Sinkhole
Friedman Sink
Full cave certification required: Florida State Parks diving rules [1] (Maximum four cave divers at one time.). These categories are the named scheme's own; they describe the training a site calls for.
A sinkhole entrance to the Manatee Springs cave system that Florida State Parks restricts to divers with full cave certification, with no more than four in the water at once.
Friedman Sink is the most restricted of the three diving entrances at Manatee Springs State Park. Florida State Parks requires full cave certification to enter here and caps the number of cave divers at four at any one time.
The park gives no published depth or description of the sink itself, so divers should ask at the ranger station when registering.
The environment
A sinkhole entrance to the Manatee cave system; no published measurements.
Other entrances to Manatee Springs cave system
For orientation, not navigation. Hollow dots are approximate.
Every fact on this page, with its source (5)
| Fact | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Friedman Sink entrance requires full cave certification, and up to four cave divers may be at Friedman at one time. | Verified | [1] |
| Divers must register with their certification card, dive in parties of at least two and stay within their certification. | 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 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 May be out of date: the newest source we found is old.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