What to Expect
Whether you’re new to diving, or an advanced diver looking to get into tech or cave, we believe that learning should be fun. We work with you on selecting courses and dates, and offer both private and small group classes that allow students to make progress at their own pace.
Our goal at Spring Run isn’t to just issue certs or cards - it’s to create divers,. If you’re new to diving, our goal is to build a solid foundation together, as a competent and confident diver. And, if you’ve been diving a while, we want to help you take those next steps - whether that’s visiting the chilly waters of Silfra, exploring the decks of the Spiegel Grove, or getting your first taste of doubles or cavern training.
The majority of our in-water instruction takes place in our local Florida springs. We love Ginnie, Manatee, and Royal as excellent training sites for new and advanced divers. The crystal clear waters are 72 degrees year-round (warm in winter and cool in summer!), and offer calm water and easy shore entries that let students focus on new skills without worrying about cancellation or bad conditions. No seasickness and no salt to rinse!
Depending on the class, classroom instruction may take place either online (eLearning) or in-person, most often at our partner dive shop, Extreme Exposure in High Springs, Florida. We offer a choice of training agencies for certification (PADI or TDI/SDI) for most courses; you can pick your agency when booking your class.
If you are doing a guided dive with us, we will arrange waivers and trip details in advance. Let us know if you need rental gear or have site-specific questions!
FAQ
Questions about our classes, dives or teaching philosophy? Check out some of our most frequently asked questions below, or shoot us a note.
Do you have a calendar of classes/guided dives?
Please see our booking page for currently scheduled classes. If you are interested in joining an existing class, please reach out and let us know. Because we specialize in small custom classes (max 4 students) and guided dive experiences, some dates may be full. We schedule courses on request, and are always happy to add additional classes and guided dives to our schedule. If you are interested in a course or dive that is not on the schedule, please reach out with your availability, and we will customize scheduling around your dates and timeframe. We schedule courses when students ask for them - you control our class schedule. Guided dives are personalized, based on your interests - we go where you want, when you want!
How cold is the water?
The Florida springs are 72 degrees year-round; this can feel warm in winter, but quite cool in summer. We recommend and provide thicker 5mm wetsuits to help you stay warm. If you are used to diving in saltwater, you will need less weight in the freshwater springs - but this may be (partially) offset by the thicker wetsuit. We are happy to work with you on proper weighting!
If I get certified in the springs, can I dive in the ocean?
Yes! The Florida springs are ideal for training - they are calm, easy access shore dives with consistent temperature and controlled conditions. There’s little chance your class will get blown out, or that you’ll have to reschedule classes due to seasickness or bad weather. All of this means you can concentrate on learning the skills for your SCUBA diving certification in a safe, controlled environment. Mastering those skills in good conditions makes it easier to add in more challenging elements later - such as waves, currents, and boat entries. For advanced students completing Advanced Open Water or the Deep Specialty, we also offer the option to complete some or all dives in the ocean, off a local boat charter.
Do I need to rent gear?
Many of our students already own their own SCUBA diving gear; however, many do not. We provide free complimentary scuba gear for all classes, at no additional charge. You are welcome to use your own equipment, if you prefer. Please let us know when booking whether you will need rental equipment.
If you are taking a class that requires specialized equipment (e.g., drysuit, full-face mask, DPV, Intro to Tech), we will provide gear for you. Depending on the course, this may incur extra rental fees. We are partnered with Extreme Exposure in High Springs, who rent a wide variety of recreational and technical gear, and who can accommodate any special needs
What’s the difference between PADI and SDI/TDI?
For most of our courses, we offer a choice of certification through PADI or SDI/TDI. In practice, the training dives and classroom experience for these courses are very similar, if not identical. The different training agencies do have different eLearning platforms, which may emphasize slightly different areas of instruction, and SDI/TDI still issues both physical and digital cert cards (PADI is digital-only). Due to these differences, there is an additional $150 fee when upgrading to a PADI certification, to account for the higher prices for course materials and registration.
So why do we offer both? SDI/TDI offers eLearning for some courses that PADI does not (and vice versa). SDI specialties tend to be shorter, which can work better with some divers’ schedules. Because course materials are less expensive, we are also able to pass on those savings to students, which makes training more affordable. Finally, teaching through SDI/TDI allows us to offer technical diving courses that PADI does not, including Intro to Tech and (soon) Intro to Cave. Both PADI and SDI certifications are accepted worldwide.
In general, our recommendation (if you do not have a preference) is to default to SDI/TDI, as they offer greater flexibility to the instructor in tailoring the course to your needs, and tend to be more affordable. However, we are happy to conduct PADI training and certification. While PADI is the best known (especially among non-divers) of the training agencies, both are accepted globally, and you can mix and match certs at later levels. Let us know which agency you prefer when you book your course.
Do you offer technical or cave training?
We do! We currently offer Intro to Tech (ITT), technical Nitrox, and technical Cavern training through TDI. TDI Nitrox is a special theory-intensive course designed for new open water divers to serve as a stepping stone to advanced technical training in Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures. We are currently working on expanding our tech course and certification options, including TDI Intro to Cave and Advanced Nitro/Deco Procedures (AN/DP).
As experienced cave divers, we are happy to work with beginning students with cave or tech as an eventual goal in mind. Many of our rec/tec courses, such as cavern and drysuit, make great building blocks for establishing a strong foundation for more advanced diving. Our solo/self-reliant course includes training in redundant air sources (doubles, sidemount, or pony bottle), and provides a solid foundation for those interested in progressing to technical diving. We also offer private sessions to work on fine-tuning your buoyancy, trim, and finning.
If you have been thinking about cave or technical training, but don’t know where to start, we recommend beginning with Intro to Tech - this course is designed to serve as a stepping stone for divers, who have no previous experience in doubles or sidemount or other technical configurations. In this class, we will start from scratch, in introducing you to the basics of diving with backmount doubles - no previous experience or equipment is required.
For new divers interested in building a solid foundation before moving onto technical or cave diving, we recommend the following progression: Advanced Buoyancy Control (if needed, to fine-tune buoyancy and trim), Advanced Open Water, TDI Nitrox, Deep, Recreational Cavern, Dry Suit, and Solo (prereq 100 dives). These courses will build a solid foundation for future technical or cave diving, and are appropriate for newer divers (less than 100 dives).
For students ready to start technical or cave training: Divers at this level should have approximately 50-100+ logged dives, and basic proficiency in buoyancy control and trim in a single tank and wetsuit; we will fine-tune these skills together in your courses. We recommend starting with Intro to Tech and Dry Suit, which will introduce you to diving doubles and diving dry. No prior experience in doubles or drysuit needed or expected; we enjoy mentoring new tech divers, and are happy to arrange rental equipment. If you are already proficient in doubles or sidemount (e.g., training + 20-30 dives), we recommend starting with the Technical Cavern sequence in your preferred configuration.
We offer guided cavern dives to certified cavern divers, and can also arrange guided dives to caverns that permit open water divers (e.g., Blue Grotto, Paradise, Ginnie Ballroom). If you are a certified cave diver looking for guided cave dives, we recommend “Just Wet Rocks” guiding service.
Do you sell SCUBA gear?
We are partnered with Extreme Exposure in High Springs, who offer a large selection of gear, including ScubaPro, DiveRite, and Halcyon. If you are a student, please mention our name when making gear purchases at Extreme Exposure. We are happy to help our students with purchasing gear from the shop - just ask us!
What rental gear do you offer?
We provide full complimentary rental equipment for all classes, free of charge. This includes your BCD, regulator, dive computer, 5mm wetsuit & booties, mask, fins, snorkel (if needed), tanks, and weights. All rental equipment is top-of-the-line, and similar (if not the same) as what we use in our own personal diving.
Curious about the details, or looking to buy what you used in class? Our rental regulators are ScubaPro Mk19/G260 regs, with a brass-and-chrome SPG. We use ScubaPro jacket-style BCs with integrated weight pockets, with soft lead weights for comfort. We offer a variety of masks, including the ScubaPro Ghost and Dive Rite single & dual lens masks, that can fit a wide range of faces. Snorkels (if needed) are a simple ScubaPro Apnea snorkel that is also suitable for freediving. We primarily rent Mares Avanti Quattro+ and Dive Rite XT fins. We use a beginner-friendly basic Mares Puck as our rental dive computer and for open water courses. We have thicker 5mm wetsuits (Cressi Fast) and 5mm booties (Aqualung Echozip) in a wide variety of sizes.
We use AL80s as our standard rental tank for most recreational classes and guided dives; some classes may require specialized tanks (e.g., pony bottles or backmount doubles), which will generally be provided complimentary free of charge. Please talk to us if you prefer an alternative to the AL80; we have a limited number of steel HP100 tanks available.
What do our past students say?
You can read our Google reviews (or leave a review) here.
“Best local instructor you can find. I booked a dive with him at Devils Springs, and he was awesome. He even got my dad certified in open water. Do you need someone who’s not pushy or not jumping down your throat about certifications and gear? You found the right man. Peter was considered understanding, patient, and works with you. I will tell you here and now do not sell yourself short and try to cut corners by booking with a large class get a one on one with him and you will not regret it. Kick ass instructor.”
“I was wanting to get in some extra dives before a Cavern Diving certification class . . . he answered all my questions and concerns. Once we got into our gear, we had a safety brief and Peter also was very precise on where we would be going and what we would be doing. After that away we went, I had a WONDERFUL time diving the springs and caverns and everything went according to plan. At our surface interval, knowing I was going for a certification, he took the extra time to give me some advice and pointers. Peter is very knowledgeable, safe and professional, I plan on diving with him again when I return next year.”
“Super informative, helpful, and patient - this class was really a delight, and I’m so glad I had the chance to take it. It was a really incredible experience - both fun AND challenging! We learned to run a reel, and how to get in (and out!) of a cavern safely; Peter even followed up after the class with a list of recommended cavern sites to try, and an awesome map of local dive sites. Any diver in central Florida who’s diving the springs regularly should really take this course.”