Devil's Den

Cold! Cool limestone

Very nice dive site: lots of swim throughs that allow open water cert. divers to feel like they are adventurous cavern divers without all the dangers of cavern diving (though keep in mind, this is still, in fact, a cavern with an overhead roof). There are some fossils protruding from the walls of the cavern which were interesting. The water temp is 72 degrees, so bring a hood. The employees in the dive shop are very helpful, the picnic tables are set near the entrance to the spring making set-up of scuba gear convenient and the shower has hot water (which feels pretty good after finishing a two tank dive in Feb when air temp was in the 60's). I enjoyed this site more than the nearby Blue Grotto.

Very cool site and some of the nicest folks around. Words cannot describe this underground cavern; you have to see their website and visit for yourself. You need lights for sure but there is plenty to see and explore. Go early before a lot of other divers stir up the bottom and reduce the outstanding vis.

I dove this on a week day just as the park was opening for a wonderful 100ft+ visibility. Stayed relatively warm with a full 3mm suit, and a 5m hood in the cool 71 degree water. Gliding back and forth at about fifteen feet proved to be surreal as I peered down at the moonlike rock valley below. At the same depth there were two cool looking cave entrances to explore. The larger (20lbs.+) catfish are hidden back in the cavern's many crevasses, and their eyes glowed eerily red as our torch exposed them. Diving around the boulders and through the swim-throughs is a blast with our torch unlit. Overall it was worth doing two dives once, because of its uniqueness. The only negative I have is the blue carpet on dive platforms takes away from the Cavern's overall natural beauties. The dive fees were $31.00, and air fills were $6.00 at the time of this review.

As a previous reviewer stated, repeat trips will be at a minimum or not even necessary. You have to go down a flight of stairs into a cavern to get to the spring. It is a very cool site. There is an opening in the cavern ceiling with plants and vines hanging down into the cavern. The water temp was reading 71 degrees F on my computer. I'm used to warm Caribbean water, but I survived with a full 3MM suit and a 3MM hood. I did get cold after being down for about 45 minutes (second dive of the day, first being Blue Grotto). There are some sizable catfish in the cavern, and food can be bought to feed them if you want. It's a relatively easy dive with a few swimthroughs. Visibility was good, but not "gin clear" due to the number of divers and OW students. Worth a trip for something different.

Topside is an awesome sight with an enormous cavern and blue pool. The dive itself is decent and worth seeing once, but I don't know if it would be worth multiple trips. The Den does have very good facilities and grounds and a very friendly staff. Great for a Sunday afternoon dive with the family!

Did my OW here. Clarity was great. Water temp was great. Beats any rock quarry in Ohio!

Neat place. Be there when the park opens! For us it opened at 9, and we had the entire cavern to ourselves for about 45 minutes. Then visibility dropped quickly. It's a POPULAR training site for OW certs, and 40 or 50 divers kicking around made it worse and worse as the day wore on. (We did 2 full tanks, since we'd driven about 2 hours for the dive.) The catfish were huge and if you sit quietly, will school around pretty densely. Hovering under the surface opening and looking up or laying on your back at the surface, it is a gorgeous view of the oak trees and moss hanging into the opening. Bring a camera. The entry stairs are one diver at a time ONLY. They are made of wood, and sway pretty crazily with only a single equipped diver going down or up. Divers coming up have the right of way, so there got to be a LONG line of divers waiting to go down into the cavern. I think the should open it up a bit and rebuild the stairs with something a bit more substantial!! But again…. If you're early, there isn't a problem. The rest of the park was nice and relaxing, and the staff was great. T-shirt selection was very limited. One pattern, black or grey, medium or XL, you choose...The fossils in the walls were pretty good, but don't bring a knife into the cavern. They see a knife, and you're drying off for the day. It's a great place to get a "cave dive" feeling without actually risking your neck in a cave. :-)

Imagine walking in a field in Florida 100 years ago and falling into a hole about 25 feet wide and then plunging downward about 50-75 feet to land in a 72 degree, fresh water pool. The only light comes from the opening above you and the cool water appears to be an underwater maze of large boulders. Well, that's how I picture Devil's Den over 100 years ago.<br>Since then, a nice diving park has been built around the "hole" and lights have been installed in the underground pool as well as a set of wooden stairs that vanish into the earth and lead you to the water's edge. Pretty darn cool if you ask me. Add some large catfish and you have a Devil's Den. I read that the name comes from the fog that would gather at the top of the hole making the sink look like a "Devil's Den" to the locals. Fun place to dive. If you visit northern Florida, dive here and then drive down the road and spend some time at Ginnie Springs as well. Nice topside facilities too!

Hey, the staff was great! I needed to get a course done on a short stay, so they put me with a great PADI Instructor and made it all work out. Neat and clean place, rest rooms, shower, and places to set up! Great place to train year round. Easy location.

Excellent place to get familiar with diving again if you have been away for awhile and want safe conditions free from surf and currents. Easy access to the spring with a very short walk to the entrance. The stairs leading down are a little precarious and require your attention, but once at the bottom there is a large platform on which to finish gearing up and enter the water. The staff are more than friendly and facilities are accommodating.

Small sinkhole, but fascinating dive, about 50 ft is max depth, but you have to swim around/under large rocks to get that deep. I didn't think it was scary to go down there. Daughter,13, didn't like that idea. HUGE catfish (20-25lbs) swimming lazily around entry dock. 72 degrees, swimming pool visibility, year-round. Very enjoyable dive.

Great place for new divers. Interesting swimming around, under and through rock formations. Very friendly staff. No problems with air refills. The grounds are kept very clean and neat. Covered areas for large groups.