Ginnie Springs: crystal clear water and tubing with alligators

Wow, between camping out of cell service and a wonderful series of friend and family visits, this blog has been left neglected. Time to play some catch up on what we have been up to for the past 2 weeks!

I prematurely bade farewell to Florida in our last post. We ended up camping 2 nights at Ginnie Springs, a sweet spot North West of Gainesville. We drove through open pastures and cowfields to get there, which was in stark contrast to the high rises, freeways, and swamps of south Florida.

Ginnie Springs campground is situated on the Santa Fe river, a river that seemed to be designed for tubing on. We spent the day lazily floating down the river, admiring the turtles that populated the rocks and fallen trees. It was only much later, while hanging out with my cousins in Asheville, NC, that I learned that Florida's rivers are typically full of alligators. We didn't see any though and I'm happy we didn't know this at the time.

Floating down the river was ideal, but even more amazing were the springs that Ginnie Springs are famous for. The springs formed the clearest natural swimming holes that I have ever seen, complete with fish and entrances to underwater caves. The caves extended for miles underground and are popular with scuba divers. The springs formed inlets that fed into the river, but the spring water is 72 degrees, about 10 degrees cooler than the river, making it obvious (and a little shocking) when you float into them. We had a great time exploring the springs with our snorkeling gear.