The Setup:
Right after the first of the year, my wife and I embarked on an epic trip to Peru. Since the flight there was out of Orlando, she decided to surprise me by adding a four day jaunt into Florida spring country. This was a trip we had put off for a couple years, partly because other trips kept presenting themselves and partly because deep down she didn't know if she would really enjoy it. Although I had told her how spectacular the springs are and what fun we would have, she had a mental image of swampy, dark rivers and wetlands full of aligators and poor conditions. This opinion was further solidified when her parents went to Florida seeking manatees and not really knowing much about the spring systems. They went during the completely wrong time of year for manatees (subsequently ending up snorkeling cloudy coastal waters with few manatees) and only visited one small spring that didn't have a lot to offer. When we told them we were going, my mother-in-law painted a grim picture, and she was convinced it wouldn't be all we thought it would be. I, however, had lived in spring country during middle school and grew up diving and snorkeling that area even when I lived in Louisiana. My wife had set up the trip not knowing what to expect. So she charged me with planning the optimum order of events for a successful trip.
The Arrival and Extra Surprise:
We arrived into Orlando in the evening and began our drive out to our base of operations. My wife had set us up with a wonderful Air B&B right on the water in Crystal River. Her thinking was that we would better our chances of seeing manatees (her prime goal of the trip) if we operated out of the area with the largest concentration of manatees during the winter. This meant my job was to plan our day trips out to other springs located in different areas of central Florida. I had laid out a solid plan, and once we completed our 2 hour drive to the house I was ready to curl up in bed and get rested for the adventures to come. To my surprise, my wife was not tired and wanted to stay up, claiming she was "wired" and geared up for the next few days. As the night progressed, I was given a HUGE surprise as two of my best friends and their wives and families rolled in from Louisiana! She had kept it under her hat as an extra special surprise. I was thrilled but tired, and now I had to alter plans a bit to deal with going from 2 adults to 6 adults and 2 children in our travel party. It was a challenge I was more than happy to take on if it meant spending time with some of my favorite people all in one place.
Day 1, Ginnie Springs Campground:
With two young children who had never snorkeled and four adults who don't do it that often, I decided to direct our party to Ginnie Springs Campground. It has crystal clear water, caters to beginner divers and snorkelers, and offers a few different spring to choose from. We rented extra wetsuits and snorkel gear on our way out of Crystal River and arrived at the campground to begin the training day. To my pleasant surprise, the girls took to snorkeling like veterans of Casper's convention snorkel crew! With help from their parents, the girls were cruising around the spring in no time.
After cruising around Ginnie Spring proper and getting our sea legs, we reached the edge of the spring mouth. The dark, tannin colored wall of the Santa Fe River loomed in front of us. At this point, most campground users turn around and walk the path over to the other main spring, Devil Spring system. However, I was able to muster the crews' confidence, and we instead decided to snorkel up river along the shallows to reach the next spring. There was initially some uneasiness with the looming dark water just to our left, but once we began to spot interesting creatures among the flowing algae and tree limbs, everyone focused on the experience rather than the intimidating conditions. At this point, the shallows of the river became their own snorkel trip altogether.
As we began to re-enter the crystal clear water of the next spring, we were greeted by a curious, new species...our friend the bowfin.
Continuing in to the spring, we were ecstatic to see incredible spring sinks and a ton of wildlife. We snorkeled the spring system for the rest of the afternoon until floating back down the river to Ginnie Springs, where hot showers and good memories awaited us. It was the perfect first stop on our spring country journey.
More to come as I work through all the GoPro videos and footage! Next stop: Three Sisters Spring and our manatee experience...
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