planning a trip to dive Florida's Springs up north.... help?

    hey guys, my cousins and i are from South Florida and we're interested in taking a weekend to travel up north and dive the springs.


    i don't know a ton about the springs but i've heard that ichetucknee is a fun spring to check out.


    we'd be interested in spending Saturday and Sunday at whatever spring we choose to go to. we plan on canoeing/kayaking the river and camping on the river for one night. of course, we also want to go somewhere where there is some fun freediving to check out (deep holes up to 60' and manatees would be great).


    anyone have any recommendations or suggestions for where we should go or how we should go about planning the weekend?


    thanks in advance!

    I recommend ichetucknee springs for tubing. I had like the best day there! here are some photos I took last summer




    Here's some tips.. When you rent the tubes, make sure you get them at the spot and tie them up to your car. Don't rely on the vendors there to bring them to you. They make mistakes and can forget. Get there early around 8am or 9am...they have a daily limit on how many people can tube from the very top of the river. Once you get in, wait an hour or two till everyone is far down the river so its not as crowded when you go.


    Ginnie springs is another fun place to visit. Unlike ichnetucknee springs, you can bring coolers with alcoholic drinks there. Tubing is not as great but camping is decent and is kind of pricey. During certain times there are lots of drunken college kids which can also be fun, depending what you're into. There are caves there but they aren't deep to freedrive. There are a lot of scuba divers there who dive in the caves...so I guess there must be something interesting there.


    At last the third place I visited was Homosassa springs and crystal river springs...nothing to see here. I came here to swim with the manatees but only saw one. Maybe I went at the wrong time of the year. I'm not sure but it wasn't worth the drive.


    There are deep caves that are fun to freedive but I'm not sure which springs they are at. Interested to find out myself

    thanks a lot eli.


    are there places to camp along the river at ichetucknee? my cousins and i were planning on bringing a tent and small grill and canoe along the river until the later afternoon then camp on the river for the night.


    would that be possible at ichetucknee?

    thanks again eli.


    i think ichetucknee, three sisters, and ginnie springs all sound good (although ginnie seems much pricier than the others).


    i'm going to try and see if i can find some of the springs that have some deep holes for diving. if not, i think i might go with ichetucknee.

    Three sisters, I've been there. Don't waste your time, nothing to see there. There is an area with clear water but its only like 15ft deep.


    Try the Devil's Den springs. You can take amazing photos and videos there.


    I heard about springs with good freediving areas close to Orlando. Those are somewhat deep. Let me know if you find anything

    Alejandro you definitely want to go to blue springs. Its inside a nice little park 20-30 mins north of Orlando. Its basically a medium sized springhead and run with a very large vertical hole right down the middle. At 60 ft is a sign that warns scuba divers to not die and it veers off. Its perfect for freediving and there is also some camping there. You have to reserve far ahead if you want to camp though. I went years ago and it was really really cool. There are a few others I will find the name of I was interested in visiting soon. But they dont seem as cool for freediving as bluesprings.

    If you want some place to get some deeper dives in, Troy Springs is the way to go. The SCUBA divers can be out in numbers and kick up a lot of sediment earlier in the day, but aside from the one day I showed up and they were closed from all the rain, I've always had really good luck there, and it's never usually crowded like some of the other places people hit for tubing and swimming.

    Quote from Reefchief

    Alejandro you definitely want to go to blue springs. Its inside a nice little park 20-30 mins north of Orlando. Its basically a medium sized springhead and run with a very large vertical hole right down the middle. At 60 ft is a sign that warns scuba divers to not die and it veers off. Its perfect for freediving and there is also some camping there. You have to reserve far ahead if you want to camp though. I went years ago and it was really really cool. There are a few others I will find the name of I was interested in visiting soon. But they dont seem as cool for freediving as bluesprings.


    thanks reefchief, i'll check out that spring too. from what you're saying it sounds like blue springs would be perfect, although we would have to get the short-notice camping OK'd before going (we're looking to go on the 20th of this month)

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