Travel Log: Spring Break 2015 Manatee and More
By Rob Knolle
Sub-Aquatic Sports had another great group for our Spring Break trip to Central Florida March 8-14, 2015. The group consisted of thirteen open water training students as well as several certified divers. Most of the group drove down, while a few traveled by air and rented a car while in Florida. The group was led by Rick Sass and Rob Knolle.
A brief introductory meeting was held on Sunday evening at the hotel pool after everyone arrived in Crystal River, FL. The weather was sunny and in the mid to upper 70’s! Our first adventure on Monday morning was snorkeling with the manatee at Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River.
The Crystal River area has several outfitters/charters that will take you out to view the manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Kings Spring or Homosassa Spring. We booked with American Pro Dive, who we have used for the past three years. The first year we were slightly disappointed when we went to Kings Spring. The visibility at Kings was poor. You could only see about 5 feet. Last year, Three Sisters Spring was a huge success. Many Manatee were seen, even a few nursing mothers with calf. The visibility there was 100 feet plus! This year at Three Sisters we only saw 3 or 4 manatee but that was due to the unusually warm (85 degrees) temperatures. The visibility was great again. I would recommend requesting that you be taken to Three Sisters Springs if there are manatee there. Stay away from Kings Spring and also do not bother scuba diving at Kings Spring. It is not even worth the effort.
Our Monday was busy! After the Manatee Snorkel we packed up our gear and headed up to Blue Grotto. Blue Grotto is a privately owned spring fed cavern that has great top-side amenities and depths to around 100’. Please note that if you do not like overhead environments, there is only a small area that is not in the cavern. The entry and exit point has a great deck area. There are pavilions, a bath-house and rinsing areas as well as an air fill station. You can camp or rent a small cabin at Blue Grotto. The diving is good as long as it is not too crowded. We have dove the grotto in the past and had a better experience than this year. This year there were too many people. A few people (not our divers!) had poor buoyancy control and really stirred up the silt. Certified divers would enjoy Blue Grotto for one long dive or two short dives as long as it is not crowded.
Tuesday was more relaxing, no diving until noon. We met a water taxi at Rainbow River. The taxi only takes 10 – 12 people at a time so we broke up into 4 groups. If you are in this area, Rainbow River is a MUST DIVE! We've had great visibility and great dives every time we have gone and I would do this dive over and over again! The taxi takes you up River from KP Hole Park and drops you at a shallow area. You can stand for a minute, get your group together and go over the dive plan one last time. The plan? Pretty easy, just float down the river and stay with your buddy and near the flag. Again, GREAT viz and the water is a constant 70 degrees with a moderate current. Depths in the river do not exceed 25 feet but there is a great deal of varying topography with holes, vents, weed-beds and even a small cavern. This is a fun, relaxing dive that any diver is capable of doing and enjoying.
On Wednesday our group split into two groups. After checking out of the hotel in Crystal River, one group went to Alexander Springs, the other had the entire day to enjoy in central Florida until meeting at Epcot for DiveQuest. This group checked into the Orlando hotel and met at Epcot at 5PM. DiveQuest is another must do. There are not very many places where you are guaranteed to see 6-7 sharks of 3-4 different species along with 4-5 different varieties of rays, two kinds of sea turtles and thousands of tropical fish! DiveQuest at Disney's Epcot is another dive that I would do over and over again. Sand-tiger sharks (check), Brown shark (check), Black-nosed shark (check), Black-tipped shark (check), Guitar shark (check). The entire DiveQuest experience takes about 3 hours. There is a short briefing and then a behind the scenes look at the aquarium including its filtration system. They will also show you how they prepare the food for the Aquarium inhabitants. Disney is involved with rehabilitation of manatee and dolphin research. With the DiveQuest experience you get a brief glimpse of these programs.
Our last dive day on Thursday was at Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest. The spring is open to Scuba Diving, but you can cover most of it while snorkeling. It is an excellent place to do a shake-down dive or to check out some new dive gear but it only gets about 25 feet deep in a small area. Don’t let that discourage you from bringing your GoPro or underwater camera! The shallow areas are home to a bunch of freshwater wildlife. Great photo ops for turtles, fish and the occasional alligator are a good reason to stop by Alexander Springs.
Highlights of the Spring Break Manatee and More Trip:
#1 Rainbow River Dive: Excellent visibility, easy and interesting for all levels of divers. Turtles, Gar, Bass, Gills are in abundance at Rainbow River. The bottom contour is interesting with rock features, weed-beds, bubbling sand springs and the occasional shark tooth fossil to be found.
#2 Epcot DiveQuest: Behind the scenes look with an informative interesting tour of the facility and a great, easy dive where thousands of tropical fish species can be seen in a semi-controlled environment. Sea Turtles, Sharks, Rays and a Guitarfish as well as thousands of reef fish make this dive special.
#3 As a whole, this trip is easy to get to, easy diving and affordable: You can drive to Florida in a day. The diving experiences are diverse, from springs to rivers to a giant aquarium. All dives are easy and interesting for all levels of divers and the water temperature is a constant 70 degrees, year around.
What could be better?
#1 Blue Grotto was crowded. It is hard to say when it is less crowded. We were there on a Monday and there were over 50 people there. We have dove Blue Grotto in the past and it is much easier, more fun and safer when there are fewer people. The facility is nice.
#2 If you want to go deep, it's not gonna happen in most locations. Rainbow River 25’ max, Alexander Springs 27’ max, Blue Grotto 30'max (unless you go down into the overhead environment at 100’), Epcot DiveQuest 25’ max. I personally don’t care how deep the dive is, as long as it is interesting, but for those that “require” more atmospheres, best to bring a shovel.
By Rob Knolle
Sub-Aquatic Sports had another great group for our Spring Break trip to Central Florida March 8-14, 2015. The group consisted of thirteen open water training students as well as several certified divers. Most of the group drove down, while a few traveled by air and rented a car while in Florida. The group was led by Rick Sass and Rob Knolle.
A brief introductory meeting was held on Sunday evening at the hotel pool after everyone arrived in Crystal River, FL. The weather was sunny and in the mid to upper 70’s! Our first adventure on Monday morning was snorkeling with the manatee at Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River.
The Crystal River area has several outfitters/charters that will take you out to view the manatee at Three Sisters Spring, Kings Spring or Homosassa Spring. We booked with American Pro Dive, who we have used for the past three years. The first year we were slightly disappointed when we went to Kings Spring. The visibility at Kings was poor. You could only see about 5 feet. Last year, Three Sisters Spring was a huge success. Many Manatee were seen, even a few nursing mothers with calf. The visibility there was 100 feet plus! This year at Three Sisters we only saw 3 or 4 manatee but that was due to the unusually warm (85 degrees) temperatures. The visibility was great again. I would recommend requesting that you be taken to Three Sisters Springs if there are manatee there. Stay away from Kings Spring and also do not bother scuba diving at Kings Spring. It is not even worth the effort.
Our Monday was busy! After the Manatee Snorkel we packed up our gear and headed up to Blue Grotto. Blue Grotto is a privately owned spring fed cavern that has great top-side amenities and depths to around 100’. Please note that if you do not like overhead environments, there is only a small area that is not in the cavern. The entry and exit point has a great deck area. There are pavilions, a bath-house and rinsing areas as well as an air fill station. You can camp or rent a small cabin at Blue Grotto. The diving is good as long as it is not too crowded. We have dove the grotto in the past and had a better experience than this year. This year there were too many people. A few people (not our divers!) had poor buoyancy control and really stirred up the silt. Certified divers would enjoy Blue Grotto for one long dive or two short dives as long as it is not crowded.
Tuesday was more relaxing, no diving until noon. We met a water taxi at Rainbow River. The taxi only takes 10 – 12 people at a time so we broke up into 4 groups. If you are in this area, Rainbow River is a MUST DIVE! We've had great visibility and great dives every time we have gone and I would do this dive over and over again! The taxi takes you up River from KP Hole Park and drops you at a shallow area. You can stand for a minute, get your group together and go over the dive plan one last time. The plan? Pretty easy, just float down the river and stay with your buddy and near the flag. Again, GREAT viz and the water is a constant 70 degrees with a moderate current. Depths in the river do not exceed 25 feet but there is a great deal of varying topography with holes, vents, weed-beds and even a small cavern. This is a fun, relaxing dive that any diver is capable of doing and enjoying.
On Wednesday our group split into two groups. After checking out of the hotel in Crystal River, one group went to Alexander Springs, the other had the entire day to enjoy in central Florida until meeting at Epcot for DiveQuest. This group checked into the Orlando hotel and met at Epcot at 5PM. DiveQuest is another must do. There are not very many places where you are guaranteed to see 6-7 sharks of 3-4 different species along with 4-5 different varieties of rays, two kinds of sea turtles and thousands of tropical fish! DiveQuest at Disney's Epcot is another dive that I would do over and over again. Sand-tiger sharks (check), Brown shark (check), Black-nosed shark (check), Black-tipped shark (check), Guitar shark (check). The entire DiveQuest experience takes about 3 hours. There is a short briefing and then a behind the scenes look at the aquarium including its filtration system. They will also show you how they prepare the food for the Aquarium inhabitants. Disney is involved with rehabilitation of manatee and dolphin research. With the DiveQuest experience you get a brief glimpse of these programs.
Our last dive day on Thursday was at Alexander Springs in the Ocala National Forest. The spring is open to Scuba Diving, but you can cover most of it while snorkeling. It is an excellent place to do a shake-down dive or to check out some new dive gear but it only gets about 25 feet deep in a small area. Don’t let that discourage you from bringing your GoPro or underwater camera! The shallow areas are home to a bunch of freshwater wildlife. Great photo ops for turtles, fish and the occasional alligator are a good reason to stop by Alexander Springs.
Highlights of the Spring Break Manatee and More Trip:
#1 Rainbow River Dive: Excellent visibility, easy and interesting for all levels of divers. Turtles, Gar, Bass, Gills are in abundance at Rainbow River. The bottom contour is interesting with rock features, weed-beds, bubbling sand springs and the occasional shark tooth fossil to be found.
#2 Epcot DiveQuest: Behind the scenes look with an informative interesting tour of the facility and a great, easy dive where thousands of tropical fish species can be seen in a semi-controlled environment. Sea Turtles, Sharks, Rays and a Guitarfish as well as thousands of reef fish make this dive special.
#3 As a whole, this trip is easy to get to, easy diving and affordable: You can drive to Florida in a day. The diving experiences are diverse, from springs to rivers to a giant aquarium. All dives are easy and interesting for all levels of divers and the water temperature is a constant 70 degrees, year around.
What could be better?
#1 Blue Grotto was crowded. It is hard to say when it is less crowded. We were there on a Monday and there were over 50 people there. We have dove Blue Grotto in the past and it is much easier, more fun and safer when there are fewer people. The facility is nice.
#2 If you want to go deep, it's not gonna happen in most locations. Rainbow River 25’ max, Alexander Springs 27’ max, Blue Grotto 30'max (unless you go down into the overhead environment at 100’), Epcot DiveQuest 25’ max. I personally don’t care how deep the dive is, as long as it is interesting, but for those that “require” more atmospheres, best to bring a shovel.