Come Dive Florida’s… Fresh Water?

 

I moved to Florida from Minnesota a little over a year ago. As a dive junky, I was drawn by the easy saltwater access, and warm climate. I didn’t really expect to be doing much fresh water diving in Florida, especially being I live less than a mile from the coast.

Florida does have some unique fresh water diving opportunities though! They have a large concentration of fresh water springs, and accompanying underwater cave systems! The spring water is usually really fresh, clear, and relatively warm (at least compared to Minnesota’s fresh water). Most of them stay in the mid to low seventies year round.

I have heard about similar dives when I was Mexico, but they called them “cenote” dives. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to partake in any of those cenote diving adventures when I was there.

Some of the cave systems will require you to have a cavern diver certification even to get in the water. A cave diver certification would be a requirement to past the light zone though. Cave diving can become a very expensive endeavor. Many of the cave divers I know use rebreathers, and/or do multi-tank, multi-gas decompression dives.

There are many springs where you can dive with just an open water diver certification too though, if you'd like to just get your feet wet a little. I, personally, do not have a cave or cavern diving certification. I was, however, able to dive several underwater crevices, caverns, and sink holes in Florida, and so can you!

If you want to dive some of Florida’s fresh water springs, a good site dedicated to them is FloridaSprings.org. It doesn’t have all of the springs on there, but it’s a great place to start. Not all of the springs listed allow scuba diving either. But, most of them say whether they do or not right on the site.

If you'd like to get some cave diving or cave diving training, I would recommend you visit my friends at Florida Underwater Sports.

Below is some video footage from my last dive at Paradise Springs.

How to Get Started Scuba Diving

So you want to go scuba diving, but don’t know where to start? It’s your luck day, I’m here to help. There a few options for prospective scuba divers.

The first option is a “try dive”. A lot of dive shops offer this option. They brief you on the equipment, show you some basic techniques, and then bring you in a pool and let you spend some time underwater. This is a good option to see how comfortable you are underwater. Breathing underwater takes a little getting use to, but some people tend to freak out in this position. This is a great option to see how you will handle it. “Try dives” are usually pretty cheap. I’ve seen them for $10 – $25.

The second option is a “discovery dive” or a “resort dive”. The two names are synonymous. With this option, a dive instructor will show you a short video that teaches you some basic scuba diving skills. Then they will take you in a pool or shallow water for some hands on practice and then test you on those skills. After that, the dive instructor will take you on an open water dive in a lake or ocean. They usually keep you in shallow water. This is a great option if you want to get into the water, you aren’t certified yet, and don’t have time to get certified. I did a discovery dive in Belize before I was certified, and after that I was hooked. A couple months later I got certified and I have been diving ever since. From what I’ve seen, discovery dives run between $100 and $200.

Finally, you can get certified. The basic certification is an “open water certification”. There are a few agencies that dominate the dive certification market including PADI, SSI, and NAUI. They are recognize universally for the most part. I did my open water certification with PADI, then did some specialty certifications, and finally my Advanced Open Water certification with SSI. Depending on where you do your training, it can cost anywhere from $300 to $750 for the classroom, pool, and open water portions of the certification. You can be open water certified in as little as 2 or 3 days, but I did mine over 2 weekends.

Island Camping in Florida

Have you ever dreamt of having your own private island? For most people, this will never happen. You can, however, experience the solitude and tranquility of having your own little island paradise. The Florida Keys alone consist of over 1,700 islands. Most of which are small and uninhabited. The state of Florida actually claims to have over 4,500 islands that are over ten acres in size, as well. That’s a lot of opportunity for finding your own little piece of paradise for a weekend adventure.

Some people might not be able to see everything that an undeveloped island has to offer, but for me they are endless fountains of adventure. An untouched island can be fun to hike and explore, provide the most secluded beaches you will find anywhere, offer a base for all of your watersport activities, become a free backcountry camp site, and so on. For others, they might be a serene place to find there inner zen.

Most of the uninhabited islands in Florida don’t have any roads to access them, which adds to their elusiveness and gives it a greater sense of sequestration. Getting to these hidden gems in the ocean is part of the adventure, and how you do it helps to define your experience. A sea kayaker can grab their tent and spend a weekend camping on the beach of a deserted island oasis. Somebody with a sail boat or cabin cruiser can anchor off the shore of and island to enjoy it by day, and bunk up in their boat at night.

I guess it comes down to how adventurous you are, and if you are comfortable with nature and the outdoors. If you are an indoor person that can’t live without modern luxuries, you might not enjoy island camping – unless you bring your own yacht along. But if you are at one with nature and love a good adventure, these islands can provide you with your very own piece of paradise.