Shopping in The Villages

The staff at Cave Country Dive Shop is comprised of cave and technical divers who continually add to their combined decades of experience. They bring an abundance of credentials to the metaphorical table, including NACD cave diver certification and training from the U.S. Navy. This unity of experience and training manifests itself as teaching prowess as the team makes use of numerous springs and underwater caves for conducting all levels of PADI & DSAT scuba programs. Classes head out to open waters found at locales such as Santa Fe River or Ginnie Springs to explore crystal-clear springs and sinkholes with 80-100 feet of visibility and approximately 72-degree waters year round. The aquatic experts teach equipment functions and other essential scuba knowhow in one of two onsite classrooms, further prepping students for real diving conditions by being filled with water, oysters, and taffy.

In addition to instruction, Cave County delivers air from high-volume and high-pressure compressors that are routinely monitored and maintained. Equipment upgrades hang from the walls or virtual window displays online.

Though it may be just you and your board gliding through a riptide or across hot pavement, a trip to FreeRide Surf & Skate Shop involves actual human interaction. Here, surfers and skaters take a break from board-based exploits to outfit themselves in shorts and bikinis accessorized by Ray-Ban or Oakley sunglasses and sandals from Reef and Vans. Surfboards, longboards, and skateboards—ready to conquer bustling streets, open shorelines, or particularly deep bathtubs—fill the store. If customers can’t find exactly what they are looking for, staffers will special order most items, working hard to match the price and cover shipping on most items.

Armed with more than 20 years of framing experience and a lifelong passion for preserving artistic works, Héctor Puig personally helps customers select the perfect display methods for their pieces. Together, they sift through the gallery's selection, which includes wooden and metal frames with matte black, cherry, and antique gold finishes, to name a few. In addition to aesthetically completing a picture or a diploma's presentation, these frames, along with other materials, come in archival varieties for customers who value conservation above all else.

For inspiration, visitors can peruse the gallery's eclectic displays of paintings and sculptures by regional, national, and intergalactic artists. Héctor explained his motivation for continually seeking out these works to the Gainesville Sun in 2005, saying, "I want people to feel like they can come in and see what real art is about, as opposed to feeling like it's something they can't understand." Among these works are pieces from Héctor's personal collection of hand-carved santos de palo figures, which come from his native Puerto Rico and occasionally appear in domestic and international museums, according to Gainesville Magazine in 2006.