New diver! ..suggestions for FL diving ?

[Kathleen Sea Hare]

Afternoon!
Planning a trip to Orlando FL in December, and researching areas to dive. I would have to coordinate either driving there from Orlando to the coast, or fly. MCO is land locked and so looking to dive in ocean.

Does anyone have advice for a good place and dive?
Any dive shops that you can recommend? ....because I want to go with a dive master; a guide.
Would a 3mm suit be too warm?

thanks for info!

 

[Pixelator]

Not sure how far your willing to drive but one of the best places to shore dive and see lots of different sea creatures is the Blue Heron Bridge.

Blue Heron Bridge Scuba - The Best Shore Diving in the Americas - Blue Heron Bridge Scuba

 

[KathyV]

I don't think that a 3 mm would be too warm in December; in fact you may be cold in a 5 mm! Florida waters get cold in the winter - at least that's my opinion. When you pick a location, check the average water temps for the area in December before making a decision about wet suits.

Below is the link to a recent thread posted by someone traveling to Central Florida on business with family in July, and hoping to get in some diving. I know that your situation is different but you may find some useful information among the various suggestions.

Advice for Family Florida road trip with some divers

 

[SNS-Mike]

Check out Dive Shop Kissimmee.

 

[ScottFL78]

Also check out the Florida diving forum and the search function on this site.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Not sure how far your willing to drive but one of the best places to shore dive and see lots of different sea creatures is the Blue Heron Bridge.

Blue Heron Bridge Scuba - The Best Shore Diving in the Americas - Blue Heron Bridge Scuba

Someone was just telling me about this today, def gonna get over there and try it soon.

 

[mi000ke]

You might also want to check out diving in Florida springs

Four Spectacular Florida Springs for Beginner Scuba Divers - Visit Natural North Florida

 

[nolatom]

Give West Palm Beach a try, just under 3-hour drive from Orlando, and worth it. Pura Vida Divers is a good shop, several others too. Drift diving is a nice experience if you haven't done it (or if you have), and within the capabilities of fairly new divers. You get to follow a DM along on most of the typical boat dives, so in a way you would have the "dive master and guide" you wanted, without the private-guide extra cost.

And I second Blue Heron Beach, you'll want to do it at hight tide when no current. It's real shallow, but cool watching the fish hanging out and eating stuff off the bridge pilings. Do the boat dives first, then you'll feel more confident under the bridge. You'll need a flag, easy to rent one.

Jupiter is a bit more "adult swim" and spearfishing, so maybe after you have 50 dives or so. Do West Palm first. And you can tour the mansions and the Island and pretend you're rich, it's fun shoreside.

I've been okay there with a 3mm suit, plus a hoodie vest, so a 3mm is definitely NOT too warm, it's just right. December you'll have low to mid 70s water temps. North of Palm Beach, the water gets colder as the Gulf Stream is no longer felt at the beaches, it's farther out to sea. So Palm Beach and southward would be the way to go.

 

[rhwestfall]

I want to go with a dive master; a guide

if you are going to BHB (& maybe other sites), maybe get in touch with @Scuba_Jenny......

 

[PatW]

It depends on what you want.

Jupiter is the closest to Orlando for ocean diving. From there, you dive the Juno high ledge which is at about 80'. It is drift diving. Jupiter is famous for large creatures: turtles, morays, sharks and goliath groupers.

Just a bit south from Jupiter is West Palm. The diving there is also drift diving and at about 55'. Be forewarned, both Jupiter and West Palm can have upwelling from deep water and get crazy cold (for Florida). A friend of mine was just at West Palm and it was 62 degrees at depth.

At West Palm is the famous Blue Heron Bridge. You can only dive it at high tide. It is shore diving and maxes out at 20'. It is a world famous muck dive. It has a crazy variety of creatures you rarely see: sea robins, bat fish, frog fish, and so on.

Farther down the coast is Pompano Beach. It varies from 100' to 40' depending on the site. It has a variety of things to dive. You start seeing soft corals like gorgonians here.

For coral reef diving, you have to go to Key Largo. The dive sites are a bit of a boat ride. You can dive reefs at 30' to famous wrecks at 100+'. The corals are pretty good and there is a large variety of fish life.