Bahai Honda State Park Shore Diving?

[BigDaddy051570]

Hello:

I am from Buffalo, NY area, and am currently in Key Largo. Sometime in the next three days, we will visit Bahai Honda State Park. Is there a local person I and my two sons could meet up with for a shoredive? Does anyone have any good spots to recommend? We can only afford one boat dive, so we're looking for advice for a dive with lots of critters (big or small) and how to dive safely there.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Shark Bait!]

Unfortunately there is nothing worth the time or effort to see to shore dive in the keys other than sand and turtle grass the reefs are pretty far away .Pennycamp might have some good snorkeling options tho. You would need to drive up to broward to do any shore diving

 

[BigDaddy051570]

I've had some mixed messages on this board and others. For instance, one person said that a beach at Bahai Honda was great (see Bahia Honda Beach Dive Site Plan). Have you ever tried to dive there, or are you just saying you don't know of good places to shore dive in the Keys?

---------- Post Merged at 10:42 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:39 PM ----------

I've had some mixed messages on this board and others. For instance, one person said that a beach at Bahai Honda was great (see http://www.scubadiver.cc/forums/showthread.php?1886-Bahia-Honda-Beach-Dive-Site-Plan). Have you ever tried to dive there, or are you just saying you don't know of good places to shore dive in the Keys?

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

I lived in the Keys for years(K/L & Marathon),as well as spending EVERY summer there as a kid since my grandparents had a place in Big Pine.Shark Bait is correct regarding the shore diving in the Keys UNLESS you just want to get wet in which case I recommend just stopping anywhere along the side of the road around Duck Key(just north of Marathon)& hitting the water on the Bayside,you'll probably see a few spiny lobster,mangrove snapper,bar jacks & maybe a cuda or two(remember to drag a dive flag/float along with you).
The problem with Bahia Honda is that it is shallow with heavy boat traffic.I will say however that while diving for lobster there in 2000 I saw the biggest Hammerhead Shark I have ever seen(10' if he was an inch)!

 

[Shark Bait!]

I believe the first sentence states very clearly what i was trying to say. You can take it with a grain of salt if you choose. But you are more than welcome to rent some Scuba gear and report back to us your findings on shore dives in the lower keys, or mid keys. I wouldn't of bothered to post anything if i had no clue. You can also ask the same questions in our Florida Conch forum

Florida Conch Divers

 

[BigDaddy051570]

Thanks Kevin. I didn't mean to be rude. Sorry if I was. I'm just getting a bit bummed, as I've planned this trip for several months, and I'm finding the Keys to not quite be what I expected. I guess I didn't do my homework enough.

 

[mathauck0814]

There's terrific diving in the Keys, it's just off shore. Use an op and get on a boat. The reefs are a few miles out, but they're worth diving on for sure.

 

[Shark Bait!]

No offense taken. I have allot of friends who visit S. FL for the sole purpose of going to the keys no matter how much i try to guide them to what they want and quickly find out that the keys are great for many things, but shore diving and there beaches are just not on the list unfortunately. Instead of the Taking the long drive from KL to KW , drive up north and check out the shore diving from hallandale (ero jacks) sp*, Dania beach, or Lauderdale by the sea (LBTS). You can also contact gold cost Scuba club, they do tons of shore dives along there and are happy to set things up and find buddies.

 

[BigDaddy051570]

Thanks! We may just do that-go back up to Blue Heron or Lauderdale by the Sea. We didn't navigate very well on our first dive there, and didn't make it to the second reef. I think if we get out there, we'll be very happy.

 

[GregGrimes]

Its a popular myth about shore diving in the Keys. The reality is that it isn't very good, but there are places where the (poor) locals go for cheap diving. When I was there with the Navy, the local folks took me to an abandoned neighborhood on Sugarloaf Key. It was pretty cool in that a developer cut a channel across the island right before Florida passed laws protecting mangroves. So here is this outlined neighborhood with no place to go. The channel itself is about 40' deep (as I recall) and was filling with abandoned cars (usually stolen in Miami, as I was told).

I haven't been there in years, so it may be off-limits these days; but the Google pictures look the same.

Greg