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Dive Locations: |
Ginnie Spring
The Ginnie Spring basin is a large, bowl-shaped depression measuring
over 100 feet across and 15 feet deep. A 150-foot long run connects the
basin to the nearby Santa Fe River. The chief attraction here is the
Ginnie cavern, whose wide, open entrance can be found at the bottom of
the basin.
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Ginnie
cavern is among the handful of sites that experts consider sufficiently
safe to allow exploration by divers who lack formal cavern or cave
diver training.
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Certified
divers of all experience levels may take lights into the water with
them at Ginnie Spring and use these lights to explore the underwater
cavern. The cavern's upper room is illuminated by light from the
entrance. Looking back toward the entrance from this room provides a
breathtaking view. Like most of the cavern, the upper room's walls are
composed of an extremely light and highly reflective limestone, which
adds to its natural beauty.
Moving to the back of the upper room,
divers pass through a large opening into the amphitheater-sized area
called the "Ballroom." Although surface light is clearly visible from
most places within the Ballroom, divers will want to carry dive lights
to see everything there is to see. The Ballroom provides divers with
the opportunity to examine many of the unusual geologic formations that
are unique to the Floridan Aquifer. The Ballroom's ceiling contains an
excellent example of spongework--a gigantic, limestone swiss cheese.
Midway between floor and ceiling, divers will find evidence of a
bedding plane--a distinctive horizontal crack that is crucial to the
movement of underground water. At the northwest corner of the Ballroom
is a beautifully carved phreatic tube--a perfect example of the most
common form of underwater cave formation. Nearby, a larger
bedding-plane formation collects air in mercury-like pockets on the
ceiling.
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At the very back of the Ballroom (a maximum depth of 50 feet), is a
large, welded grate. This grate prevents divers from entering the
dangerous, silty and maze-like cave system that lies beyond.
Nevertheless, most divers enjoy pulling themselves up to the grate, so
that they can experience the "in-your-face" force of the 35 million
gallons of water a day that pass through the opening. A large-diameter,
heavy duty guideline runs from the back of the Ballroom to the cavern
entrance. This helps ensure there is never any doubt as to which way is
out.
The
Devil Spring system is home to three separate springs: Devil's Eye,
Devil's Ear and Devil Spring ("Little Devil"), which together produce
nearly 80 million gallons of water daily.
Ginnie Springs enforces a strict No Lights
rule here. Only certified cavern or cave divers may enter the water at
the Devil Spring system while carrying dive lights. This helps prevent
untrained divers from going any place where their lack of training,
experience and specialized equipment could get them in trouble.
Devil Spring (also known as "Little" Devil) is a four-foot-wide
fracture at the head of the Devil Spring system run. It is 50 feet long
and almost as deep. Divers who descend to the bottom of this crack will
be rewarded with a breath-taking view as they look skyward.
Even
from the very bottom, it is not unusual to look up through the clear
water and be able to count the leaves on the trees over head. Devil's
Eye is a round opening, 20 feet across and equally deep. At the bottom
is the entrance to a small, intricately decorated cavern. Certified
divers may enter the cavern and explore up to the limit of what they
can see, using available sunlight. Devil's Ear is a canyon-like opening
located where the Devil Spring run joins the Santa Fe River. At the
bottom of this opening, water gushes from a cave opening with nearly
fire-hydrant-like force. Although the water in the Devil's Ear basin is
generally crystal clear, it is common for it to be covered with a thin
layer of tannin-stained river water. This phenomenon enables divers to
sit in the basin's clear water and look up at the sun and trees through
a unique, stained-glass effect created by the river water.
The Sante Fe River
During
the drier summer months, visibility in the Santa Fe River can reach as
much as 30 to 40 feet or more. When it does, river diving becomes
popular. Many divers like to enter the water at the Devil Spring system
and drift dive the nearly 1,000 feet to Ginnie Spring. Along the way,
they may see pleistocene-era fossils from giant ground sloths and other
prehistoric mammals. Due to overhead boat traffic, state law requires
that you tow a float and flag while diving in the river. These are
available from Ginnie's rental department.
Cave Diving
If
you are a certified cave diver, odds are you really need no
introduction to Ginnie Springs and, more specifically, the Devil's
Eye/Ear cave system. This is among the most popular cave dives on
earth, and many believe that more cave dives are logged here than at
any other site.
The
Devils Eye/Ear system gives certified cave divers over 30,000 feet of
passageway to explore. Devil's Eye and Ear are centrally located in the
heart of north-central Florida's spring and cave-diving country. Many
cave diving educators feel that Ginnie Springs's three caverns (Ginnie,
Devil's Eye and Devil's Ear) are the best possible place to begin
Cavern or Cave Diver training. In fact, it's not unusual for
instructors from around the world to bring students to begin their
training here.
The
Devil's Eye/Ear system also has the potential to expose cave divers to
the widest possible array of conditions, including high and low flow,
large and small passageways, and silty and silt-free bottoms. Devil's
Eye and Ear generally remains open and diveable, even when seasonal
flooding restricts access to other sites. Ginnie Springs is the only
place in North America where you will find everything you need for
cavern and cave diving at one convenient location. Our fully stocked
dive store, high-capacity fill station and three diveable springs are
all located on premises.
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Ginnie Springs 
365 days a year – Divers may stay in the park until midnight