By:
Submission
From jct US 41 & US 27A: Go 1 mi W on US 27A, then 1 mi N on NE 180th Ave.
We dove here on New Years Eve...a couple of dives during the day, then came back before midnight to finish out 2023 25' underwater. Someone had a beach ball with a strobe, and so the ball did not drop, but rather ascended. Kind of hard to get that kiss...the masks get in the way.
Well set up facility. Quick tank fills and ample room under the pavilions. It's a nice little park.
Entrance is a narrow 29 step walk down to the spring. We didn't have camera for diving so have to find videos on your own. Snorkelers have to give way to divers...please remember that our gear can be heavy and cumbersome. When we were there we had no issues.
Spring is 72 degrees year round. We got out of the water and the temp was 45 at midnight. A bit chilly to be ripping off wetsuits and drying off, but it's checked off the bucket list now.
Won’t return: unique but overhyped.
We did our second checkout dive here - yes I passed, am an certified scuba diver 😊. The iconic photo is all there is.
The venue is well kept, I think it’s pretty small - didn’t have time to walk around. Our dive masters said during the high season, it’s crowded, but I feel it’s pretty crowded now.
Two sections of stairs lead you down, one is narrower than the other. You see the iconic photo - small cave, with willows (?) dripping down from the opening, mixing with the sunlight - very enchanting. Because it’s our training session, photography is discouraged. I managed a few shots while waiting for the dive master working with one of our mates.
The spring water is 72 degrees constant. The space for dive is tight … the snorkelers are mostly foreign.
We spent nearly an hour to do paperwork - so be aware and budget for it.
There is a swimming pool where we also spent a few hours, to train. They’ve bathrooms and showers.
The registration/rental office has a microwave (not sure it’s for guests). Long sleeve t shirt for sale.
I couldn’t image how divers manage during the high season.
The staff are extremely friendly (that includes the four legged members) and they explain everything very well. We came to snorkel. The snorkeling gear worked fine and it was easy to avoid accidentally getting water down the tube. When we visited Devil’s Den, the water felt too cold to us even though it’s advertised as 72 degrees year round. It might be best to go during the hot summer to cool off or else you’ll be envious of the scuba diver’s wetsuits.
There were several scuba diver groups when we went. From what we observed this looks like a great place to try out scuba diving for the first time to get the hang of it if the open ocean is too intimidating. The spring goes down pretty deep and there was plenty of room to accommodate approximately 20-30 scuba divers and roughly 5 snorkels.
Our snorkeling reservation gave us 90 minutes in the spring. For us this was too long. We were pretty cold by the end and could have done just a half hour tops.
As far as if there is a lot to see in the den, there really isn’t. There are fish and at least one large turtle in the spring, but it’s pretty dark and hard to see much of anything. A pro tip is to hover by a scuba diver that has a flashlight to see a bit more, but it’s really just rock.
It came out to just shy of $80 for two to snorkel and rent snorkeling gear. I would consider bringing your own snorkeling gear to lower the cost, but I still think the price is a extremely high. I can see why some people call this a tourist trap.
Gave it a solid 5 stars because diving into this cave and taking a swim was a blast! We visited on December 28th, and despite the cool weather, the cave was surprisingly warm inside. Snorkel gear rental was budget-friendly, and we had a good 2+ hours of underwater fun. Only cons is that after the changing room, you have to leave your clothing on picnic tables and walk your way in your swimming suit and snorkelling equipment (no place for sandals inside the cave or for towels. They should work on improving this. Also the reservation system is not friendly if you want to cancel a booking you have to call them. This is an issue if you live outside USA. But in general it was a great experience.
