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Blue Spring State Park - tubing

What to Do at Blue Spring State Park, Orange City, FL

When we planned our trip to Orlando, Florida, we both wanted to do something different besides the normal theme parks. Blue Spring State Park came up as one of the recommendations. It is a designated Manatee Refuge and winter home to hundreds of these adorable creatures. Manatees combined with gorgeous clear blue water obviously make our decision to visit there a no brainer. And it’s only about 45 minutes from Orlando.


STATS:

Where:
Blue Spring State Park:
2100 W French Avenue, Orange City, FL 32763

Parking:
Paved parking with plenty of spaces.
First parking lot: 28°56’38.5″N 81°20’17.3″W
Second parking lot: 28°56’33.6″N 81°20’23.7″W

Restrooms: 
There are restrooms at both parking lot

Fee:
$6 per car. For more info, check out their website.

Hour:
8 a.m. until sundown

Estimated Completion Time:
At least an hour. There is a lot to do here from kayaking, hiking, tubing, snorkeling to fishing or taking the St. Johns River Cruises.

Ideal Weather: 
Dry days are best. You don’t want to be in the water during a thunderstorm.

Ideal Time: 
Depends on your activities of choice, there are two main seasons here:

Summer (April – October): You can enjoy most of the activities during this time of the year. Everything from swimming, snorkeling, diving, tubing, canoeing, kayaking, and paddleboarding, hiking and more.

Winter (November – March): This is manatee season. Hundreds of manatees gather here in the spring during the winter. Therefore, the spring will be closed to all water activities. You can still hike or picnic.

Dog-friendly:
Dogs are permitted but they must be kept on a handheld leash that is 6 feet or shorter and be well-behaved at all times.


THE ADVENTURE:

Dustin and I both had been to Florida before, but separately. However, we weren’t there long enough or old enough to really explore the area. We mainly stayed inside Orlando. Both of us are very pleasantly surprised by how gorgeous Florida is and how many springs it has outside of the theme park areas. The drive to Blue Spring State Park was quite beautiful as we crossed over giant lakes and ponds.

Once we pulled into the park, we weren’t sure where to go at first. So, we passed the first parking lot that led to the Camp Store and headed toward the second parking, at the end of the road. As we got out of the car, we were excited about how beautiful this place is. By the way, make sure you spray yourself generously with bug spray. There are a lot of bugs here, especially in the summer.

The second parking lot is where you want to go if you want big pavilions with picnics tables. If you book the St. John River Cruises, it also departs from here, along with the kayak rentals. This place is beautiful with big tree canopies, hanging moss and grassy areas. It is also where the historic Thursby House resides. Along the way, there are signs warning about alligator sightings. You should not be swimming or be in the water if there are sightings of alligators.


Running along the spring are these super neat wooden boardwalks. They take you all the way back to the first parking lot and up to the top of the spring. I loved walking along this short trail. There wasn’t any shortage of wildlife from little friendly squirrels, birds and turtles to obviously tons of fish. As we walked along, we got serenaded by the cicadas. This trail was so beautiful with its mossy tree canopies. Many of the trees here are full of hanging Spanish moss. Being from California, we haven’t seen anything like it before. Needless to say, many photos were taken by Dustin as I couldn’t stop staring like a little girl with ice cream.


There are several viewpoints along the boardwalk. They give you a better vantage of this gorgeous spring. As we walked up to the first viewpoint, some ladies told us about an alligator hanging out in the water. Now, it was Dustin’s turn to get excited. He has always wanted to see an alligator in the Wild. Mister Gator was just lazily sunbathing on a log, next to a couple turtles on the other side of the spring. He looked kind of cute from far away. Obviously, that distance worked perfectly for us.


After saying bye to mister Gator, we continued along to boardwalk. If you pay attention to water in the spring, you’ll notice that it gets really clear and blue as you get closer to the first parking lot. You can easily seemly the way to the bottom of the spring. If you visit Blue Spring State Park in the winter, this is where you’ll see hundreds of manatees hanging out. This is their home for the winter since the spring water is always at 72 degrees while the river water gets a lot colder. The Spring can hold up to 400 manatees at one point.


If you come to Blue Spring State Park in the winter, you won’t be able to do any water activities. The whole spring will be closed to protect the manatees. However, if you come here during the summer, there is a lot to do such as kayaking/paddleboarding, swimming, snorkeling, diving, and a ride.


Kayaking

If you bring your own kayak, you can either launch at French Landing Boat Ramp for free, or launch inside the Blue Spring State Park from the second parking lot. You do have to pay the park entrance fee if you’re going inside the park. There is a kayak rental place near the second parking lot as well. Keep in mind, paddleboards, kayaks and canoes are only allowed in the swimming area before 11 am and after 5 pm.

Kayaking at Blue Spring State Park


Swimming

The swimming area is located near the first parking lot. Once you park, head over towards the Camp Store. From there, you can see a wooden boardwalk that will lead you to the water. You can swim from here up to the spring boil. You won’t be able to swim down to the second parking lot.


Snorkeling

You can snorkel anywhere in the swim area. The water here is super clear with excellent visibility. Most people snorkel near the spring boil. There is an underwater cave there. To get to the spring boil, starting from the Camp Store, follow the wooden boardwalk upstream. You’ll see a bunch of people with their innertube heading this way. Toward the end of the boardwalk, you’ll see a sign that says “Tube and Diver Entry”. Follow the arrow, you’ll find the access to the water. From here, you’ll want to swim upstream to the spring boil.


Diving

Most divers go here to explore the underwater cave near the spring boil. You’ll follow the same entrance with the tubers and snorkelers. The underwater cave here goes down between 90 – 130 feet. You can free dive up to 50 ft. It is only available to certified cave divers and you must have a diving buddy at ALL TIMES. We didn’t do any diving here, but we’ve seen a few people surface from the cave.


Tubing

This is one of my favorite activities here. You can either bring your own and pay to fill it up or rent your tube at the Camp Store. Your tube cannot be bigger than one person tube. It is $5 per hour to rent and $2.5 each additional hour. We made it in an hour even with taking tons of photos and swimming around.


After renting the tube, we followed the same wooden pathway that snorkelers and divers take. It is a beautiful walk that winds between the hanging moss trees and the little waterways. Be careful once you reach the launch point, It is kind of slippery. Once you launch your tube, you can swim up the spring to the spring boil and hang out there. From here, you can tie your tube to the branches and go swimming or snorkeling around. Dustin dove down closer to the cave but we didn’t go inside. Being from San Diego, we still couldn’t get over how clear and blue the water here was. It was so beautiful.

Once you’re done playing in the water here at the spring boil, you can slowly float back down the spring run. The float run ends at the swimming area in front of the Camp store. It lasts about 1/8 of a mile. You won’t be able to go further since there are orange floaties that signify the end of the run.


So that’s it. That is pretty much your visit to Blue Spring State Park. We love this place as there is so much to do. And the manatees are definitely the icing on the cake. If you’re looking for more exciting adventures near Orlando, check out the Bioluminescence kayak. It was such an experience for us.

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RECOMMEND GEAR:

Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.

•  Water shoes
Not required but good to have. Vy uses UBFEN Women’s Water shoes. Dustin has UBFEN Men’s Water shoes.

•  Sunscreen: 
If you need sunscreen, we use eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen, All Good Organic Sunscreen Butter – Zinc Oxide – Coral Reef Safe and All Good Sport Sunscreen Lotion – Coral Reef Safe (3 oz)(2-Pack) or Stream2Sea SPF 30 Reef Safe Sport Tinted Sunscreen.

•  Snorkel mask
If you want to go snorkel. We used OUSPT Full Face Snorkel Mask

• Fins
If you want to go snorkel. These are the ones we used, U.S. Divers Trek Fin – Compact Snorkel Fins and U.S. Divers Proflex FX Fin.

•  Flotation belt
If you’re not a very good swimmer, a flotation belt will help you be more comfortable in the water. Vy uses these every time she goes snorkeling.

•  Towels/Change of clothes
If you want to play in the water, this is obvious.

•  Water/Snacks
Depends on how long you want to spend here and what kind of activities you want to do, water and snacks or lunches are always a good idea.

•  Bug spray
This area has a lot of bugs so make sure to spray yourself generously. We use REPEL Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent.

CAMERA GEAR:
•  Camera:

   Sony a7 III
   Gopro Hero 7 Black

•  Lenses:
   Sony 24 -70mm f/2.8 Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar T Zoom Lens    

•  Accessories:
   Bobber – Floating Hand Grip for GoPro HERO Cameras    


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