Morrison Springs

Morrison Springs

Florida, USA East
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Difficulty
beginner
Viz (last reported 23335h ago)
Max Depth
16.4 ft

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Morrison Springs

Once a commercial dive operation site, Morrison Springs is now a Walton County recreation park. Bought by the State of Florida in 2004, it is now a no fee area. The dive area is an about 250 foot wide spring basin surrounded by a grove of cypress and other trees. Entry is sand gently sloped entry into the water. Water levels vary, but at approximately 18 to 25 feet, there is a training platform resting on the bottom of the basin. In the center of the basin, there is a funnel shaped entrance to the cavern area. A large tree trunk rests across this opening. Down the funnel is a small cavern room at about 35 feet and a large cavern room at about 50 feet. Depths can reach about 90 feet in the large cavern room. Water temps stay constant at about 65-68 degrees all year due to the spring. Facilities include bench areas, a bath house and restrooms, a covered picnic pavilion, a freshwater wash-down shower and some large floodlights. The area is also a popular launch place for local fishermen, who will launch boats in the same area as the divers. For this reason, a dive flag should be towed with the diver while in the dive basin. Caution should be noted anytime you surface as boaters don't always follow dive flag rules. As of October 2005, the county is meeting and planning upgrades to the facilities and also a separate boat launch area to separate divers and boaters. While this won't keep all boaters out of the basin, it will create a much safer dive environment. Nearest Dive Shop and Air Fills: Vortex Springs - http://www.vortexspring.com/ 10 miles away. Other sites that have information or pictures or maps. <br>http://www.dep.state.fl.us/springs/locator/Morrison.htm <br>http://underwaterflorida.homestead.com/morrison.html <br>http://www.floridacaves.com/morrison.htm <br>http://tfn.net/Springs/Morrison.htm Location: South of Ponce de Leon, Florida GPS coordinates N30.6578 W85.9056 Directions: Morrison Spring is south of the town of Ponce de Leon, Florida. Take I-10 and exit at Hwy 81 in Ponce de Leon. Go south on Florida Hwy 81. Turn left (east) on County Road 181. (look for a pavilion/shed in field with a Blue roof) Take CR-181 and turn right onto Morrison Springs Road. You will soon come to a fork in the road. Keep left and proceed to the spring. The road will dead end in the springs parking lot. Google Maps location: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=N30.6578+W85.9056&spn=0.048180,0.095645&t=h&iwloc=A&hl=en
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Todd Yarbrough
Todd Yarbrough
Jun 7, 2016, 12:00 AM
scuba
I started diving at Morrison Springs in the mid 90s. Upon my first visit to this site, I was struck by the beauty and feeling of time travelling that I got when the truck tires left pavement and we pulled down amongst the cypress trees to the edge of a glittering blue pool. My family and I spent the day diving and swimming there, and I believe the entry fee was 5.00 per carload paid at the quaint little air fill station at the top of the hill. Since that day, I have logged hundreds of dives in Morrison Springs, watching it change dramatically over the years. I remember when the dive center shut down, when the building was removed and when the county closed it to divers and swimmers to begin the process of revitalizing it. To see it now, with the pavilions and walkways, it looks nothing like the Morrison springs that I first dove, but the conveniences are well.... convenient. This is a perfect location for conducting entry level and refresher dives, and if you get there early, with the mist rising off the water and the old cypress trees surrounding you, with glimpses of what Morrison used to be, you can still get transported back in time just like I was all those years ago.
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