Manatee Springs – Catfish Hotel
Cave diving in North Florida · about 10 km from Chiefland
- Max depth
- 34 m
- Type
- Backmount
- Certification (estimate)
- Cavern
- Scooter
- Scooter worth it
Sink, usually covered with duckweed, across from the main spring. Wide passages (often >15 m) with dark walls; visibility usually mediocre because of particles and an orange bacterial mat that exhaust bubbles dislodge.
More about Manatee Springs – Catfish Hotel
Signed-in divers also see:
- Whether this site fits everyone's certification, gas and gear
- Access, parking and the route from the road
- Exact map pin and navigation
- Depth profile and sumps
- Configuration advice
- Warnings with sources (2)
- Scooter advice
- Driving times from your stay and a plan with the AI instructor
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Current conditions
Visibility, flow and water levels change quickly. Right before your dive, check what other divers report:
- USGS: Santa Fe River near Fort White ↗
Stage and discharge of the Santa Fe, just downstream of Ginnie Springs: at high water there is river water in Devil's Ear.
- USGS: Suwannee River at Branford ↗
Water level of the Suwannee near Little River and Troy. For Telford and Peacock there is the Suwannee River at Luraville gauge (02320000).
- Walton County: Morrison Springs ↗
The county posts a current water-clarity level (1–5) for Morrison Springs.
Plan a cave diving trip to North Florida
Enter your team, with certifications, gas and configurations, and see right away which caves fit. With driving times from your stay, fill stations and an AI instructor who thinks along.
Certification requirements, configurations and trimix depths are estimates for planning. Always check them locally and dive within your training. Compiled from web research (Florida State Parks, FWC, Suwannee and Walton County, Ginnie Springs, dive centres in High Springs, Fort White, Luraville and Marianna, NSS-CDS, USGS, wannadive.net, Divernet, Wet Rocks Diving, news; Sept 2026). Pins mostly from the USGS spring records (NWIS), compared with Wikipedia and wannadive; ~ = estimate. Rules, prices and access change — check locally.