Great time! We rented tubes, I would recommend bringing your own or renting outside of the park…read more The tram was $7 a person we chose the hike instead but will pay the $7 next time because we were covered in ticks from the hike. Other than that it was fantastic and a great family adventure! Praise the Lord for this beautiful nature

We had such a blast. Entire experience was professional, organized, and fun. I took my dad and…read moreuncle and everyone had a blast.

Since my last review was over a decade ago, probably time for an update. I don't come to Ginnie as…read moreoften as other area springs but it's worth a visit now and then--on weekday mornings ideally if you want to freedive, swim, and miss the crowds of the weekend. It's a good camping destination, too. For me, the main draw however is freediving and there's plenty here to see. You cannot and should not by any means enter caves as a freediver--it's forbidden and even for highly-experienced freedivers, dangerous. If we freedivers don't want to wear out our proverbial welcome, yes, we need to behave. Cave-certified SCUBA divers are the only ones to enter caves. I want to address some things which came up between my own observations and what I've read in other reviews here. For one, the food. This isn't a good place to get good food. If you want something nice, get it "in town" in High Springs or bring something to cook if camping. For that matter, bring your snacks and gear because expectedly things are a bit overpriced at the merch store here. If you don't what the place to be loud, busy, and long lines then don't come on weekends and holidays. It's that simple. This is a business and they'll let in as many people as they safely can let in. As far as loud music and uneven enforcement of rules, I think this just comes down to different employees acting their own way. Most summer help is students, they're not going to have the discernment and acumen of a veteran police officer in dealing with people. Most are nice, some are lax, some overzealous. About the bath houses and other facilities. I think things are in pretty good shape--on par with bath houses at campgrounds in the Ocala National Forest, in example. Nothing was horribly dirty any time I was there but folks--this is camping. Remember that. I don't see the need for tram or shuttle, either. Maybe for disabled or infirm folks but most of us can simply walk between springs and should. Overall I feel Ginnie is well-run for what it is, with your normal business caveats like they'll charge what they can get away with in their store which is exactly why you want to buy stuff at Walmart or whatever prior to coming here. It's a great place to camp and unique, beautiful, springs you'll remember your entire lifetime.

Ginnie springs is an amazing private property camping spot for trails, swimming in the springs and…read morea great weekend camping. Highly recommend not coming on the holidays. You get this mix of ghetto hick thugs speeding through the park flashing whatever bs they think is cool. They are trying to crack down but the park is big and there's always someone has to ruin it for visitors. Great spot on week days. One of the few places you can drink and float down the river and hit some springs. I've had many great times

One of our top 5 favorite springs to visit, perfect for the family and great spot to visit when you…read moretrying to cool down from the sun. You can rent kayaks here and go down the Santa Fe. Lots of parking but sometimes can reach capacity on the weekends. No inflatable floats in the spring is kind of lame but you can bring noodles.

This is a small and very accessible park that has one swimming hole open currently. It was quite…read morewarm the day we were there and don't was pretty crowded. Water is a bit chilly but you get used to it. The blue hole (spring source) is about 20-25 feet down - a pretty easy snorkel. Not a lot of current. Shallow areas are good for kids and there is kayak/canoe rentals to paddle downstream to the Santa Fe River. Bathrooms were a bit disgusting. Smelled of raw sewage. A good place to spend a few hours.

The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable about the springs. Will definitely be back!read more

I booked a shuttle online because I brought my own kayak. The folks at the shop were very nice and…read moreextremely knowledgeable about the river. The shuttle driver was also very professional and knowledgeable about the river, the accesses, and the ecosystem. Would 100% recommend this shuttle service to anyone wanting to float the Santa Fe, especially if you want to get away from the crowds.

My family picked up our tubes just two streets away from the river. They attached them to the car…read morequickly and the staff were polite. Plus they sale boiled peanuts if you want to give those a try.

I'm going to go ahead and give these guys 3 stars because though the bathrooms gave me the heebie…read morejeebies and are a solid 1 star, driving up and tubing down the spring was sooo nice! This made the trip worth it and I imagine why any and all choose to stay here. When walking to the bathrooms after dark you may need a flashlight depending on where you're parked. Definitely take Lysol too, because well, yuck. You're pretty much in the boondocks, so we had no cell service and bugs, bugs, bugs, and more bugs! Tube rentals are very reasonably priced ($6-10). If you can get the tahiti lounge "tube" I highly recommend it! Also, don't think twice about bringing your flip flops. Do it! Those bad boys will come in handy, as they can be used as paddles to help you navigate and flow down the spring. Staff was friendly! There's a little convenience store that has an assortment of things you may need or have forgotten, which is cool.

Came here for my wife's birthday and hoped to see a manatee. Got to see 3. It was amazing and…read morebeautiful. Cant wait to do it again.

Great communication and beautiful river! Safety is #1. The owner Dawn is very informative!read more

Best river I've ever kayaked, gorgeous springs and beaches. Untouched nature at it finest. Thanks…read moreto the crew who shuttled us around, yall are awesome! I'll be back very soon.

There is nothing else like this campground! It is a fun and interesting destination trip. Animals…read moreabound; chickens, goats, sheep, Keets, pig, dogs, ducks and cats have the run of the place. Hear a rustle in the woods, it's probably Ginger the Kunekune making her rounds. There are two donkeys and a cow as well. The staff is flat out amazing, from Brian who often checks on me, to the family that runs the place. Spacious sites in a bucolic setting and the bonus is an Esther Williams delightful spring two miles away at the State Park.

I am giving these folks 5 stars - but one of my buddies camping with me would score them much…read morelower. So, I guess it depends what you are looking for in a campground. Check in was easy, our campsite was clear, no bugs or refuse, and it was as easy walk back to he office with the showers and other general store type items. There was wooded space between the campsites - providing a sense of privacy. My only complaint would be those of nature... early in the morning some crows were very interested in what feels like our specific campsite and flying around the trees above it and cawing back and forth with each other. On the other hand, my buddy -who was an Eagle Scout in his youth- was not impressed. We had a primitive style campsite. No electric or water hook up where we were. There was a port-o-potty nearby- but if it didn't meet your standard you had to walk about two blocks to the general store. The showers felt more like hostel showers then camp showers. My take away was that his past camping experiences have been a lot more pampered than I am use to when I camp. I could easily camp here again in the future.

Had a great time kayaking with Lars, yes like Mars but with an L…read more I was apprehensive at first as to how it was going to go since I have a very limited experience with kayaking. A few times in the past two decades with a few friends who knew what they were doing. It was going to be 4 hours or so on the river. The weather was beautiful and it was so wonderful to soak in all the greens surrounding us. Quite a few herons, osprey, and some kind of warbler. Very nice distance to drive from Gainesville and everyone in there kayak trip today was from Gainesville and they were all very nice. The drive to kayak destination and back in itself was a nice trip with change of scenery and getting out of town on a weekend to avoid the hussles and bussles of every weekend stuff with groceries and errands. Some people saw some alligators and were trying to point them out hiding but we didn't see any on the same trip! We are told that they don't bother people much in general:) When I expreeesed the concern about not being able to keep up with all other kayakers, my husband said that he would leave me behind and if an alligator has not gotten to me on the way back, he will bring me back home if I fall behind. Yes, he is the perfect picture of support!!!! Lars is very laid back and knowledgeable and easy to talk to and we learned a lot during this trip and would love to come back for more. It was such a fun great nature trip!!!!!

The place is long gone and shut down, he was a nice person , then the guy got caught up with the…read morepeople causing overtourism on our river which has contributed to the decline of the river and the area, so good luck with the one guy.

From Tampa, it took an hour and 30 minutes to get to the river. We first wanted to take a swim in…read morethe swimming area so we went there first before it got really crazy. The area is a bit small and there isn't really a lot of sun spots for you to chill at. It is cool to experience once but I think if you tube, you still will be able to get a swim in because parts of the river are pretty deep. After the swim area, we headed to the tubing section. It is a 15 minute drive from the main park entrance. The fee was 54 for two people that had an annual pass. Highly recommend bringing a small cooler with snacks and drinks and an extra tube for it. It took us about 2 hours to float back to our car and the river is very calm and relaxing. I've floated a river in San Antonio but wasn't as nice as Rainbow springs. Very clean and the water is sooo clear. Overall, really enjoyed our day visit to this state park!

Our tubing trip down the river was pretty, but it was quite boring. It took us two hours to float…read morefrom the entrance to exit, and it was extremely slow. We kept getting stuck in trees and bushes. The fun part was getting to swim in the clear water and passing off our tubes to a floating friend to hold onto. We also saw an otter. The lady at the rental station was very generous and let us borrow multiple pairs of goggles and masks. There were a bunch of motorboats passing by and blasting their music. They disturbed us with their waves and noise. It was around $27 per person in addition to $5 for one vehicle, and we paid all the fees upon entrance to the parking lot. They take you on a safari-like tram to get to the tubing entrance. I strongly recommend water shoes because my friends were suffering while barefoot on the hot ground. The walk was unexpectedly long and painful for my barefoot friends. They don't have showers or any sort of water spout/hose, so it was kind of gross to not be able to rinse the river gunk off then drive hours back to a major city. They have restrooms, but they were already closed when we walked from the river exit back to the tube station, even though the actual park wasn't closed yet, and there were still employees there. This was very inconvenient, and I wish they had at least told us in advance because we didn't have a place to change. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the restrooms to stay open while the park is open. Also, they have you sign a waiver that says you must wear a lifejacket at all times. They didn't even offer us one, so I was baffled why they made us sign a waiver that said that. Can't they get into legal trouble if they don't actually provide lifejackets? I was troubled by the fact that we had to sign something that wasn't in the slightest bit enforced.