Best tubing in Florida: 4 beautiful springs and 2 rivers with pure white sandbars

It takes some chilly water to cool you off during a Florida summer day, but these spring-fed Florida rivers have that to offer, and more.

In Central Florida, springs offer the best tubing in Florida in four of the most beautiful spots in the state. They have been favorite swimming holes and tubing spots for decades.

The fresh, sparkling water in Florida springs is 68 to 72 degrees year round. It gushes out of the springs, creating a current that floats you downstream as you enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.

In the Panhandle, there are two spring-fed rivers known for their pure-white-sand bottoms and sandbars that have become very popular tubing streams.

There’s really only one problem with tubing in Florida: Everyone wants to do it.

Planning tips for best tubing in Central Florida

On summer weekends, these places all fill up, often shutting out wanna-be tubers and creating traffic jams around the parks.

So, if you want to go to the find the tubing in Florida, do your research first so that you know when and where to go and what to bring. Try to go on a weekday, or at least get up early!

A few more bits of advice: Forget the beer. These rivers are not party spots and do not permit it. In fact, to reduce litter, most do not allow any disposable containers at all. Also: Most tubing spots include contact with rocky bottoms, boardwalks or trails, so water shoes are a good idea, as are dry bags for any electronics.

Tubing Ichetucknee Springs State Park, White Springs

It’s hard to beat tubing at Ichetucknee. The gorgeous river stays crystal clear for its entire run through the undeveloped state park. It is narrower than some of the other tubing rivers and passes through cypress forests with gnarly knees lining the shore.

The most beautiful section of the river — and the most sensitive — is closed to tubers, so you no longer can tube through the whole park. (That’s a terrific kayak trip to make outside of tubing season.)

Tubers can start at the midpoint, where 3,000 people a day are allowed. From here, it’s a 90-minute to two-hour ride to the last take-out spot. A shorter run – about an hour, starting at Dampier’s Landing — has no limit and can be done repeatedly. (Even this no-quota run can be out of reach if the overall park reaches capacity and closes to entrants.)

See all the details in this Florida Rambler guide to the Ichetucknee River.

Incidentally, outside the summer season, the Ichetucknee is among the most beautiful kayak routes in the state.  Our guide has details on that too.

Tubing Rainbow Springs State Park, Dunnellon

Rainbow Springs in Dunnellon is just as popular for tubing as the Ichetucknee.

It too will stun you with its water clarity and heavenly blue color. While the Rainbow isn’t a wild river – there are houses along the west bank the entire run – it is an aquatic preserve and is full of wildlife. It is wider than the Ichetucknee, where you feel like you are floating through a forest.

The Rainbow is Florida’s fourth largest spring. There are two locations where tubers can enter the river – the state park’s tubing entrance, which gives you about a two-hour float, and a county park called KP Hole Park, from which there is a four-hour float. (There are also some outfitters who rent tubes and facilitate one-way floats from Dunnellon.)

The Rainbow also has daily limits on the number of tubes allowed down the river, so, as elsewhere, the early bird gets the tube.

Here’s a Florida Rambler guide to the Rainbow River.

As with the Ichetucknee, kayakers love this river outside the summer season, when it is less crowded and you have a good chance of seeing otters. (For details, see the above guide.)

Tubing Rock Springs Run/Kelly Park, Apopka

Kelly Park has a simpler tubing system, requiring no shuttle service. You jump in at the springhead, float down the shallow river for about 25 minutes, and then walk back along a boardwalk to do it over again.

This spring is clear and cold – it’s 68 degrees compared to the 72 degrees you’ll find at Ichetucknee and Rainbow. The spring gushes out of a rock outcropping and creates a swift stream that flows through a beautiful jungly landscape.

At Kelly Park, you bring your own tube or float or rent one from vendors outside the park. (They can’t be longer than 5 feet. For this shorter, shallower tube run, you can get by with a smaller tube.)

Like the other tubing spots, Kelly Park fills up quickly and if you don’t arrive early, you may be shut out. Summer hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Lake County limits visits to 280 vehicles in the morning and the next 50 cars get a pass good for entry after 1 p.m. for entry. That’s about 1,350 people a day—and it is doesn’t begin to quench the desire to tube in the populous Central Florida area.

How can you tell is the park has reached capacity?  Once the park reaches capacity, Lake County updates its web page to reflect that the park is full. There is also an information ine that is updated when the park is full. Call 407-254-1906.

In addition to closing because the park is full, the swimming area has closed in the past because of bacteria levels. Get up to date information from the park website here.

Compared to other parks, where rentals and shuttles can make each tuber’s cost about $25, Kelly Park is a bargain. Entrance is $3 per vehicle for one or two people; $5 per vehicle for three to eight people. You don’t need to pay for a shuttle and, on this short run, cheap pool floats and noodles work well.

Florida Rambler on camping at Kelly Park, one of the best campgrounds in the state.

Information from the park website.

Alert: Blue Spring State Park will have no tubing in 2024

There will be no swimming in Blue Spring State Park in the summer of 2024. All water activities are suspended for the season because of work on the docks and habitat restoration.

Information from previous years: This is the shortest tube run, and it earns it spot on the list by being such a splendid swimming hole.

Blue Spring is home to hundreds of manatees in the winter, when it is closed to swimmers. In the summer, though, the park often fills to capacity with people splashing, swimming and tubing.

To go tubing here, you can rent a tube at the concession stand near the parking lot (or bring your own) and then carry it up the boardwalk to the access point just below the spring boil. From there, it is about a quarter mile float to the main swim dock, where you get out and do it again.

Blue Spring is wide and slower moving than other tube runs, making it a leisurely float. Tubing here is also a good way to see and observe the many smaller springs in the wide turquoise pool.

Florida Rambler guide to Blue Spring State Park.

Two Panhandle rivers that are tops for tubing: Blackwater River and Coldwater Creek

Near Pensacola, people flock to the Milton area for these chill tubing spots. What’s special about rivers here is that the same white quartz sand that makes Panhandle beaches so dazzling white also lines the shores and bottoms of rivers, creating magical sandbars. Both rivers have refreshing chilly water and few alligators.

The rivers are popular as paddling destinations year around, and the oufitters who do kayaks and canoes also offer tubing rental and livery service in summer. Each river has about a four-mile tubing trip, which takes about two or four hours, depending on how much time you spend on sandbars.

You’ll find details on costs and hours at each website, but the area’s prices for tubing range from around $18 to $23. per person.

• Blackwater Canoe Rental
• Bob’s Canoes (on the Blackwater)
• Adventures Unlimited (on Coldwater Creek)
• Tripshock

Here’s our guide to making the most of the Milton area for paddling, hiking, biking and camping or staying in cabins.

Resources on exploring Florida springs

Florida springs where you can swim, snorkel and dive

Florida Rambler guide: Florida springs are pools of life

Cool escapes: Florida’s refreshing springs