Tech Diving in Florida

Interested in tech diving in Florida? There are tons of amazing tech dives in Florida. I’m focusing on some of the more popular and commercially available dives – as well as sites that I’ve been to. This list might not be comprehensive, but you’re going to want to add these sites to your dream dive checklist.

Technical (tech, tec, tek) diving is a subset of recreational diving (for fun, not for work) that expands the depth and penetration abilities of divers. There are lots of definitions for tech diving, but since it’s a hobby activity and there’s lots of overlap with other niche areas of diving, there no absolute definition. Simply put, technical diving is any diving that includes planned decompression or penetration. Technical diving typically carries more risk that single cylinder sport diving, and it requires specialized training.

The first step in becoming a tech diver is to take an introductory course to get familiarity with the different gear configuration that tech divers use. Sometimes that’s sidemount, sometimes it’s manifolded doubles and sometimes it’s a closed circuit rebreather. All of the options are valuable tools for specific applications. Regardless of the gear, dive sites that are labeled “tech” are often less visited than nearby “recreational” sites and can offer unique experiences that you’ll talk about for years. No matter how easy it is to access these sites, it’s important to have the proper experience, training and equipment to dive the site.

These summaries and photos are snapshots of my experience. The super complete resources for history, locations, and conditions are:

• Cave Atlas contains a ton of information about caves all over the world. It’s a great resource for divers.
• Wreck Wiki is the cave atlas for wreck dives in South Florida.

Oriskany

The Gulf isn’t known for Caribbean conditions like its South Florida counterpart but has a lot to offer divers. It’s a mecca for spearfishing and has many unique and exciting shipwrecks. For tech divers, one wreck stands out.

The Oriskany aircraft carrier is an artificial reef that deserves a bucket list spot on your list. It has areas of all levels of divers. The tower is shallow enough for deco dives, the deck for helitrox divers, and the inside for trimix divers. The penetration on a ~1000ft long shipwreck is essentially unlimited. The Oriskany is one of the few easily available sites in Florida that offers advanced wreck level penetration.

How to access: Down Under Dive Shop in Gulf Shores, Al or one of many dive boats based in Pensacola, FL.

Jackson Blue (JB)

JB is a massive labyrinth of cave passage that has one of the best cavern areas of any North Florida system. There are huge rooms, small spaces and more passage than you can see in a week’s worth of diving. JB is a first-magnitude spring and has a lot of flow. While appropriate at any cave level, scooters and rebreathers put the remote spaces within reasonable reach.

Access: Jackson Blue is managed by the local county government. Divers pay an entry fee at the local dive shop: Cave Adventurers. That shop is also the best place to get fills, lodging and gear in the area.

Hole in the Wall

As the name describes, on the edge of the millpond there’s a hole in the wall. It’s not a very big hole and feels a bit cramped on the way in. This hole descends into a cave with huge rooms and tens of thousands of feet of passage. Hole has some wildly impressive rooms and long distances to swim or scooter.

Access: Boat rental from Cave Adventurers is the easiest access for this dive site.

Central Florida is the mecca of cave diving for the United States. 72F water with dozens of dive sites – some easily accessed and commercial and some requiring 4×4 drive. I picked a few highlights, my favorites. Remember that cave diving requires cave training, recent relevant experience, and proper equipment.

Ginnie Springs

Ginnie is known all over Florida for being a beautiful spring with river tubing and camping opportunities. It’s also one of the most popular cave diving sites in the world.

Ginnie is known for high flow, pumping out ~250 million gallons of water a day. After pulling and gliding into the cave you’ll find yourself in 30,000ft+ of cave passage. There are jumps, siphons, huge rooms, and tiny passages. You can see whale vertebrae and sea urchin fossils as a blast from the past. Depths are 90-100ft and deco has convenient shelfs in the cavern area. The cave also holds bacterial beds that look like insulation, catfish, and transparent crawfish. One of the coolest rooms is the gallery, just inside the cave. It doesn’t matter if you’re an intro cave diver or scootering with a CCR – Ginnie Springs is an awesome place to dive. Entrance is just as easy as diving at a quarry. Pull up and dive.

Access: Ginnie is privately owned and has daily and annual passes for divers.

Jug Hole

Ichetucknee Springs State Park, also called Blue Springs or Jug Hole, Is a fun sidemount cave with an iconic cavern area. The spectacular cavern squeezes off through a bedding plane restriction, opens back up, and pinches off again with the diamond sands restriction. It’s a short cave dive, only a few hundred feet, but worth the dive for the views. It’s a long walk to the water, so bring a cart to lug your gear.

Access: Daily or annual State Park passes.

Peacock Springs

Wes Skiles Peacock Springs State Park (WSPSSP) has three main cave entrances – Orange Grove has a large Open water basin, Peacock 1 is the spring, and Peacock 3 is the siphon. Peacock has low to no flow most of the time. These systems are 50-70ft through much of the main passage, with access to 160 ft-180 ft in certain sections. There are plenty of jumps, circuits, and even a 2 parking lot traverse called the grand traverse. The grand traverse takes you from Peacock 1 to Orange Grove, through ~4,500ft of swimming.

Little River

High flow and windy craggly passage made Little River unique and fun. The main passage corkscrews around and under itself just after the cavern zone and eventually forks into a large loop. Little River is ~100ft deep for most of the main passages with a few deeper tunnels.

Access: Little River is a county-owned park. There is a $5 entrance fee.

The Treasure Coast area typically refers to St. Lucie and Martin County’s waters. There are not many dive boat operators in this area but there are tons of shipwrecks – natural and artificial. Operators that are based in West Palm pop up when conditions are nice to hit some of these awesome dive sites.

Rankin

The USS Rankin became an artificial reef in 1988. She is 459ft long and sits in ~130ft of water. This is a big, awesome, and old wreck with an impressive history. The Rankin was built in 1944 and involved in the Pacific Theatre of WW2. She is now located off the Treasure Coast. This area is probably the most condition-diverse part of Florida. It can have thermoclines, freezing temps, 0 viz or crystal clear and warm top to bottom. I suspect the unstable conditions are why this area isn’t inhabited by many (or any) commercial dive boat operations. Regardless of the conditions, the Rankin is typically covered in dozens of Goliath Grouper, lionfish, sharks, and other critters. She’s enormous and feels wilder than similar artificial reefs that are visited often. The depth is perfect for a long bottom time with light deco. This shipwreck is one of Florida’s hidden gems. If you get a chance to dive the Rankin – take it. I’ve really enjoyed my Rankin dives and hope to go again.

The Gold Coast is Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami counties. In my opinion, it has the best ocean diving in Florida.

Hole in the Wall Reef

Technical-depth reefs (that are fun) are a super rare trip in most of Florida. This site is an exception. Local charters in Jupiter visit this site relatively frequently. Expect depths between 130-150 with a lot of reef relief and big life. The name comes from a tunnel near the end of the reef That’s where you’ll typically see goliath grouper and sharks. This site is typically awesome for lionfish hunting but expect to be bothered by the grouper and sharks if you do.

Ande

The Ande sits mostly upright, split in half. She was sunk in 1996 and lies in ~180ft of water. Just shy of 200ft long the Ande is an awesome dive and sticks out as one of the few technical wrecks that’s visited regularly out of the West Palm area. Expect drift deco with plenty of pelagics coming in to say hello.

Lady Luck

The Luck is a great spot for recreational or technical divers. She’s big with lots of penetration, moderate depth, and neat features. Casino decorations were placed when she sank, and local dive shops continue to put statues and artwork on the wreck so there’s always something new to see. Max depth is ~140ft and you’ll be below 110ft for the more interesting parts of the wreck. On days with favorable current or scooter dives you can hit some fun nearby attractions as well.

Hydro Atlantic

The hydro is likely one of the most frequently dove technical diving sites in the ocean. She is ~300ft long, covered in fish life, and has plenty of easily accessible penetration. You can drop almost straight into the engine room, putz around the machine shop, take a look at tools and gauges – with ambient light. The deck is ~130ft and the bottom is ~175ft which puts this wreck solely in the crosshairs of helitrox and trimix divers. The dive time to deco time is very manageable and total runtimes between 90-120mins are typical. The site is typically done as drift deco, so your hang is easy-peasy with the current. The hydro is my favorite wreck dive in Florida and where I go dive on my days off.

Lowrance

The Lowrance was sunk as an artificial reef and it’s name honors a donor to it’s sinking (the marine electronics company). At over 400ft long the Lowrance is plenty of wreck to explore. Expect depths between 140 and 200ft with some super cool penetration in and around the engine room.

RBJ

The Ronald B Johnson (RBJ) and Chris Corey are two shipwrecks mushed on top of each other. The US Navy sank the RBJ and it landed perpendicular to the Chris Corey, directly on top. Lots of big fish, fishing line, lionfish and mangled structure to swim around. These wrecks are in the 220ft-260ft range so they’re only appropriate for full trimix certified divers.

The Keys are best known for lobstering, snorkeling, and Caribbean-style reef diving – but they have wrecks. Technical diving is hit or miss in the keys. Your ability to have an extended bottom time really depends on the operator and their familiarity with tech diving.

Spiegel Grove

The Spiegel is the pinnacle of Keys wreck diving. She’s shallow enough for recreational charters so boat trips are frequent and extended runtime are usually possible. The Spiegel has unlimited penetration possibilities. The upper decks are advanced swim-throughs and the lower decks offer access to the engine rooms. You have an interesting wreck to see from ~60ft to ~140ft – and there’s 500ft of it.

Northern Lights

The North Lights is broken in half and sits between 150ft-190ft of water. She doesn’t offer much penetration, but this less visited site has a lot to offer in terms of wildlife and treasure – well, if you count fishing lures as treasure.

Vandenburg

The Vandy is a popular wreck accessed via operators in Key West. It’s worth dealing with the hustle and bustle of Key West to see this gigantic and impressive shipwreck. The deck and superstructure offer spectacular views and penetration is everywhere. Be sure to clear a deco dive with the operator beforehand because not all of them allow tech diving.