Florida

Washington 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



3.5 miles northeast of Vernon; Washington County, FL

Vernon

Cypress Spring

Once a commercial dive operation site, Morrison Springs is now a Walton County recreation park. Bought by the State of Florida in 2004, it is now a no fee area. The dive area is an about 250 foot wide spring basin surrounded by a grove of cypress and other trees. Entry is sand gently sloped entry into the water. Water levels vary, but at approximately 18 to 25 feet, there is a training platform resting on the bottom of the basin. In the center of the basin, there is a funnel shaped entrance to the cavern area. A large tree trunk rests across this opening. Down the funnel is a small cavern room at about 35 feet and a large cavern room at about 50 feet. Depths can reach about 90 feet in the large cavern room. Water temps stay constant at about 65-68 degrees all year due to the spring. Facilities include bench areas, a bath house and restrooms, a covered picnic pavilion, a freshwater wash-down shower and some large floodlights. The area is also a popular launch place for local fishermen, who will launch boats in the same area as the divers. For this reason, a dive flag should be towed with the diver while in the dive basin. Caution should be noted anytime you surface as boaters don't always follow dive flag rules. As of October 2005, the county is meeting and planning upgrades to the facilities and also a separate boat launch area to separate divers and boaters. While this won't keep all boaters out of the basin, it will create a much safer dive environment. Nearest Dive Shop and Air Fills: Vortex Springs - http://www.vortexspring.com/ 10 miles away. Other sites that have information or pictures or maps. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/springs/locator/Morrison.htm http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/morrison.html http://www.floridacaves.com/morrison.htm http://tfn.net/Springs/Morrison.htm

Location: South of Ponce de Leon, Florida GPS coordinates N30.6578 W85.9056 Directions: Morrison Spring is south of the town of Ponce de Leon, Florida. Take I-10 and exit at Hwy 81 in Ponce de Leon. Go south on Florida Hwy 81. Turn left (east) on County Road 181. (look for a pavilion/shed in field with a Blue roof) Take CR-181 and turn right onto Morrison Springs Road. You will soon come to a fork in the road. Keep left and proceed to the spring. The road will dead end in the springs parking lot. Google Maps location: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=N30.6578+W85.9056&spn=0.048180,0.095645&t=h&iwloc=A&hl=en

Morrison Springs

WARNING!! Water is rather chilly. Wet suit recommended! ;D But rather nice, anyway.

Its easy! Just pay park admission, park, and walk up the path to the springs, surrounded by concrete.

Ponce De Leon Springs is also known as De Leon springs.

Ponce De Leon Springs



VORTEX Springs in Ponce De Leon FL.  It is a natural spring and mostly around 70 degrees.  It boasts Gin Clear vis!  There is a cavern there and some swim throughs.

Vortex Springs

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

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

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.

Aligator bayou

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

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





Bridge Span #14 is also known as Hathaway Truss 14.

Bridge Span #14

The 185-foot oil field supply ship sits upright in about 75 feet of water. Her bow points due south. The bridge can be reached at 40 feet and the main deck is at 66 feet. The cargo holds are open for exploration. Divers can also explore the head (complete with toilets) and the galley which still has several appliances. The Black Bart is a popular spot for wreck training and for photography. 



Cypress Spring

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Cypress Spring