Blue Grotto is one of Florida’s nicest diving spots and it is designed for both the novice and the expert divers alike. It is one of Florida’s warm water springs that is 72 degrees all year long. To see some photos we have taken of this location click here.
Blue Grotto is located about 2 miles outside of Williston, Florida on Hwy 27. When you first arrive you must check in at the front desk and pay there fee, as this is a private springs and is not one of Florida’s State parks. You also must fill out an insurance waiver for the owners of the property and watch a 5 minute video on the springs with some of the does and don’ts of the location.
After the paper work and the video, you are set to dive and can proceed to the picnic table area and setup. We have dove here many times and have never had more than one or two other people sharing the whole dive area with us. This location is not open to any other recreation but diving. No swimming or snorkeling is allowed. After getting your gear on it’s about a 30 yard walk down some stairs to the water.
For the novice diver, there are two platforms located under the water surface. One is at 15 feet and one is at 30 Feet. These come in handy for the novice to stop at during their ascending to the surface for doing there decompression stops. The platforms are there for the local dive shops training classes when they are on site but I have only been there once when they were there.
Another nice thing about this location is at about 42 feet there is a large bell suspended from the roof of the ledge. It constantly has compressed air pumped into it so you can surface up into it with your dive partner, if need be, to communicate with them without having to surface back to the top. Remember that this is compressed air so that the time in the bell is included in your total dive / bottom time.
The bottom of Blue Grotto, like most of Florida’s springs, are very silky so you will want to avoid the very bottom if at all possible, if not you will stir up the water and with it being a confined space the silt doesn’t flow out so it can stay stirred up for some time if you’re not careful. You will also find some Catfish and small other fish swimming around in there to watch and look at during the dive.
Once you surface, if you are interested in doing multiple dives, the location does have Air fills available, as of my last visit there they still did not offer Nitrox fills.
To close, my wife and I enjoy this location very much and will return again. It is an ideal location to just do some relaxing dives and possibly work on any of the techniques we are working on like our buoyancy or other techniques.
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