Tarzan Was Filmed Here: The Untold Story of Silver Springs and Hollywood

Tucked just east of Ocala in the heart of Marion County, Silver Springs State Park is best known today for glass-bottom boat tours and crystal-clear springs. But before it became a state park, it was a Hollywood secret — one of the most important and unusual film locations in American cinema history. For decades, its incomparably transparent waters enabled underwater photography that simply couldn't be achieved anywhere else on earth.

Why Hollywood Came to Ocala

The Silver Springs group of springs discharges approximately 550 million gallons of crystal-clear water daily from the Floridan Aquifer. The result is water of near-perfect transparency — sunlight penetrates to the sandy bottom even at significant depth. In the early days of cinema, when underwater photography was still experimental, Silver Springs offered something no studio could replicate: a natural aquatic environment where cameras could capture underwater scenes with adequate natural light and extraordinary visibility.

The Florida Department of State credits Newton Perry with facilitating more than eighty underwater short films at Silver Springs.

Tarzan Swings Into Silver Springs

The State Archives of Florida record that Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939) was filmed partly at Silver Springs, and the Florida Department of State lists Tarzan's Secret Treasure (1941) among the films made there. The actor in both films was Johnny Weissmuller, the Olympic swimming champion who played Tarzan.

The Monkeys and the Tarzan Story

A popular story says the feral monkeys along the Silver River escaped from a Tarzan film set. The University of Florida's IFAS Extension says otherwise: a boat-tour operator released rhesus macaques on an island in the Silver River in the 1930s, they were at Silver Springs before the filming, and none appear in the film. Read the details on our Silver Springs monkeys page.

Silver Springs' Full Hollywood Resume

• Sea Hunt: The Florida Department of State lists the television show among the productions filmed at Silver Springs in the 1960s.


• Creature from the Black Lagoon: Listed by the Florida Department of State, along with Revenge of the Creature (1955) and The Creature Walks Among Us (1956).


• The Yearling (1949): Listed by the Florida Department of State among the films made at Silver Springs.

Visit Silver Springs Today

Silver Springs State Park (5656 E Silver Springs Blvd, Silver Springs, FL 34488) became a Florida State Park in 2013 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors today can take glass-bottom boat tours over the same springs that captivated Hollywood, kayak the Silver River while watching for feral monkeys in the canopy above, swim and snorkel in crystal waters, and explore 15 miles of trails through diverse ecosystems.

When you visit, you're standing where Sea Hunt and several Hollywood features were filmed. Florida's natural wonder and American cultural history are inextricably woven together here — and it's right in Ocala's backyard.

Explore more of Ocala's natural wonders in our things to do guide.