dry Tortugas National Park is one of the most remote National Parks you can visit. Located 70 miles off the coast of Key West, FL it is accessible via commercial ferry, sea plane, or private boat.Our family of 5 camped for two nights in the campground on Garden Key. We snorkeled, swam, explored h...

Located near Orange City, Florida, Blue Spring State Park is the largest spring on St. Johns River.  Here you can come in and rent full snorkel gear (snorkel, mask, flippers), tubes to lazy river down if that's more your style and many other activities.  At the website you can see all that the pa...

Located in central Florida, this prehistoric spring is a MUST to add on your bucket list. Devil’s Den is a cave that has an underground spring inside. The spring is crystal clear and is a stable 72 degrees F year round. This spot is well known to local divers as it’s depth is 200 feet. Open swimm...

Phil Foster Park has a large parking lot, but on weekends or during peak hours looking for a spot can get competitive, so leave yourself a little extra time to meet your target "in the water" time. If you're like me and you don't have your own snorkel gear, rentals are available from the Force-E ...

What could be better than laying on soft sand, listening to the crashing waves, and gazing at Florida's best sun and stars?  Cape Canaveral National Seashore has 14 primitive campsites, with only two of them on the beach and the other twelve located on Mosquito Lagoon.  This park has a 40-mile st...

Blue Springs Park is a privately owned property that encompasses a few springs along the Santa Fe River, you can learn more here. The main, Blue Spring, has a large swimming area lined with white sand beach. The main feature is a 12ft high platform over the main spring. Since the spring is upward...

Alexander Springs Recreation Area is an incredible natural area that provides something for any adventure seeker to love.  The main attraction here is the beautiful headspring, which is one of the 27 first magnitude springs here in Florida.  This spring in particular maintains a cool 72 degrees f...

Sombrero Reef is a coral reef 8 miles offshore from Key Colony Beach. Launch your private boat from the free 33rd Street Public Boat Ramp or book a catamaran tour from Marathon. Tie your boat off on one of the 11 mooring buoys on the South side of the 142 foot Sombrero Key Lighthouse. Get your wa...

SCUBA & Free Diving: Established in 1972 by Doc and Ruth Dockery, Vortex Spring is home to the Red & White "Diver Down" Flag and is one of the largest diving facilities in the state of Florida, with 28 million gallons of crystal "gin" clear water daily at a year round temperature of 68 de...

Cypress Spring is only accessible by water due to it being surrounded by private property, so bring your canoe, kayak, SUP, or boat to one of the many landings along Holmes Creek. The shortest and easiest way to get to the spring is to launch your vessel at Cotton Landing. From there, it is a sho...

SCUBA dive the Air Force Barge, AKA Englin Barge, located at Latitude 30.35415°, Longitude -86.49302°. For this trip, I went through ScubaTech, a local Destin dive shop that rents dive gear, fills tanks, and takes groups out on various reef and wreck dives in the Destin area. They offer 3 hour an...