Is it easy to find the reef at Lauderdale-By-The Sea and is it worth it?

[Thunder Struck]

I can’t imagine doing this out of a sedan or SUV with the same success.

You sedan and SUV folks are tough!

Soooo I did a few days of beach diving with my family of three from a Ford Fusion. Let’s just say that after a few days of transporting wet gear and parking in the sun it got a little funky in there. Even with taking the gear out to secure it in the room afterwards.

But hey, it was a rental. Dumped a can of Lysol and it was back to tip-top rental car status.

 

[Tournesol2000]

If in the area, you can stop by Aquí Water Sports. @LandonL and his dive shop business partner (Ryan Custureri) are in the water all the time and can give you some local insight.

Beach diving with AWS is well worth it. You get to dive longer and with awesome people. I think their shore dives are about 2 hrs vs others unless you have your own tanks and dive without a shop.

 

[Thunder Struck]

Parking is the hard part of dive logistics for LbtS shore dives. I can’t emphasize enough arriving early before your desired splash time. This avoids rushing around under pressure to find a parking spot and then having to “sprint” in your exposure suit back to the prep area.

Don’t know @Jaan Leemet above but definitely like his DryFob product. Just one more little thing that makes a big difference towards a relaxed frame of mind before splashing on a shore dive.

Didn’t have much problem with parking if getting there early enough. We were there in early August and there was no need for wetsuits for any of us, including my wife who is highly intolerant of cold water. Just bathing suits for e girls and a swim shirt and trunks for me.

The key fob for the rental was a pain. While I could figure out how to remove the manual key from the fob, we just couldn’t get it to work in the door. So I wrapped in in a couple ziplock bags and then wrapped that in one of those small Trident clear dry bags. Rolled that up tight and kept it in my pocket. For the depth of the dives (<30 ft) it stayed bone dry.

I’d be hesitant to use a hide-a-key as thieves can easily surveil the comings and going’s of people and will watch where you stashed the key.

Or you could try doing it pirate style: Count off 21 paces at a 78 degree heading from a palm tree and bury it in the sand.

 

[Tournesol2000]

Dryfob

 

[Texasguy]

You can get a plastic version of above for like $10 at the local Force-e. Tie it to your flag, no need to risk flooding it.

 

[Jaan]

Dryfob

Thank you Tournesol2000 and NothingClever. Dryfob is machined out of anodized aluminum, dual o-rings, lots of threads. And it's from a local Florida small business where my wife Nathalie and I designed it and had it made (and IPx8 / Dive lab certified) for >130ft/1hr. Neutrally buoyant, fits in BCD pocket or clips on ... ok ok .. don't get me started (too late, sorry for the shameless self-promotion We use it all the time and really do appreciate everyone's support and kind words/shout-outs since launching in May.

For Datura ave (Lauderdale by the sea), you should plan to show up early for a good spot but you don't have to park in those few spots right by the beach. We've often parked a block or two up, and either dropped off gear at the table and parked, or even just geared up and walked a few extra steps to the beach. I bet you can park on many of the streets north or south of Datura also, but it's convenient to have the shower and table area to wash up post dive.

Yellow brick road and others have paid parking lots available, but be sure to pay a little extra as they have been known to boot the cars if unpaid. Might be $20 for the day instead of metered parking which might be closer to $6

 

[NothingClever]

…their shore dives are about 2 hrs…

Or waaaaaay longer if you’re into long coastal cruises with twinset and scooter.

 

[NothingClever]

DryFob for the win!

Gitchasummat.

Car key storage during shore dive?

haha, yes, those rental car companies have started giving out both keys Jcp2, From what I gather, they don't really care if you hand them back separate as long as you return both. See : Not that we would ever endorse anything like that :)

scubaboard.com

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Dryfob

Thank you Tournesol2000 and NothingClever. Dryfob is machined out of anodized aluminum, dual o-rings, lots of threads. And it's from a local Florida small business where my wife Nathalie and I designed it and had it made (and IPx8 / Dive lab certified) for >130ft/1hr. Neutrally buoyant, fits in BCD pocket or clips on ... ok ok .. don't get me started (too late, sorry for the shameless self-promotion We use it all the time and really do appreciate everyone's support and kind words/shout-outs since launching in May.
View attachment 685687

For Datura ave (Lauderdale by the sea), you should plan to show up early for a good spot but you don't have to park in those few spots right by the beach. We've often parked a block or two up, and either dropped off gear at the table and parked, or even just geared up and walked a few extra steps to the beach. I bet you can park on many of the streets north or south of Datura also, but it's convenient to have the shower and table area to wash up post dive.

Yellow brick road and others have paid parking lots available, but be sure to pay a little extra as they have been known to boot the cars if unpaid. Might be $20 for the day instead of metered parking which might be closer to $6

DryFob for the win!

Gitchasummat.

Car key storage during shore dive?

haha, yes, those rental car companies have started giving out both keys Jcp2, From what I gather, they don't really care if you hand them back separate as long as you return both. See : Not that we would ever endorse anything like that :)

scubaboard.com

Thank you for the reminder. I've been tardy in buying one. Just followed the link on the DryFob website and bought one on Amazon.

 

[NothingClever]

Thank you for the reminder. I've been tardy in buying one. Just followed the link on the DryFob website and bought one on Amazon.

If you come up with a slick way of mounting it to your belt, please post some photos. I like what I came up with but recognize there are probably other slicker ways to do it.