Blue Grotto Dive Resort

ABOUT THIS PLACE

There are three parts to it. The open basin drops to about forty feet and holds training platforms, which is why so many divers get certified here. Below that the upper cavern runs to around fifty feet and contains an air bell with breathable air pumped down from the surface, so a diver can surface inside the rock and take the regulator out, which is an odd and memorable thing to do. The lower chamber is cave diving and requires the certification to match. A soft-shell turtle named Virgil, who is in fact female, has lived here for years and comes to meet divers. The site has a dive shop with rentals of buoyancy compensators, regulators, computers, tanks and wetsuits, an air fill station, a twelve-foot training pool and a classroom, nine covered pavilions, and a heated bath house with indoor and outdoor showers. Cedar cabins, detached cottages, tent sites and hookups for recreational vehicles are on the property. The number is 352-528-5770