We headed 2 hours west of Jacksonville to Ichetucknee Springs for a fun day on the river. I had been told to rent our tubes from Lowe’s Tubeland  http://www.lowes-tubeland.com/ just outside the park so that was our first stop. They have every kind of tube you could think of, all reasonably priced. We settled on a 3 person raft ($17) and a kiddie raft ($5). The boys each had their own from when we had stayed at Universal Studios and our hotel had a lazy river! To say the kids were excited to be going on a real life lazy was an understatement.
The employees of Tubeland safely secured the rafts to the top of our minivan and we were off.

Ichetucknee Springs is a beautiful State Park that offers camping, tubing, snorkeling, canoeing, swimming, hiking and much more outdoorsy fun. There is a fee to enter the park and as we were only going to be tubing on the river we were charged $20. ($5 per person over 5)
The 1st launch area for tubing is located at the North entrance. The tubers and their tubes are dropped off by the driver. You can’t take anything on the river only your swim stuff & reusable water container so pack very light. I packed my phone, camera & car keys in a ziplock bag within a water resistant bag of our swim gear – snorkels, goggles, flip flops. Sunscreen is not even allowed so make sure you apply lots – we applied sunscreen & bug spray at Lowe’s as the employees were manhandling the rafts onto the minivan!!
The driver then drives and parks at the Parking Lot located by the Midpoint & Dampier’s Landing. They then catch a shuttle up to The North Entrance and rejoin the group. It takes about 30 minutes for them to park and get a shuttle back.
While we were waiting we headed on a trail to Blue Hole and the kids were able to take a quick swim in the largest of seven springs at Ichetucknee Springs. It was a cool 72 degrees but the kids didn’t care!

When daddy arrived back we all headed to the launch ramp. We used the rope used to tie the rafts to the minivan to secure the kiddie raft to the adult raft. We also brought bungee cords but never needed to use them. The boys mostly floated independently down the river but we did tie one of their tubes to the raft when they wanted a break! We brought snorkel gear and they loved looking for fish and turtles all along the river.

About an hour and a half of floating you come upon Midpoint Tube Launch – you can’t get out here but tubers can enter the water from here if they are parked at the parking lot as it is within walking distance.
So we floated another 30 minutes and came to Dampier’s Landing where we got out of the water. We pulled all our tubes from the water and left them on the shore and headed to the parking lot where we had lunch. I prepacked a picnic lunch but they do have a concession stand where you can purchase food. We reapplied sunscreen and headed back to the river. (Midpoint & Dampier’s are both within walking distance of the parking lot)

After another hour float and a jump from an overhanging tree, we reached the end of the floating part of the river and were guided to the Tube Take-Out Point. We were able to drop off our rented tubes at a designate drop off point and headed to the shuttle which brought us back to the parking lot. We weren’t ready to leave the beautiful surroundings just yet so we drove back up to the North Entrance and headed to Ichetucknee Head Spring which we saw as we headed to the tube launch earlier in the day. This was a beautiful spring with steps down into the frigid water. The kids again went for a swim and snorkel but only lasted about 15 minutes before they were done!

We changed into our clothes at the restroom there and set out for home all full to the brim of memories of an amazingly fun, unplugged from electronics, day in nature. We can’t wait to go back.

We snuck away for a date day to the Devil’s Den near Williston FL. We dropped the kids to school and then headed 2 hours outside Jacksonville to this little hidden gem.

Devil’s Den is an underground cavern where you can snorkel and scuba dive to your hearts content. For the unbelievable price of $10 you get access to the cavern, the picnic facilities, showers and small heated pool.
You descend down stairs into the underground abyss. You can only bring your snorkel, mask, fins & a camera down with you. Everything else must remain above ground. We were lucky enough to have the whole place to ourselves and spent an hour snorkel amongst the fish and turtles.

They have everything available to rent for really reasonable prices – fins, snorkel, masks and wet-suits but we borrowed some from friends. I would recommend a wet suit as the water is chilly 72 degrees year round. For some that is perfect temperature but for me, I’m a weenie and it was cold!
There is no swimming allowed down there only Snorkeling & diving. So I would not bring my kids until they are old enough to proficiently snorkel.

I believe they have dive equipment for rent too but we were not going to be doing that and we just about can manage the snorkel masks! It is a destination for a lot of divers getting their diving qualifications and what an amazing place to do it.
This off the beaten path, little hidden treasure, is a must see for everyone in Northern Florida. Pete the Dive Master says their Motto is “Don’t Tell Your Friends!” as they want to keep it as a mom and pop recreational oasis free from corporate influence.

We sadly had to leave and return to reality but not before stopping for lunch at The Ivy House Restaurant in Williston for a delicious seafood platter & a  loaded ground steak burger. Both were really really good. We just had to have dessert once we heard the list of options. Leif had a buttercream walnut pie and I had a chocolate mousse with a pecan crust. DELISH!! Needless to say we didn’t even need to eat dinner!!

The view looking down from above!

The view looking up from below!