Blue Grotto
- BrieannaLenhart
- Aug 16
- 4 min read
Way back in 2017, for my birthday, I took myself to dive Devil's Den, a must-do on the Florida bucket list. During this adventure, I came across Cedar Lake Woods Garden and learned about Blue Grotto. While I checked off Cedar Lake Woods Garden pretty much immediately after that dive, it took me longer to circle back to Blue Grotto, but I finally did! Never give up on your bucket list!
When making arrangements to dive Blue Grotto, you will need to visit their website and fill out some information about certification (open water certs are allowed to dive here), gear rental, if you need an instructor/guide, and choose one of the listed dates. You will receive a confirmation email within 24-48 hours. Be sure to check your junk mail!
I decided to make it a fun little weekend, hitting up some local springs the day before my dive so I could make the most of my adventure.
Here are some local springs in the area!
Manatee Springs
of course Devil's Den (yes, it is considered a spring)
I got a call the evening before to confirm all the information for my dive again. They said there was no need to show up earlier than my scheduled time. I chose to show just slightly early so I could take a stroll around the property.
Blue Grotto is a dive resort, and a lot of people do their scuba certification here. There are cabins, a classroom building, a pool for skills training, and of course, the pièce de résistance, Blue Grotto.
After signing some papers and watching the instructional video, I got to meet Harry, who runs Blue Grotto and is an expert diver, and my guide for the day, Susan. Harry was going to join us on the dive and grab some video for the website, and I was like, sure! The more the merrier on this dive trip! I purchased some food to feed Virgil, the resident friendly Florida softshell turtle, and we went to get me hooked up with additional gear.
There are several pavilions where you can park your car and get your gear all set. Once all set up and strapped in, it was time to descend the grand staircase to this tropical Eden.
I got to begin my dive by getting some feeding time with Virgil. Virgil is a female softshell turtle and a very well-known resident here at Blue Grotto.
I learned quickly and the hard way not to let the little cup of food get submerged in the water, because all the fish are waiting for a snack as well.
After feeding time, we descended onto the first platform. There are three platforms. The first one is at 10ft, the second at 35ft, and the third, created by a rock formation, at 50ft.
And of course, there is the very bottom reaching 100ft, but with my open water certification, we stayed around that 50ft level.
It gets dark pretty quickly once you enter the underwater cave, so you definitely will need a flashlight.
One of the previous owners strategically placed little statues all around the cave, making it a fun game of hide and seek.
One of the coolest things about this dive is the underwater dome where you can surface up inside and take a breath of air!
I love playing with the water in the ceiling. It always fascinates me.
Eventually, it was time to begin surfacing back to the land world. We stopped at the first platform and saw Turbo, the male softshell turtle who resides here. He is a little more of a Kurmudgeon, so leave the more cute interactions with Virgil.
Blue Grotto has a great rinse station, showers, and a restroom facility right by the stairs down to the grotto.
Now that I have dove both Devil's Den and Blue Grotto, here is my comparison chart.
Devil’s Den
Smaller property more centered around the main attraction
Cool entrance, you actually feel like you enter a cave. It does require you go down one person at a time due to how narrow the staircase is.
Dive reaching max depth of 54ft
Narrow cave swim-throughs
See prehistoric fossils in the rock
Play hide and seek with a little devil statue
Magical moment of the light from the opening above the cave (like being in the movie The Little Mermaid)
Blue Grotto
Expansive property; dive resort; dive pavilions and facilities
Larger staircase and dock down to the cave (like stepping into a tropical sphere or FernGully)
Dive reaching 100ft max depth
Feed a softshell turtle
Statues hidden all around
Bigger open space cave
Dive dome to swim up into
Whether you are interested in getting your dive certification or exploring the depth of a Florida spring, keep Blue Grotto on your bucket list until you actually get a chance to experience its magic.
The lovely Harry put together a video of our dive if you want to see what magic you are instore for!
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