Name: Howard Park Cave Dive
Rating: 4.5

Florida

Pinellas 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

Thought you might Like to add this to your list of Shore dive sites in Florida This is a wild cave and can be a bit hairy as vis can range from 20 down to < 5 and 65' at the deepest spot I have found. Have Fun --Tim

Not so easy to find if you don’t know exactly where it is. And since this winter my markers have been blown off by the storms. The site is listed at http://www.caveatlas.com/systems/system.asp?ID=37

Tarpon Springs

Howard Park Cave Dive

The grotto is used for training, open water diving, and is available for private parties and special events. The Grotto walls are hour glass shaped loaded with solution tubes and other objects to look at. The bottom is dome shaped, and the edges average around 100 - 110 feet in Depth. with the deepest spot, about 155ft in a small opening against the north wall. There are four platforms, Three of them just under the end edge of the dock, and one in the middle of the sink. The three platforms are layered like steps, the first one is at 20ft.,the second at 45 ft. and the third at 60ft. Tied to the white barrel there is a line that runs down to a 100 foot platform which is used for Advance Open Water classes.  The Platform sits next to two boats and lines run to an old VW van, and other interesting objects sitting on the bottom. There are several thermo clines, the mid-water temperature can get pretty cold between 40 and 80 feet , however the bottom temperature usually stays in the low 70's.  The water is tannic all year, and visibility can really fluctuate with the algae bloom. Cost is usually around 10- $20 for divers depending on visibility.

Located one mile North from the intersection of SR 52 and US Hwy 19. Tower Drive is directly across the street from the Castriota Chevy Dealership. Hudson Grotto is on the left side of Tower Drive, just across the street from Scuba West dive shop.

Hudson Grotto

The program is approximately 90-minutes and includes an educational presentation about sharks and a 30-minute dive in the Shark Bay exhibit. The divers will exit the shark cage with an Aquarium dive master and position themselves on the bottom of the exhibit in front of the exhibit window for optimal viewing of the sharks. Family and friends will be able to view the divers during all phases of the dive from the Sea Hunt gallery.

The Shark Bay Exhibit at The Florida Aquarium, 701 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Florida.  http://www.flaquarium.org/html/l2/l2_explore_dive.html  From I-275 Southbound - Coming from North Tampa & Ocala Areas  Take Exit 45A (OLD 26) Downtown East (Jefferson Street) Continue straight on Jefferson to Twiggs Left on Twiggs to Channelside Drive Right on Channelside Drive to Washington Street Left on Washington Street to Aquarium Parking

Shark Bay Exhibit At the Florida Aquarium

The Sheridan lies within the Pinellas #2 Artificial Reef Site and is just 100 yards southeast of the USCG Blackthorn. The Sheridan is a fantastic wreck dive. The 180-foot tugboat lies upright and fully intact. The tug lists about 50 degrees to starboard with its prop in place. The top of the wreck can be reached at 25-30 feet. The wreck is surrounded by concrete culverts and tires.

Many consider the Sheridan to be one of the best wreck dives in the Tampa/Clearwater area. The Sheridan is home to several Goliath Grouper and barracuda and always has lots of marine life to observe. Spanish mackerel, amberjack, crevelle jack, trigger fish, snapper, and even the occasional shark frequent the reef site. This is a great spot to take pictures of some large grouper. Advanced wreck divers will enjoy exploring the open compartments.

Boat dive only.

Sheridan

Dome shaped sinkhole where groups of manatees gather in the winter months.  Jack fish and eels can also be seen. 

Rent a canoe in the town of Weeki Wachee Springs and travel a short distance upstream from the canoe dock on the gentle Weeki Wachee River to find sinkhole where many manatees gather in the winter seasons.  Shallow water around the sinkhole allows shore-like entrance.  Small buoy marks the sinkhole.  Rent a canoe through a local store and travel from the parking lot at Rogers Park canoe launch east up the river.

Hospital Hole

Individual diving will not be permitted.  Individuals wishing to dive at the spring, must contact one of the registered dive shops for availability and pricing.



Weeki Wachee Springs is about 12 miles southwest of Brooksville at the head of the Weeki Wachee River. It is just south of State Hwy 50 on the west side of U.S. Hwy 19. This is a well known landmark and will be very easy to find. Look for the swimming mermaid signs all over the interstate and state highways. 


Weeki Wachee

Weeki Wachee can best be described as a fresh water spring with a theme park built around it.  In between dives you can watch the mermaid show that takes place right there in the spring.  Divers must be accompanied by local dive shops with permission to enter and dive.

Located on US 19 in the heart of a very small town called Weeki Wachee.  It's about an hour and a half north of Tampa, Fl.

Weeki Wachee Springs

This is an advanced dive. Do not take this lightly. Do not screw it up for the rest of us. Getting to the nest was often as hard as the dive. It was best to go with someone who had been there several times before since the hunting roads can become an incredible maze. This is an extremely advanced dive due to the distance from help and the depths found here. If you have never seen the Little River well pipe, done the Peacock Grand Traverse, and hit the Hinkle restriction, all on on a swim dive, then you probably should not be diving here. There is no open water, cavern, intro, nor apprentice to cave level of diving conducted here unless under the control of an instructor. With a team of 3-4 divers using HIDs and scooters, one can really just start to get an idea of the size of this place. Access is gained through the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. The access is about 10 miles north of the Hwy 50/Hwy 19 intersection. There are some good directions with pictures at this site: http://www.ezscuba.com/eagle's_nest.htm  When you dive there, please make sure to leave a copy of either your annual pass or the stub you got after paying at the ranger on the vehicle dashboard so that law enforcement may check it while you are in the water. Please also leave a copy of your cave certification card as well as you would at Peacock and be sure to sign the log book. If you want to see the waypoints, you can see the track here. Although the words overlap, the first point after the entrance is the first Y-split, soon followed by the second Y-split and then the crossroads.



Eagle's Nest is a large cave system on Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area property about the woods near Weeki Wachee. Access is now available for the general public. The good news is that a good road has been provided all the way to the sink and a wooden deck and staircase have been installed for easy access. The bad news is that the sink is now 12 miles from the current access even though it is less than a mile from the closest paved road.  If you use a Garmin GPA with Mapsource, then you can import this Mapsource track, or click here to see how the track appears. The state has put in a lot of time and effort to improve the road and build a dock and ramp system to enable divers to have easy access. This is a great deal. The price to dive here is $3 a day or you may purchase an annual Wildlife Management Area pass for $26.50 at local hunting supply stores or even Wal-Mart.

Eagle's Nest is also known as Lost Sink.

Eagle's Nest

Spanish Rocks Reef is unique in that it is one of the very rare saltwater shore dives on the west coast of Florida.  This dive site consists of limestone ledges that vary in height off the bottom from about a foot to about five feet high in certain locations.   Life on the ledges are sponges, tunicates, lots of sea weed, and some corals (hard coral, sea fans, gorgonians).  Various tropical fish live on an around the ledges with turtles and nurse sharks spotted on occasion.  Average depth is from 15 to 20 feet based on tides.  Visibility is highly dependant upon prevailing wind direction and strength.

This dive site located off of Bradenton Beach, FL on Anna Maria Island.  To get to this location find the beach access point on Gulf Drive North and 33rd Street.  33rd Street is only 50 to 100 feet long and serves as the parking lot for the local beach access.   A way to get there from the mainland is to take SR 64 (Manatee Ave.) to Gulf Drive North and then go south about a quarter mile.   If you keep going south along gulf drive for about another 1.5 miles you will get to the other Brandenton Beach shore dive site the Wreck of the Regina (aka Sugar Barge).  The 33rd St. Gulf Drive N. beach access is marked by a small blue green sign to the west.   From the Beach access point find the reef by walking south along the beach six houses and then head out from there due west for a couple hundred yards.  You have to go past the sandy bottom area.  If the visibility is poor it can be easy to miss.  The ledges then heads towards the west away from shore at an angle.

Spanish Rocks Reef

Many people come here to dive and snorkel because of the large manatee population that migrate up into the warm natural spring fed waters that remain a constant 72 degrees all year round. 

During the winter months, Crystal River boasts the largest manatee population and is the only place in the world that you can swim with the manatees during our manatee tours.



South of King's Bay, Crystal River.

Howard Park Cave Dive

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Howard Park Cave Dive