Florida

Wakulla County

Divers will travel far and wide to find the best diving. But those who live in the United States have plenty of great diving on their doorstep as well, with plentiful access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. From warm-water reefs to temperate seas, here are some of the top places to scuba dive in the United States.

United States



Wakulla County, FL. East side of the entrance road into Wakulla Springs State Park.

Wakulla Springs

Sally Ward Spring



Wakulla County; part of Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park (WSSP). Entrance south on Rt 61. Ask the ranger first!

Cherokee Sink

Harvey's Cave

Jackson Blue Spring is the main spring that feed feed Merritts Mill Pond. Entrance of the cave is just west of the diving platform.

5 miles east of Marianna at the northeast end of Merritts Mill Pond

Jackson Blue Spring

Entrance is at about 5m (18 ft). and can be penetrated for 90m (300 ft) inside.

Near the west bank of Merritts Mill Pond, 5 miles east of Marianna. Entry is 2,100 ft downstream from Jackson Blue Spring.

Shangri-La Springs

80' Spring with a moderate outflow.  About 60' of rock wall to explore on the way down and up.  Also a cypress flat out to the Suwannee River

Very easy to enter.  There are two entry points from the dock.

Troy Springs

The cave travels to about 80 ft deep at appx 60 degrees down then almost straight down to a u-turn to the Florida room at about 120 ft deep. It is one of the largest underwater rooms. From there, it goes back to the terminal room where many false exits exist from there is goes to depth of over 190 ft in places. The terminal room has many ascending dead end routes and is where many got lost and died. It has been early 40 years since I was an avid cave diver and spent hours exploring most of the tunnels in the cave network. It was one of my favorite caves I ever had the opportunity to explore. It has been penetrated for thousands of feet back to no ends that I am aware of.

I would increase the depth claim but also express the dangers of this cave. Full cave certification is required for this network. 

North on 129 out of Branford, Florida.  Turn left on CR 248.  Follow 248 till it ends, veer left into county park.  Spring is the big hole at the bottom of the spring run.

Not to be undertaken without at least a Full-Cave certification or equivalent.

Little River is also known as Little River.

Little River

This was my first time a this site. Visibility was around 5- 10 ft., it was almost low tide. I heard that around high tide is much better vis. I also heard in the early summer you might get to see baby hammerhead sharks, but I didn't see any myself. Because of the changing tides there was a slight current. There were a variety of fish there, and some coral. 

Outside of Panama City Beach, Florida.

St. Andrews State Park

1,260-acre coastal park; 110ft, 40ft viz, 60-80DegF; for more information, call St. Andrews State Park at (850) 233-5140 
Park Fees: Admission Fee--$5.00 per vehicle; $1.00 for the following: Pedestrians, Bicyclists, extra Passengers, Passengers in vehicles with holder of Annual Individual Entrance Permit 
Facilities: Picnic pavilions, bath-house, restrooms, beach chair rentals (in season), Park store with limited lunch food items for sale plus drinks, snacks and souvenirs. Beach on tidal pool with no waves and beach on main beach area where waves are located. Boat shuttle (fee charged) available to Shell Island (sand island) across channel from park. No facilities on Shell Island. 
Dive Shop Concession on site: Jetty Dive Shop 850-233-0197 On site air fills when compressor is working. Some rental tanks, but limited availability. Nitrox usually not available. 
Closest offsite Dive Shop: PC Dive Center at the corner of Front Beach Rd and Thomas Drive just outside the park at the first redlight. 
Dive Rules: Follow Florida State dive laws. Dive flag required for diving anywhere outside the jetty tidal pool. 
Best time to dive: At "high slack tide" Check local tide tables for time. 
Dive Conditions: strong currents can exist due to incoming/outgoing tide. Best time for lowest current and best visibility is at high slack tide. Depths to 65 feet in main channel. Beware of boat traffic above and use a dive flag as required by law. Fishermen sometimes fish on jetty rocks, so beware of line entanglement or being hooked. Best to carry a cutting tool just in case. 
Accommodations: Camping available at park or hotels/condos available outside park.

Hours of Operation: 8:00 AM to sunset 
Driving Directions: From Hwy 98 turn South on to Hwy 3031 (Thomas Drive) and follow it straight to Hwy 392 and turn left to enter into the gates of St. Andrews State Park. St. Andrews State Park is located approximately 3 miles east of Hwy 392.

St. Andrews Jetties, Panama Beach

There is tons to do here, lots of wreck dives there is even a bridge span to dive on 45 min offshore!! I tagged this location because this is were the hardest toughest members of our navy are forged and formed into navy divers. The history and technology that is housed here will humble even the most experienced diver. While your here check out the man in the sea museum this will surely give you a feeling of awwwwweeeeee.

Its Panama city beach!!! who doesn't know this place, from such infomercials like girls gone wild and girls gone wild spring break, there is also MTV specials filmed and hosted here every year for the Lower alabama and southern college folks.

Aligator bayou is also known as The mecca for Navy Diving.

Sally Ward Spring

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Sally Ward Spring