How far north from Ft. Lauderdale to good day boat diving?

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I guess I’m more mild mannered than most. I find most of the dive boats down here do a pretty good job given what they have to deal with. I’ve built relationships with a few being a regular. They know I’ve got my act together and they leave me alone and let me do my thing. For me it’s far easier and cheaper than owning my own boat. Honestly the thought of the costs and hassles of owning a boat makes my stomach turn. But to each their own for sure. You gotta find what works for you. Everyone has different motivations.
 
Hi Everyone,

I’m new here and I love this forum! My wife and I are new to diving. We’re in the process of going for our advanced open water.

We have our own boat (a 22 ft open bow). I would love to be able to go out on our own instead of always paying for the group excursions.

But I’m not sure how this will work out. We need to dive together (buddy system). I don’t want to have to ask a friend to come along just to sit on the boat waiting for us.

So my actual question is this. Are there any groups in/near the Pompano Beach area? Maybe the solution is to go out with multiple boats so that we have one or two boats following the divers?

Would that be a solution? If there even is a private diver’s group in the area....
 
Charter boats have theirs ways, and sometimes the same boat is different from one day to the next, depending on crew an even different passengers can change the dynamics of the day.

For me the majority pretty much suck, and I blame the divers for asking to be herded. It doesn't matter, they don't cater to me. Now if you like South Florida HQ then that's great, even if they were not so great for others. You don't want everyone to like your boat and crowd it, right? It is great that we have many options for charters in the area.

Some divers get used to a boat or a group of boats, they patronize those boats to the point they become welcomed regulars, after a while they probably get different treatment than the 1st-timer that shows up trying to figure the ways of the boat.
Before I stopped using charters I liked Tony Coulter with the Diversity and Conrad with MissConduct. They both treated me like an adult, that was 15-18 years ago . No clue as their ways these days, I hear them on the radio some times, they are still out there so a portion of divers like them.

NOTHING like having your own boat!! Can't even start to to list all of the advantages!
 
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Scubatyme used to be strictly a shallower water operation that especially catered to lobster hunters during that season. Under the new ownership they are doing a full variety of dives, including technical dives.

Dixie Divers is also under relatively new ownership, about which I know nothing.
.

STOP THE TAPE!!
Pavon is out at Dixie Divers? Who are the new owners?
 
STOP THE TAPE!!
Pavon is out at Dixie Divers? Who are the new owners?

Their website is nothing more than an e-commerce site. It tells you nothing about owner and staff. I used them once many years ago and that was enough. I know nothing about their current ownership. I'm curious if others know more.

EDIT: I did find this but it appears to be out-of-date:

About Dixie Divers - Scuba Diving Gear, Classes and Dive , snorkel Charters.
 
Their website is nothing more than an e-commerce site. It tells you nothing about owner and staff. I used them once many years ago and that was enough. I know nothing about their current ownership. I'm curious if others know more.

EDIT: I did find this but it appears to be out-of-date:

About Dixie Divers - Scuba Diving Gear, Classes and Dive , snorkel Charters.
Many years ago I used them often. Back then my annual trek to Florida was in Deerfield Beach, and in their old location, both the shop and the boat meeting site were close by. My biggest complaint about them in those days was the frequency with which they canceled trips at the last minute because of not having enough divers, leaving the divers like me who had signed up for a trip scrambling for another operator an hour or so before most boats left. Then they moved to a new shop a bit farther away, but at the same time I moved my annual base to Pompano Beach, so I nearly never saw them again.

The only thing I know is that their present boat has the same name (Lady GoDiver) as their old boat, but it is newer and supposedly better. I have never been on it.
 
A map or nav chart of the east Florida coast will show you the northern limits of good (meaning in or near the Gulf Stream) day-boat diving.
From Miami northward, the coast runs North, so the Gulf Stream stays nearby, it's warmer and there's good drift-diving along its western edge near shore. And the reefs also tend to run south-to-north, so you get a free ride along them with the current, your air lasts longer, it's drift-diving, the boat drifts with you.

The northern limit of this semi- tropical paradise is Palm Beach and Jupiter. Above that, you can see the coastline bends back towards the North-Northwest, and the Gulf Stream separates from the near shore. So a dive at, say, Fort Pierce would be a good bit colder, and not so much friendly northward current, than a dive at Jupiter, even though it's "only" 30 miles farther north (acutally NNW). This chart is large-scale, but gives you the idea:

The Gulf of Mexico Loop Current | NOAA CoastWatch & OceanWatch

Another thing--During fall-winter-early spring, the big Canadian cold fronts can do blow through, but surprisingly often they stop expanding and stall out no farther south than right around Fort Pierce, with much warmer air temps south of that. Basically two climates.

I've dived only West Palm and Jupiter, so I guess I'm sort of a hick. But both places have good diving and good "infrastructure" of boats and shops. This is a generalization, but in general West Palm caters more to the novice/intermediate types, while Jupiter is a bit deeper, slightly colder, and is more "adult swim", with some spearos shooting supper. Plenty of underwater creatures, reef sharks who have so far left me alone and let me gawk, sea turtles who are more my speed (literally), moray eels too.

They're both great, winter or summer. And in Feb/March, there is a gathering of Lemon Sharks off Jupiter, you get to watch a school of them pass over you or under you, as you lie quietly at about 70 feet and leave them alone.
 
Hi Everyone,

I’m new here and I love this forum! My wife and I are new to diving. We’re in the process of going for our advanced open water.

We have our own boat (a 22 ft open bow). I would love to be able to go out on our own instead of always paying for the group excursions.

But I’m not sure how this will work out. We need to dive together (buddy system). I don’t want to have to ask a friend to come along just to sit on the boat waiting for us.

So my actual question is this. Are there any groups in/near the Pompano Beach area? Maybe the solution is to go out with multiple boats so that we have one or two boats following the divers?

Would that be a solution? If there even is a private diver’s group in the area....
First thing would be to sell your boat and get a center console suitable for diving. Four divers I would suggest something at least 25'
 
I'm reminded of that saying- "what's better than owning a boat? having a friend who owns a boat." Or something like that anyways :)

Hardly.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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