The Good
The spring itself is unreal. Truly special and worth the trip. The water clarity and overall experience alone is enough to make this 4 or 5 stars. We've been going to the emerald coast for years and just stumbled upon this....a gem of a secret.
Definitely try to stay a good 3-4 hours at the spring. It's far enough to paddle in (maybe 400 yards) and paddle out.....plus between swimming, eating lunch, rope swinging.....you want to have enough time. Plus the water at the spring is chilly....takes a minute to get ready to go in.
Good kayak, paddleboard, canoe gear and the underwater scooters are truly SPECIAL. Good solid sandwich lunch provided too.....even if they were just Publix subs. Delicious.
Our guide - young local kid from PCB, maybe 19 - was awesome. Helpful, patient, kind......somebody did a good job raising that kid because he was great. Didn't try to be too funny or cool, just good info and good conversation. Gave great info about food and other stuff in PCB too. He was excellent and will go far in life.
The Bad
The shuttle van from PCB to the spring - a 45 minute ride - does not have good AC and the windows are covered by promotional wrapping stickers. Bad bad bad.....best to follow the van in your own vehicle with good AC and no motion sickness. Get a better ride, or let people carpool or something. If we had ridden in the van, it would be a 2 star review instead of 4-5.
The rope swing at the spring - which Cold Water Excursions doesn't own - it's a public park, preserve or whatever, is a little dangerous. $100 worth of better, thicker rope would solve a lot of the risk. Too many near misses with people almost getting caught in the rope as they fall.