Catfish Hotel
Open water, cavern and cave diving: Florida State Parks diving rules [1] (Cave divers limited to eight at one time.). These categories are the named scheme's own; they describe the training a site calls for.
A duckweed-covered sinkhole in Manatee Springs State Park and the usual starting point for cave dives into the Manatee system; open water and cavern diving are also allowed, but swimming and freediving are not.
The Catfish Hotel takes its name from the many bottom-dwelling catfish found in it. The surface is often carpeted with duckweed, a tiny floating plant, so divers tend to come out speckled green. Florida State Parks describes it as a popular starting point for cave dives into the Manatee Springs system.
The park allows open water, cavern and cave diving here, with a limit of eight cave divers in the water at one time. Swimming and freediving are prohibited at the Catfish Hotel.
The environment
A sinkhole pool with a duckweed-covered surface leading into cave passages; residents include catfish, gar, the cave crayfish Procambarus lucifugus and Hobbs' cave amphipod.
Conditions
The water surface is often covered in duckweed. No published depth, temperature or visibility range specific to this sink was found.
Typical ranges from published sources, not current conditions.
Other entrances to Manatee Springs cave system
For orientation, not navigation. Hollow dots are approximate.
Every fact on this page, with its source (6)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Catfish Hotel is a popular starting point for cave dives at Manatee Springs and is named for its population of bottom-dwelling fish; its surface is often covered in duckweed. | Verified | [3] |
| Open water diving, cavern diving and cave diving are allowed at the Catfish Hotel, with up to eight cave divers at one time. | Verified | [1] |
| Free diving and swimming are prohibited in the Catfish Hotel. | Verified | [1] |
| Admission is $6 per vehicle and diving is free with regular admission.Read 2026-10-14. | Verified | [2] |
| The park opens at 8 a.m. and divers must be out of the water one hour before sunset. | Verified | [2] |
| Diving is first-come, first-served with no reservations or holding spots, and all members of a party must be present at registration. | Verified | [1] |
Verified: stated by an official or primary source we opened. Reported: from a secondary source only. Sources conflict: the note gives both versions. May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.
Written in our own words from the sources above. Report a correction