Crystal River Florida Page

boating on the Crystal River leaving the Plantation Inn

There always has to be a beginning of a diver's travel log, for me it was Crystal River, Florida.  I took a course with my father from Tiedemann's Diving Center in during summer of 1986. Since the summer was almost over, I was only able to do a beach dive on Long Island with buddies Jeff Schwartz and Tommy Corriggan. I was at the same location as my Open Water Certification, so it was not that exciting for us, but any day diving is better than a day not diving  When the winter came, the Tiedemann's ran a 4 day trip to Crystal River and Ginney Springs. Two days to dive with the manatees and a day of cavern diving at Ginney Springs. Crystal river is located about an hour north of Tampa, Florida on the west coast of Florida. The manatees gather there every winter of the hot springs found in the river. The State Enviromental Protection agency has given the manatees their own area that divers can't enter. The manatee don't know it theirs so they tend to wander out so divers and other people can enjoy them. It was a great trip and alot of fun.

Click on image to enlarge.
                    me with a sleeping manatee     me with my dive buddy mike    a newborn manatee next to a cow

                manatee calf nursing from a cow    manatee calf swimming              15ft adult swimming     manatee close up!    If you want to contact me send E-mail Return This page hosted by  Get your own Free Home Page