Devil's Den Spring in Williston, Florida

Our family went to Devil's Den Pre-Historic Spring today, which is located in Williston, Florida. We went there while camping at Rainbow Springs, which is around 30 minutes away. There is a per person entrance fee to get in. Casual swimmers are not allowed. You have to snorkel or dive. Snorkelers must be at least 6 years old. You can take your own snorkel gear or rent it from them for a fee. They also allow camping there, but the camping fee does not cover the costs associated with entering the spring.

Once you arrive at Devil's Den, you go to the office, pay the fee, and get a bracelet. The entrance to the spring is right there, as are numerous picnic tables where you can set up your belongings. We first walked down the stairs to check it out and take a picture, then put the camera away and got into the water. You walk down the stairs to enter a cave located underground. That's where this amazing spring is located... in a cave underground! There is ample platform space so you can stand, walk, and easily get into and out of the water. You can snorkel around and then return to the platform whenever you'd like. There is an opening above that is surrounded by vegetation. This allows the sunlight to shine into the cave.

This spring is so darn awesome! It's a place that people have been using for thousands of years, as evidenced by the many artifacts and fossils that have been found there. The water is clear and filled with fish. Near the top, loads of small minnow-like fish were all around you. When you snorkel and look down deeper, you can see larger fish swimming around.

Snorkeling under the opening above is awesome when the light is beaming down. While we were there, we also saw a turtle, a water scorpion, and a snake. The snake didn't want anything to do with humans and was trying hard to get away from them (there was a guy trying to catch it in a net to remove it from the spring). He never did catch it, as it escaped into the rocks along the side, but it was clearly trying to stay away from humans.

We are a family of snorkelers, so we all had our equipment and snorkeled around the cave. There were several people not with us who had the snorkel equipment on, but never seemed to leave the stairs. There were some divers there at the same time, too. There were probably 8 or so other snorkelers down there at the same time as us, and some divers (but they are pretty much unseen). The temperature is around 72 degrees all year, like most Florida springs.

We loved it at Devil's Den! It's a beautiful spring that quickly made it to the top of my list of favorites. The price of admission is worth the experience you get (plus, the admission fee helps keep it from getting overly crowded). Two thumbs way up!

(Reservations to visit are required at times, so be sure to check before going).

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