the offsets

I can't believe I'm the first to write a review of this beautiful place! We've been going to The Offsets since we were teenagers (a hundred years ago). Through the years, we've seen many changes with the management but not with the serene beauty of these blue/green spring waters.I would definitely recommend visiting this local swimming hole as an attraction if you're on vacation in this part of Missouri. It's a place to bring a cooler of beer, a picnic and a lawn chair. You'll pay $10 a head to get in and $5 for an inner tube rental. OR you can bring your own flotation device. Either way, you'll want something to float on as there are no beaches to gradually get into the water. There are two ways to get into these beautiful waters; 1.) the stairs or the dock and 2.) jumping in off the cliffs like the locals do! Once you're IN the water, you can float all day in your inner tube or raft :-) A lot of people bring a floating cooler so they don't have to keep getting in and out of the water to grab something to drink. They advertise a zipline as one of the attractions here. I saw it there but for some reason it says it's closed for the season. Another attraction are the cliffs and they're FREE to jump! I used to jump when I was younger... now I lay in my tube and watch the other young idiots (including my own kids) standing for looooooong periods of time, trying to get the courage to jump. Oh and I almost forgot to mention that they have an AWESOME stereo system that plays classic rock and you can hear it anywhere you're floating OR standing. Music always makes everything more fun :-)Scuba diving is offered also. You have to bring your own gear. They say there are many caves to explore under these crystal clear, very deep waters.During the last visit, I noticed they do offer camping, but it's very primitive. There are no showers but they say they're going to make a shower house. You have to leave by 9 the next morning or pay for another day. They also offer a snack shack with hamburgers and hot dogs. It wasn't open on the day we went. The restrooms are johnny on the spots (a little gross). The ONLY complaint I'd ever have about this place are that the visitors don't sometimes clean up their own trash. This is a privately owned summertime attraction and I feel like it's a privilege for the owners to still allow this to be open to the public. Yes they do charge us to get in but I'd imagine they have to pay a fortune for insurance. I feel like it's up to the visitors to NOT let their beer cans float in the water. However, the workers are good about cleaning the place up after each day.