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Jackson Blue Spring - Marianna FL


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Jackson Blue Spring is a shore accessible fresh water dive site, located at 5461 Blue Springs Highway, Marianna, FL 32447. This dive site has an average rating of 4.25 out of 5 from 12 scuba divers. The maximum depth is 81-90ft/25-27m. The average visibility is 81-90ft/25-27m.

Jackson Blue is one of the cave systems feeding the Merritt Mill Pond near Marianna, FL. It has a beautiful cavern zone, and the cave system is one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen, with clean white limestone.
It is normally a fairly high flow system, which limits penetration unless you’re using a scooter.
It is located in a county maintained park, and requires paying a $20 fee to get into the park.

Contact Ed at Cave Adventurers to buy your permit.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a CAVE dive - don’t attempt without proper training and equipment.


The spring emerges from an underwater cave complex that houses two rare species: the Georgia blind salamander and Dougherty Plain cave crayfish. Open-water scuba diving and cave diving at Jackson Blue Spring and other springs in the Merritt’s Millpond area are allowed, given proper permits from the county. Other springs near or in the park include Shangri-La Springs, Twin Cave Springs, Hole in the Rock Springs, and Gate Spring. The natural setting of the park includes cypress wetlands and upland mixed forests, which provide opportunities for photography, birding, and nature studies. A hiking trail is currently in development on the east side of the spring and millpond. Park facilities also include picnic pavilions and a playground area.

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Comments
SantaFeSandy - 10/27/2017 10:01 AM
I went scuba diving here on 10/24/2017. Average viz: 91-100ft/28-30m. Water temp: 66-70°F/19-21°C.
Tues. Oct. 24, 2017 - Great dive! My first time cave diving this system so we didn’t take our camera gear, rather just experienced the cave. Awesome stuff in this one. I could spend hours in the cavern zone alone, just exploring the nooks and photographing the fish, let alone all the fossils!

Then...if I lived in this area, I’d dive this site all the time. The fossils in the cave are mind blowing, and the cave does not evidence a lot of destruction by divers. It’s beautiful!

The county maintained site has all the amenities to make this a very enjoyable place to spend the day too!
Like2Dive - 9/04/2017 8:12 PM
I went scuba diving here on 8/26/2017. Average viz: 91-100ft/28-30m. Water temp: 66-70°F/19-21°C.
Cavern Dive
Like2Dive - 9/04/2017 8:09 PM
I went scuba diving here on 8/26/2017. Average viz: 51-60ft/16-18m. Water temp: 66-70°F/19-21°C.
Cavern dive
deepdr - 5/08/2013 8:14 PM
Rating Added: 5
One of my favorite cavern dives and training spots in N. Florida!
foxmeyer - 3/28/2013 10:41 AM
Rating Added: 4
I went scuba diving here on 3/22/2013. Average viz: 81-90ft/25-27m. Water temp: 71-75°F/22-24°C.
Flow was a little high, but still manageable.
REEFNUT70 - 7/18/2008 10:49 AM
I dove in Jackson Blue in 2004 during my original dive training classes. Our instructor pulled some strings and we got to dive what normally was reserved for cave divers. The clarity of the water was excellent. We dove down to the entrance of the cave system but or course didn’t venture in since that would have been a stupid move. We did our preliminary drills and then ventured on down stream under the fence to other springs. We were able to practice our "how to get unstuck" manouvers since the Hydrilla was so thick we could have walked on it. We saw a lot of life (baby snapping turtles, fish, etc).