We were here in mid April to complete our open water certification class, and I had no idea what to expect (for obvious reasons). The facilities were definitely adequate. There is a large covered area near the water with picnic tables and such underneath was nice as well, although I would have appreciated another entry / exit point near the water. This goes quickly, but there are also several picnic tables closer to the water, most of which are situated by smallish trees that provide a bit of shade during the day. I would suggest bringing a tarp for your gear because the ground is pretty sandy out there. The restrooms aren't too far of a hike from the spring itself, and are located in close proximity to the main office / dive shop. The bath house with the three (blessedly hot) showers, however, are a bit further out... but not too far that I didn't take a hike over there to warm up between dives on our second (windy) (colder) (rainy) day of diving. Both of the restroom / bath buildings are exactly what you come to expect from campground type places - concrete, a little sandy, most everything is working but it's a little run down, décor is either nonexistent or has a kinda home-made kitschy feel to it. I didn't see any spiders, though, so I was cool. The spring itself was a lot smaller than what I was expecting. There were stairs with handrails for water entry (although the right side of the wooden set we were using was a little too steep for my comfort), which was much appreciated. There are also several concrete platforms for divers to hang out and check out on skills (it's a popular place for the checkout dives it seems), as well as a swim-through and a talk box, a couple of rings for working on neutral buoyancy, as well as a couple of ascent lines with buoys. Gravel bottom for the most part, with odd hose-type things running all over the place, and LOTS of green algae-ish type stuff everywhere. On our first day of diving, this crap was so thick in the water that our visibility was severely limited (like10ft-ish) due to all the divers in the water stirring things up all day (we dove around 230pm from what I remember?). From what I understand, they have a filtration system to try and cut down on some of that stuff, and also a guy that works to maintain it as well, but there's only so much you can do. The second day was actually pretty nice -- we were there waiting when the shop opened up at 7am and we wanted to get checked in, in the water, and get our dives done before the severe weather started rolling in. And because of that forecast, there were hardly any people there, which made the water conditions ridiculously better. We could see plenty of fish swimming around (fun!) and visibility was muuuuuch better. Even so, I still got myself turned around on our last dive (which was a plan-and-execute-yourself kind of deal). The water is a cool 68 degrees -- I am cold-natured, so even with a 5mil 2-piece wetsuit on (which means 10mil on my core), I was still a little chilly while we were just sitting around on the platform while the other folks in our class did their skills. It definitely gets dark down in the cavern area, so make sure you bring at least a small light even if you're not planning on going into the cave itself. The dive store sells feed for the fish from what I've been told, and then fish themselves are definitely not people-scared as a result. Bottom line - this was way more fun than I expected, and the facilities were definitely up to par. I'm more into nice warm water and tropical fish, but I was kind of surprised at how many different fish we saw (including a few koi near the edges early that morning) and how neat it was to poke around on the 2nd day. If you're coming here for a fun dive and not classes / training, I would avoid doing so at peak times -- you won't see a thing due to all the crap being stirred up in the water by inexperienced folks (like me, ahem). read more

See all

We camp and snorkel here all the time. The water is crystal clear and 68 deg year round. You can rent scuba gear if you are certified and you can rent snorkel gear. You have to be a certified cave diver to scuba in the cave. The depth at it's deepest part is 55 ft deep. Love the place! Cons: It's very busy on the weekends with swimmers and scuba divers. When there are a lot of people in the water they kick up the bottom and your visibility is lowered greatly. read more

I am very disappointed in their gear rentals. The masks seemed old and worn out. They kept leaking. The dive vests would not hold the tanks on properly. The girl that helped us didn't know anything about diving and couldn't answer any questions about diving and not knowledgeable at all. If you are going to rent gear know what you are renting!!!! The equipment seemed old and worn out. My husband and daughter couldn't dive because the vests wouldn't hold their tanks. The belts kept popping open and slipping. I do not recommend renting dive gear from here at all. I am happy to say though that they at least gave us a refund of half the cost of two full dive package rentals. read more

I've been visiting Vortex for about a dozen years, this has always been one of my favorite dive sites. The spring is beautiful and always offers refreshing cool water. The camp area is very dusty and no one really pays attention to the 'drive slow' signs and dust gets stirred up pretty regularly. Unfortunately, this includes staff. This caused a lot of sinus issues for myself and company. Camping is well priced but I'd gladly pay more if the facilities were modernized. The bathroom and shower facilities are horrible and haven't had any significant improvements in over a decade. I really hope the owner includes brand new facilities in the future. The porous concrete shower stalls are disgusting...they need to be tiled or razed, paint won't fix that... Also, the bathroom stalls are regularly out of TP and don't seem to be cleaned regularly. That being said, Vortex is one of my favorite places. PLEASE build new shower and bathroom facilities. Also...the campgrounds WiFi does not work, even when the place is empty. read more

We had a blast at Vortex over the weekend. We stayed with a large group in one of the lodges, and those facilities were surprisingly nice, definitely nicer than I expected! Hot showers, real flushing toilets, reasonably comfortable bunk beds (plastic wrapped for your protection! ;D), and very cold AC. Couldn't have asked for more. The spring itself was beautiful. On Saturday morning we were the first group in the water and the water was crystal clear, and breathtakingly cold. The visibility in the spring got worse as the day went on, but by the time we went for our night dives it had cleared out considerably. I loved seeing all the wildlife in the spring, especially at night when the eels came out. So cool! I also appreciated the many entries/exits in the spring. It rained the entire weekend we were there, and the grounds were very soggy and sandy, with lots of standing water. I was damp, sandy, and chilly pretty much all weekend, but none of that matters once you're in the water! read more

So we originally went to Morrison Springs but after arriving found the river had flooded it and wasn't looking swim friendly. Some locals told us to check out Vortex Springs so we did. Blown away! Coming from Arizona we have Big Surf and Sun Splash which are great places to have fun in the summer but this place is so much neater. Camping, scuba diving, rope swings, luge slides, high dive platforms, diving boards, swim platforms, cabins and plenty of places to grill and get your drink on. This is a natural spring that stays 68 degrees year round and has non stop options for all the family to partake in. Scuba divers have clear blue water that is 100' deep we were told with caverns down 60'. Divers get certified here and come from all around. There is a man made water area that water is pumped from to keep fresh and provide additional water options. If you are ever this way with the family a must stop for the day. read more

Vortex Spring Adventures - Fun times with sugar pie! - Resorts Near Me - Ponce De Leon, Florida

See all

Camping in the area to visit Ponce De Leon Springs when we happened to speak to a local who told us about Vortex Springs. We decided to gamble the $10 a person to visit and sure glad we did! The spring had slides, rope swing, diving board and jump platform. There was plenty of shallow and deep spots to pick from. We went on a Friday that was fairly busy, but the place was so big and everyone so spread out that it didn't feel too crowded. The whole family had a blast and we wished we had known about the place sooner! read more

Had a great time out there! Only $8 to enjoy all the services and 5$/HR for canoe or kayak rental. Service was excellent and young lady who rented the canoe to us was very sweet. Thanks for a great time. read more

Had planned on going to vortex springs for open water dive certification. Called ahead to find out if we needed to take the dive course first or the PADI E Learn. We were told we could take the course first but wouldn't be certified until we completed the e-learn. Ok great! Couple of months later, called and made reservations for my son and I to stay there for four days and to take the open water dive course. I received a phone call stating that we have to have the e-learn course prior to the instructor led course. You've got to be kidding me!!! I called ahead and specifically asked which course was required first, now we've made our reservation and you go and tell me the opposite. It was an extra $400 on top of the $1300 we were paying for the course and lodging. I was not prepared for this and had to cancel our trip. Vortex Springs could offer me no more than an apology and offer to reschedule, Ha! I think not. We will just stay in Pensacola and go to MBT Divers. They clearly layout there procedure on their website. If you do want to take the dive course here make sure you take PADI E-Learn first. read more

Hands down my worst diving experience, staff was super rude to multiple customers including myself. Place is a shit hole, avoid at all costs

Water visibility wasn't great, but there were a lot of divers. Probably best to dive if you are cert'd for cave & caverns. Water would clear, but I've heard it should be much better. read more

This was my first time visiting. If it weren't for the cigarette smoke, it would have been a lot better. The bathroom is about 100 degrees or you can use a porta-potty. This place has a lot of potential but for now, it's not that great. read more

Do not go here. No lifeguards, wood and rock sticking out of the water. Pretty dangerous and management is sus

Great swimming, scuba diving, friendly staff and guests, cold, cold, clear water and lots to do. I took my grown kids here for Labor Day 2014 and we had a blast! Already planning the next trip to Vortex Springs! read more

Loved this place! We arrived early and got a nice shady spot near the water. We unloaded our picnic supplies and headed to the water. Brr it was cold but so refreshing. They had a diving board, a rope swing, and several platforms and slides. We stayed for most of the day and had a great time. We'll definitely be going back soon. read more

Only giving this place a 3 star review and will explain in detail why. We got there to check in and all was going well, the girl at the counter made and helped us feel welcome right off the bat. We got checked in and paid and were able to go begin setting up. So far so good. I walk down to the water looks amazing and I begin assembling my gear. Maybe 5 minutes into getting my stuff layed out a lady mowing grass begins to mow in the immediate area we are setting up in (no mower there when we picked it and it looked mowed already). She was very inconsiderate as she blew the grass at us and kept driving away and coming back but not making specific passes was just mowing at random. She could have given us about 10-15 minutes and we would have been in the water and she could have mowed the whole spot before we were done. The few swimmers that were there overtook the dock that was for scuba divers only and people who worked there even saw this but did nothing. Went to get our tanks filled and had to wait nearly 20 minutes for the guy to show up to fill them. He then stopped filling right at 3000 pounds of a hot fill and said were good to go resulting in only about 2600 actual pounds of air in the tank. He could have sat them in the tank of water right next to the fill station and let hem cool for about 5 minutes and then stuck them back on the compressor. I go to check out and the lady inside is real nice again and helps me pick out a shirt. I ask her for a shop sticker and after we've spent over $100 there already still charges me $2 for the small sticker, like for real. Every shop I have ever been to ever has given me a free sticker if I bought something here. Granted it's only $2 but it's the principal behind it. It's a cool place to dive 1 time but I will only go back once I get my trimix and side mount setup to go deeper into the cave. read more

Could have been cleaned up quite a bit. The area that children can play in is small and not well kept. Loud vulgar music by obnoxious teens was enough to make is go elsewhere. read more

I recently visited here with some friends. Made a reservation. They said they had to charge for the first night as a security thing just in case we didn't show. I said alright. When we got there the charge was refunded and my friends and I payed full cash. The day after we left my account was chArged for the first night again. Then I called them they said they would fix it. I check the next morning, not only is it not fixed, they charged my account again for the night. Needless to say one more slip up and the better business bureau is a getting a call. Their showers didn't have enough water pressure to shower. Not even enough pressure to flush the toilet. read more

Don't waste your $. It was dirty, staff was rude, water was full of trash and algae. Save your $ and head to Ponce de Leon state park. crystal clear springs , much cleaner, and worth the $4 it costs to get in as suppose to the $8 per person at vortex springs. read more

My wife and I went here for a weekend get away dive. The water was extremely clear (at first). Unless you want to dive in 8-12 ft of water and see some nice algae covered pipes, you are limited to a 50' area of 22' water with one small crevasse you can actually go to 37'. There were 4 certification classes going on. (No knock on these guys, congrats to all of the students!!!!!) Due to the number of people, the space got very small, very quick. By noon it was so silted visibility was as poor as anywhere I have dove. During the last dive of the first day, my wife had a weight pouch come within feet of her head. I brought the pouch up and asked around, but couldn't find the owner. The being crowded, was just a product of the days we chose, and is what it is, nothing the park could have changed. However the things they can control and change they don't. There are signs everywhere on the diver's side that say "FOR SCUBA DIVERS ONLY". By mid day my wife and I were down to one side of one platform we could use for entry, as the rest were taken over by swimmers. Rules here are simply not enforced. I blame the owners, not the staff, as the staff are all CHILDREN. My guess is the oldest was no older than 18-19. Don't get me wrong, they were great kids, and helpful with the things they could help you with. My curiosity got the best of me, and having conversations with them, I discovered there was not 1 person on staff that day that was a certified diver.......They were very polite and outgoing, and I enjoyed talking to them, but not what you would expect for a diving facility. We ended up not returning for our last planned day of diving. I can assure you that will be our first and last trip there. Sad a place has that much potential, and is managed so poorly. read more