Swimming Without The Dangerous Wildlife

Posted by admin on March 6th, 2010

If you are going to Florida and want to go swimming, you have four main options.

1. Go swimming in a pond, river or lake and play Tarzan with an alligator (I don’t recommend this option by the way!).

2. Go swimming in the sea and take your chances with the occasional jellyfish and occasional shark – especially in Gulf Coast waters. (This isn’t all that smart either!)

3. Go swimming in the pool at your hotel. This is usually wildlife-free, although an occasional swarm of college kids or drunken tourists might qualify!

4. Swim in a natural spring. You might run across a few turtles but they’re just an added attraction.

If you choose the fourth option above, there are plenty of options to choose from.

My favourite two are:

1. Ginnie Springs Wilderness Park

Ginnie Springs is located in the North-Eastern part of Florida up the I-75 from Orlando.

It offers great camping facilities and RV parking BUT it’s main attraction for aquanauts is its cave-diving opportunities.

The seven springs in the park pump in thousands of gallons of water a day at a constant 72 degrees – which might seem a bit chilly but in the Florida summer you’ll be very pleased to cool off.

There are other water-related activities to do here including rubber-tubing, snorkelling, canoeing and kayaking.

All in all, it’s a relatively unspoiled spot (apart from the electricity hook-ups for RVs and a small shop) where you can enjoy the water without the wildlife.

2. On the Gulf Coast there is also Wiki-Wachee Springs. This is all about mermaids and water parks. It’s more of a one-or-more-day-excursion spot for families and mermaid lovers everywhere.

I’ll be doing a full feature on Wiki-Wachee but for now, you can get more details at:

http://mermaid.weekiwachee.com/

So, for the outdoorsy types, why not think about a day or two at Ginnie Springs? And if you prefer the more tourist-style attractions, pop over to Wiki Wachee for a day trip you’ll remember for a lifetime.

Have loads of fun in and out of the water and remember to SWIM SAFE!

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