Devil's Den - Florida Cave Diving

An Introduction

Devil’s Den is a sinkhole in northern Florida that is fed by an underground spring.  It is set up as an ideal dive location and represents a unique look into the amazing underground cave networks of Northern Florida.

http://youtu.be/HaimftwZpkw

As seen by the crew

Untamed Science dove at Devil’s Den while doing a video on the unique process of sinkhole formation.  Since Devil’s Den represents an amazingly scenic sinkhole, we thought it would be great to start the video here.

devils-Den-Diving2

We found that we were extremely lucky to have visited the Den on a Thursday as we were the only divers there from early morning to about 3pm.  This allowed us to explore the 48 feet of depth to the floor without other divers kicking up silt.  It also gave us the chance to get some great images of the cave.

What we found was a type of upside down mushroom shape.  Before a small tunnel was built, the only entrance to the sinkhole was a small opening between two oak trees. As we enter the cave through the tunnel, we descend a couple flights of stairs before reaching the main dive platform.  From here we could dive outwards around a sunken dome.  Small grates block the inward and outward flow of water.

The wildlife of the cave is composed of small native fish including guppies, crappie and catfish.  Also of note is a giant catfish that must 50 pounds.

Other Interesting Stories about the Den

The Den is the site for many interesting fossil finds. Many of these bones are at display at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The animal remains date from the Pleistocene Age (2 million to 10,000 years ago).

Devils Den gets its name from the steam that would rise from the den on cool winter mornings.  The temperature of the Den remains around 72 degrees all year round, making for great steamy displays in the cooler months.

Contact Information

Visit the Devils Den Website to learn more about facilities and costs.

Devil’s Den
5390 NE 180th Ave
Williston, FL 32696
Phone: 352-528-3344

 

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Written by Rob Nelson

Rob is an ecologist from the University of Hawaii. He is the co-creator and director of Untamed Science. His goal is to create videos and content that are entertaining, accurate, and educational. When he's not making science content, he races whitewater kayaks and works on Stone Age Man.

You can follow Rob Nelson

2 thoughts on “Devil’s Den

  1. HI, I saw an image that I would like to use in our of our local magazines. I own a small publishing company in Gainesville, Florida that focuses on lifestyle content. We publish a ton of environmental pieces and we are doing one on Devil Den in Williston, Florida. The image I found was of 2 people staring up at the hole in the cavern, just on the edge of the spring.

    I was hoping you would grant us permission to use that image. I sent a message through Facebook but thought I would also try through your site. I’m on a pretty tight deadline and was hoping to hear something as soon as possible.

    Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you.

    Charlie Delatorre
    Publisher
    Tower Publications, Inc.

    1. Hi Charlie,
      Sorry for the late reply but we must have missed this message. And I apologise if you have already received a reply from my colleague Rob. I saw this now and wanted to get on it as soon as possible and Rob is in a different time zone so I could not ask him first.
      Are you still wanting to use the photo? Please send me an email and I am sure we can work something out.
      Email address: stenstrom.j@gmail.com

      Best Regards,
      Jonas

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