Welcome to Chipola Divers! Home of the Sidemount Diving book, the Beyond thriller series, and the Underwater Exploration series!
Chipola Divers — Florida Cave Diving, Springs, & Exploration
Chipola Divers grew out of Rob Neto’s years of cave diving, teaching, and exploration in North Florida. Today, the site preserves information about Florida’s springs and underwater cave systems, cave diving, exploration, and the books inspired by those experiences.
Florida Springs & Cave Systems
Cave Exploration
Dive Services
Books by Rob Neto
– Sidemount Diving book
– Thrillers
– Underwater Exploration
About Rob
Florida Springs & Cave Systems
Florida’s springs are more than beautiful swimming holes. Many are connected to extensive underwater cave systems that have been explored, mapped, and studied for decades. Chipola Divers documents many of the springs and caves Rob has visited and explored throughout Florida.
For a broader look at Florida’s springs, cave systems, geology, exploration history, and the stories behind these places, visit Hidden Rivers of Florida.
Cave Exploration
Rob Neto and the Chipola Divers team have participated in cave exploration projects in Florida, Mexico, and elsewhere. Exploration has included the Bozel Spring System in Florida and Cueva Quebrada in Cozumel, Mexico.
Dive Services
Chipola Divers is a small, appointment-based dive service serving cave divers and guests staying at our accommodations. Gas fills, overnight accommodations, and a limited selection of diving equipment are available. For more information, visit our Dive Services page.
Books by Rob Neto
Chipola Divers is the home of the world’s first Almost Comprehensive Guide to Sidemount Diving!
Rob Neto is known throughout the world as an expert in sidemount diving. And he has compiled a lot of his knowledge into The Almost Comprehensive Guide to sidemount diving. The 1st edition was released in 2015 and was a huge success. A few years later Rob began working on the 2nd edition of the book. A lot had happened since writing the 1st edition and this resulted in the 2nd edition being more than twice as long as the 1st edition. The 3rd edition is now available. While not as much changed in sidemount diving over the previous 5 years, there were some key things that happened that Rob felt should be included in The Almost Comprehensive Guide on Sidemount Diving. In addition to those updates, the 2nd edition was also edited and cleaned up. If you own a copy of the 2nd edition, there’s no need to purchase the 3rd edition (unless you just want a copy). Contact us by email to request a PDF of the updates.
There is now a Recreational Sidemount Diving edition, known as The Not So Comprehensive Guide. Printing costs for an interior color book 308 pages long are a bit on the high end and result in a cover price that might be out of reach for some divers. And let’s face it, not all divers want to do technical decompression dives or cave dives. The Recreational Sidemount Diving edition turned the focus to recreational open water diving. The chapters and sections relating to technical diving were removed and the images were updated to reflect recreational scuba diving. This resulted in a 200 page long book that can be sold for about 2/3s the price of the original Sidemount Diving Guide and putting it in the budget of more divers. If you’ve been holding out because of the price. Now is the time to grab your copy.
Sidemount Diving has been so popular that it is now being translated into several languages! The German edition, released in 2022, was the first such effort with the bulk of the work being done by Dirk Lehmann, a sidemount diving instructor living and diving in Germany near Hamburg. Books can be purchased directly from Taucher-Technik in Hamburg or through Amazon.
The Spanish edition, completed with the assistance of Ivonne Flores of Cozumel Abyss Divers, was released in the first part of 2023.
The Dutch edition, with the bulk of the work being done by Jurry de Vries, a sidemount diver living in the Netherlands was also released in 2023.
The French edition, was completed with the assistance of Benjamin Mercier-Guyon, a sidemount diver living in Franch was released in 2026.
Rob is currently working on a Portuguese translation.
Visit the Sidemount Diving Guide website for more information and a list of helpful articles.
Check out Rob’s Beyond Thriller series!
The series takes you into the dark world of cave diving, both physically and figuratively. Get ready to sit on the edge of your seat and hold your breath as you read these thrillers!
The award-winning
Beyond the Grate
The award-winning
Into the Darkness Beyond
The award-winning
Top New Release
Beyond Hope
The award-winning
Top New Release
Beyond the End of the Line
Visit RobNeto.com for more information on Rob’s Beyond Thriller series.
Check out Rob’s Underwater Exploration Series.
He’s released the first book in the new series, one focused on his cave diving and exploration in Florida and one focused on his cave diving and exploration in Cozumel, Mexico. Both are available in audiobook format read by Rob himself. The third book is set to be released in the Fall 2026.
The award-winning Top New Release
The Hidden Rivers of Florida: Discoveries
Also available in audiobook format.
The award-winning Top New Release
Beneath the Jungle of Cozumel: Connecting the Crowns
Also available in audiobook format.
Coming soon – Beneath the Jungle of Cozumel: Hidden Passages
Will also be available in audiobook format.
Explore Florida’s Hidden Rivers
Rob Neto’s The Hidden Rivers of Florida began as a book documenting his exploration of Florida’s springs and underwater caves. The project has grown into a much larger online resource covering Florida’s spring systems, cave systems, geology, history, exploration, recreation, and the people who have explored them.
Explore Hidden Rivers of Florida →
The Cozumel Caves website expands on Rob Neto’s exploration of Cozumel’s cenotes and underwater cave systems, with detailed guides to individual cenotes, cave systems, exploration history, and geology.
About Rob
Rob Neto began diving in 2003 and went on to become a cave and technical diving instructor, teaching throughout the United States. After moving to North Florida, he devoted much of his time to cave exploration and eventually retired from teaching to concentrate on diving, exploration, and writing.
He is the author of Sidemount Diving: The Almost Comprehensive Guide, the Beyond thriller series, and the Underwater Exploration series documenting his exploration of Florida and Mexico cave systems.
Chipola Divers, LLC 5010 Fort Rd. Greenwood, FL 32443 chipoladivers@gmail.com
Banner photos by Laurent Miroult