Florida
Eagle's Nest
- Max depth94.5 m (310 ft)
- CertificationFull cave
- SpecialExperienced divers
Diving and fills
Dive here with
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Fills nearby
- Fill stationBlue Grotto Dive Resort (Williston)Air; nitrox (mentioned with the courses) — askRoute ↗
- Fill stationFlorida Springs Scuba (Williston)Air, nitrox, oxygen and trimix (per their SSI listing) — askRoute ↗
What it looks like
All 1 videos and posts
Videos and posts
From other divers, via YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. They only load when you click; after that, Google's or Meta's privacy rules apply.
- Facebook
Karst Underwater Research
Search for more onYouTube ↗Instagram ↗Facebook ↗
Other people's footage, not advice: how someone else dives here says nothing about what suits your team. Dive within your training.
The dive
Eagle's Nest is a green pond in the woods. Just below the surface stands a warning sign with the Grim Reaper: 'Stop. Prevent your death!'.
1 earlier accident or incident has been reported at this cave. Read what happened ↓
Profile and sections
Eagle's Nest is a green pond in the woods. Just below the surface stands a warning sign with the Grim Reaper: 'Stop. Prevent your death!'. Through a narrow vertical shaft about 8 ft (~2.4 m) across, The Chimney, you drop into the cave; at 70 ft (~21 m) the walls and floor fall away and you hang in a huge room, the Ballroom, until you land on the debris mound in the middle at about 130 ft (~40 m). From there tunnels run upstream and downstream, with rooms such as the Superroom and The Pit.
Eagle's Nest, also known as Lost Sink, has been called the 'Mount Everest' and the 'Grand Canyon' of cave diving. After a series of fatal accidents the state closed the area from 1999 to 2003; it reopened after lobbying by cave divers. After the accidents of 2013 and 2016 there were new calls to close it, and in 2018 the FWC introduced new rules for divers.
Practical: roughly an hour's drive north of Tampa. Buford Spring, about 10 km further north in the same area, has the same registration. It is a hunting area: wear fluorescent orange on hunt days and check the FWC hunt calendar.
- Depth and profile
- Narrow vertical shaft (The Chimney) into a large room with a debris cone in the middle · average ~-46 m (wannadive) · max ~-94.5 m (310 ft) · upstream and downstream tunnels
- Configuration
- All configurations; deep decompression dive on trimix.
- DPV: DPV possible (estimate)
- Large, deep passages; scooters are not mentioned in the sources.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR / Small cylinders / no-mount (speleo sumps)
- Goes down to 94.5 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area (FWC), about 3.4 miles northwest of Weeki Wachee Springs. Dirt road to the sink: 4x4 no longer needed, but take care after rain. Car park with vault toilet, wooden decking and stairs. Before every dive: the free 'Chassahowitzka WMA SCUBA Diving Registration' per diver on GoOutdoorsFlorida.com (18+ only; since 2018), plus a daily-use permit ($3 pp / $6 per vehicle) or WMA annual permit (~$26.50); leave a copy of your pass and cave card visible on the dashboard and sign the logbook. Registration problems: FWC, 863-648-3200.
Around Eagle's Nest
Fills2 fill stations · nearest 93 km
Blue Grotto Dive Resort (Williston)
3852 NE 172nd Ct, Williston, FL 32696
Air; nitrox (mentioned with the courses) — ask
Daily 8:00–16:00 (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Easter)
Fill station and full rentals at the Blue Grotto; mainly for divers diving there.
Florida Springs Scuba (Williston)
127 E Noble Ave, Williston, FL 32696
Air, nitrox, oxygen and trimix (per their SSI listing) — ask
Wed–Sun 8:00–17:00 (closed Mon and Tue)
SSI dive centre in the middle of Williston, within three miles of Blue Grotto and Devil's Den. Guided dives and training at springs across the area, from Try Scuba to full cave and Extended Range (sidemount, doubles or rebreather). Park behind the shop, entering from 1st Street.
News
All (1)
Accidents and incidents
What happened at this cave before, with the sources. No names are given; read it as a lesson for your own planning.
- At least 13 deaths since 1981 (Far & Wide; National Geographic counted at least ten in 2016, the Tampa Bay Times eleven in January 2018), including two divers without cave training in December 2013, two experienced instructors at ~-79 m in October 2016, a certified diver after a medical episode just inside the cave in January 2018 and a freediver, found at 150 ft, in July 2018.
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 13 Nov 2026.
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