Devil’s Den Spring Snorkeling and Camping
After camping at Silver Springs and kayaking with monkeys and manatees, we moved over to Devil’s Den Spring with Paul and Lorena of The Motorhome Experiment and met up with Taylor and Beth of The Learning Banks there. See, we literally followed Paul and Lorena all the way there.
Devil’s Den Spring Campground
For a private campground, Devil’s Den is pretty inexpensive! When we stayed, the per night price was $24 per night for full hook-ups and it was even cheaper if you stayed a week or a month. The sites are a little close together, but that seems to be the case with most private campgrounds. They did offer some shade for the warmer months.
Here we are posted up next to The Motorhome Experiment and The Learning Banks.
The campground had a pool, but it wasn’t open while we were there. And honestly, I can’t remember the bathroom situation but there are showers and I probably used them. The grounds were large enough that you could get a nice walk in. We also rode our bikes around a few times.
Do you like cows? Because you will hear cows. And sometimes see them. There are also three emus that live next to the campground. That’s not something you see every day! We got more exercise from checking to see if the emus were out than from anything else. Oh, and they also had horses. And maybe goats. But look at thes emus!
Have you ever dreamed of joining the circus? Then take a trapeze class next to the campground! We didn’t do this but thought about it for a second. It really is a random collection of things around this campground.
The Attractions at Devil’s Den Spring
Devil’s Den is a spring that is inside a cave. You can snorkel here or scuba dive. There’s a small opening to the sky but it’s mostly enclosed. Here’s what it looks like from above.
They also have another large pool that was full of algae and one happy heron when we visited. It looks like it may have once been part of the attraction and people may have been able to swim in it. Totally not recommended in its current state.
The Devil’s Den devil!
Apparently, this place gets crazy busy! We decided to snorkel and were there right as they opened. It was around 40ºF and we had to strip down to our bathing suits outside before heading down the stairs into the cave and spring. The water is always 72ºF which almost felt warm compared to the air. Almost. It’s probably quite refreshing during the summer months.
The six of us had the spring to ourselves for the first 15 or 20 minutes. There were a few fish hiding here and there. The most interesting part of snorkeling there was checking out the caves under water. Towards the end of our visit, some divers got in and started exploring the caves. That seems really cool and also terrifying!
I don’t have any photos from inside, but, of course, Paul got it all on video. See, he does all the work so I don’t have to!
Potluck!
It’s a bit of a drive to get to restaurants, so we ate in most of the time. And we had a cookout potluck. I made sriracha buffalo cauliflower with Daiya blue cheeze dressing.
And here’s a full plate of potluck goodness.
Paul and Lorena left before the rest of us to book it south towards the Keys. After they left, we met more RVers Margot and James Bai. They gave us a tour of their travel trailer. It’s always fascinating to see how other people make their small spaces work for them.
Next, we part ways from Taylor and Beth, but not for long! All in all, Devil’s Den Spring was a quiet place to stay, work, and freeze our buns off. We had no trouble getting a space here in March and the campground was never full during our stay. If you’re planning on camping a week or longer, the rate ends up being less than $16 per night. That’s hard to beat!
