Difficulty
Unrated
Viz (last reported 940h ago)
Max Depth
40ft
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Crystal River
Crystal River is a fresh water river complex fed by warm freshwater springs. It offers a variety of fish (mullets, catfish, tarpon, etc.) and many Manatees. I found the manatees were friendly and unintimidated by SCUBA. Sadly, all of the manatees I saw had suffered multiple prop injuries. If you do boat in manatee territory, please look out for them. This is an easy site to dive and offers a good environment for beginners. Maximum depth is around 40 feet. The water is in the mid 70s to low 80s year round and I was comfortable diving in a 3-mil skin.
I know it can be shore-dived, but, I don't know a lot of the details of shore diving this site. I dove it from a small inflatable. I know it's in the North Western section of the Florida Peninsula, and, I believe it's a state park. Sorry I don't have more information. I only dove there once.
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shore
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Jason NYC
Mar 27, 2005, 12:00 AM
scuba
I honestly don't know where one might "shore" dive this river but I am sure it is done. My wife and I have snorkeled here from a small boat and did pass lots of private homes along the way so one surely could jump off a back yard and snorkel it very easily if you have access to the shore. Much of Crystal River is very shallow and would be a pain to scuba anyway, and I believe in some locations SCUBA isn't allowed. That's what we were told by the dive op anyway. We snorkeled with the gentle and friendly manatees in a shallow area and then did a dive in Kings Bay Cavern, a small cavern with an opening in about 15 feet of water located in a boat traffic lane a long surface swim from any decent "shore" I recall seeing around. Like the Florida Springs, temp was about 72 and viz in Crystal river runs from 10 feet to 100 feet depending on your location and amount of plant life etc in the water. I highly suggest time spent with these loving creatures. Just some thoughts on Crystal River that may help even though we didn't shore dive it… Ned DeLoach's comprehensive DIVING GUIDE TO UNDERWATER FLOIDA has a really detailed 3 page section devoted to Crystal River and its many springs. I highly suggest this book for any diver in Florida! Ned only says, "A boat is needed to dive in the bay and canals." Perhaps a future reviewer or local diver will add more info as to shore diving this wonderful river.
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