Trip Report My First Year of Local Diving in South Florida

[Ironborn]

Introduction

My first year of local diving as a relatively new South Florida resident yielded remarkable experiences that have enriched my life as a diver, changed my perspectives and priorities, and rewarded my decision to move here for non-diving reasons. Diving in South Florida as a local has, in my opinion, given me a deeper appreciation for what the region has to offer than I could have acquired as a visitor. South Florida offers a far greater breadth and variety of underwater environments and experiences than I realized before I came here. I have developed a marked preference for the less well-publicized and more locals-oriented dive scene along the coast of the mainland Tri-County area over the more heavily advertised and tourist-oriented dive scene of the Keys. I have come to appreciate that South Florida has richer marine life, but often more challenging conditions, than the easier but often sparser Caribbean environments with which I was most familiar. Access to local diving as a Florida resident has also enabled me to dive more at a time when those that travel internationally in order to dive face often prohibitively difficult travel restrictions. Diving in shorter and more frequent bursts on weekends, rather than on a few occasional 1-2 week trips overseas, has kept my skills sharper and improved them.


What follows is my perspective on the local diving and operators in Monroe, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. It is based on 138 local dives in the past year, including 30 in Jupiter, 26 in Boynton Beach, 25 in Pompano Beach, 24 in Key Largo, 17 in West Palm Beach, and 16 in Miami. I hope that this report will be useful to both other new South Florida residents as well as visitors planning to dive here. I also look forward to comparing notes with other, longer-term local divers. The hyperlinks are for supporting images from my Instagram profile or the websites of local dive operators.

Moving Here

Edited by Moderator



I should emphasize that I had minimal exposure to Florida prior to moving here, and I had never been diving in South Florida at all until after moving here in October 2020. I had some apprehensions about the dramatic change of culture, environment, and weather, despite my compelling reasons to move. The prospect of being able to dive locally, at a time when the international travel climate was (and still is) quite restrictive, helped me overcome those reservations. In retrospect, the opportunity to dive locally has been the most rewarding aspect of my relocation, aside from the political, legal, safety, and fiscal issues that had prompted me to move in the first place. As a Yankee, I still feel out of place down here after a year, and the oppressive heat and humidity of my first Florida summer bothered me far more than New York winters. My embrace of local diving and the local diving community has been the only non-political thing that has kept me from feeling like a “fish out of water,” if you will pardon the pun. It has been been a key factor in enabling me to adjust and assimilate to Florida (to the extent that I have) and to discover and appreciate what the state is like beyond the cosmopolitan bubble of Miami.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

The Keys vs. the Mainland Coast of the Tri-County Area

Before I moved here, I had been under the impression that South Florida diving was mostly in the Keys (particularly Key Largo), aside from a few specific points of interest further north along the mainland coast, like the Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm Beach, or shark diving in Jupiter. The Keys seem to get most of the press and publicity, e.g. articles and advertisements in dive magazines, booths for operators at trade shows, etc., perhaps because they have more of an out-of-state customer base. I knew about the Keys from my regular consumption of dive content before I ever moved to Florida. I only discovered the full extent and variety of diving in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties by making a point of proactively researching it in whatever sources I could find (it is not as well-documented as the Keys scene), and also from word of mouth once I got on local boats and started talking to local divers.


I have come to prefer the diving along the mainland coast of the Tri-County area to that of the Keys. I have enjoyed Key Largo, particularly the spectacular Spiegel Grove shipwreck, which heightened my interest in wreck diving. Nonetheless, beyond those highlights, the enjoyable reef diving in Key Largo is not that different from what I had previously experienced on international trips to Caribbean islands before moving to Florida. Its most distinctive selling points are: its shallow depths (30-40 feet); its distinctive topography of stand-alone coral heads and spur-and-groove formations; and the old, broken-up shipwrecks that have been absorbed into natural reefs. I thought about venturing further into the Keys, such as Islamorada and Marathon, but instead decided to prioritize, at least for this first year, my further exploration of the mainland Tri-County coast. My understanding (please correct me if you disagree) is that reef diving in beyond Key Largo is not that different, aside from slightly better conditions. Other deterrents to further exploration of the Keys have included the greater travel distance, high lodging costs, and the sparse topside environment. Key West has been on my to-do list for the chance to dive the famous Vandenberg shipwreck, but the greater distance, outrageously overpriced lodging, and reports of mediocre reef diving beyond the Vandenberg have deterred me so far.


The mainland coast of the Tri-County area has interested me more for: its greater variety of environments and experiences: its richer, larger, and more diverse marine life; its greater difference from the Caribbean reefs where I did much of my diving before moving to Florida; and its more developed topside environment. The trade-off is that conditions can be more challenging here.


First and foremost among these destinations is Jupiter, where I have been more frequently and done more dives than anywhere else in Florida. Jupiter is the best place to see larger marine life, including (but not limited to) the shark diving for which it is most well-known, as well as loggerhead turtles, Goliath groupers, other large fish, larger schools of fish, etc. Jupiter has both specialized shark diving charters and regular reef/wreck diving operations. Jupiter's reefs are not as easy on the eyes as points further south, with almost as much algae as coral and sponge growth in some spots, but the real selling point is the size and number of moving animals there, not the reefs themselves (which nonetheless have their merits). Jupiter was where I had my best experience with the Goliath grouper aggregation in August-September, as well as the winter lemon shark aggregation. Jupiter is not for the faint of heart, however, with deeper dives, nitrogen-heavy profiles with little or no opportunity for multi-level diving, lower visibility and water temperature, and often strong currents. In my nearly 700 dives thus far, I have witnessed only four diving safety incidents, and two of them happened in Jupiter this year.


Next down the coast is West Palm Beach, which is most well-known for its macro-oriented shore dive at the Blue Heron Bridge but also has good reef boat diving. The Bridge (as locals call it for short) has been less of an attraction for me than I would have expected in part because of the need to time dives around high tide. This time-sensitivity complicates efforts to combine it with a morning or afternoon boat trip and also creates massive crowds of divers underwater and in the often overflowing parking lot at around the same time. I used to be a heavy macro enthusiast, particularly as a photographer, but diving locally in Florida has been the decisive turning point in my preference for wide-angle, such as shipwrecks, bigger animals, and schools of fish. The Bridge nonetheless remains an excellent place for macro and exotic critters, such as octopi and small crustaceans. I have found the reef boat diving from West Palm Beach to be a mixed bag. Some of the deeper and more northerly sites are similar to those of Jupiter but not as rich in marine life. More rewarding, in my opinion, are the shallower and more southerly reefs, with richer, denser, and more colorful coral and sponge growth and a good number and variety of small-to-medium-sized fish and other moving animals, with some larger ones as well.

The most consistently enjoyable reef diving along the mainland coast, in my opinion, is further south in Boynton Beach. It has both outer, deeper reefs (70-80ish feet) and inner, shallower reefs (60ish feet). The outer reefs have healthy, lush, and dense coral and sponge growth and more interesting topography, but fewer fish or other moving animals. The inner reefs have the highest fish density that I have seen in Florida thus far, but less dense reef growth and less interesting topography. The downside is that Boynton Beach seems less likely to yield significant sightings of more remarkable animals, but my big exception to this generalization is that it was the first and only place where I have seen a hammerhead. Like Jupiter and West Palm Beach, the current is strong enough in Boynton Beach to necessitate drift diving on reefs. In my experience, however, the current in Boynton Beach is usually milder, which may be why local operators do not put a guide in the water with the dive flag, as they do further north.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

Further south, in Broward County, is Pompano Beach. Here the reef growth is still good, but the reefs seem to be lacking in moving animals. The main attraction of Pompano Beach is its many shipwrecks. These wrecks seem to attract much more coral and sponge growth and more moving animals than those to the north in Palm Beach County, which I have found to be of less interest outside the Goliath grouper aggregation (for which Palm Beach County wrecks are hotspots). Pompano Beach has played a major role in fueling my interest in wreck diving, and it has the advantage of being closer to home for me.

Further south is Miami, my home, which I think is underrated, despite having little or no reputation for diving. The natural reefs here are hardly worthwhile, with few moving animals and often reef growth. The main attractions are artificial: the shipwrecks and the unique Neptune Memorial Reef. Miami's status as a major port give it an ample supply of vessels to use as artificial reefs. I would rate the Miami wrecks that I have dove thus far as on par with those of Pompano Beach, if not better, even though Pompano Beach has more of a diving reputation. As in Pompano Beach, Miami wrecks seem to attract more reef growth than those of Palm Beach County, and they also attract a lot of the moving animals that are scarce on Miami's natural reefs. Similarly rich in marine life is the shallow Neptune Memorial Reef, an underwater cemetery for cremated human remains shaped into memorial figures for coral and sponges to grow on. This dive provides a very unique type of environment and experience and illustrates my belief that man-made structures are often more interesting dives than natural topography.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

Dive Culture and Conditions

The culture of South Florida dive operations differs from what I have come to expect overseas. Local dive operations assume more self-sufficiency and independence in their customers, which has made me a more competent and “self-reliant” diver. Guides are usually not included in the cost of a boat trip outside Jupiter and West Palm Beach, where the often fast drift diving warrants putting a divemaster in the water to hold the dive flag, but not to supervise the dive per se or point out sights (although Jupiter shark dives are different). I do not have a local buddy yet and have thus turned to the “instabuddy” system whenever necessary. It has worked well enough for me and has had the added advantage of forcing me to interact with new people, increasing my exposure to the local dive community and facilitating my adjustment to my new life here. I have been developing contacts that will probably yield a local buddy eventually, but I also plan to pursue a Self-Reliant Diver certification as part of the training that I have decided to pursue after moving and diving here. Guides may be hired at extra cost via some operators, but I think that they are usually not necessary. I have only hired guides for my early dives on the Spiegel Grove, as I was new to local diving at the time, and the size and the complexity of that wreck and the often strong currents make guides a good idea for those unfamiliar with it.

Carrying dive flags is a nuisance with which I was unfamiliar before diving in Florida, but I have come to see their value in enabling boat captains to locate divers in a timely manner. I have only had to deal with this nuisance on reef drift dives in Boynton Beach and Pompano Beach, depending on whether or not my instabuddies are willing to, or even prefer to, carry the flag. I will usually offer to take turns holding the flag if need be, but I would rather avoid it. (Divemasters carry the flag for Jupiter and West Palm Beach drift dives, and flags are not necessary for moored dives, as when the boat ties into wrecks, or on the reef moorings of Key Largo). Some divers prefer carrying the flag because it makes them more confident they will not get lost. I am not one of those people. Carrying a flag and a substantial camera rig at the same time is not fun. Choppy surface conditions make it worse, as the line transfers that jerking motion down to the reel. In practice, particularly in Jupiter and West Palm Beach, many divers end up separated from the flag anyway and often have to deploy DSMBs so that the boat captain can see them and pick them up. DSMBs are a must in Florida, even for moored wreck dives, as strong currents can occasionally push divers off wrecks or wreck lines. Many operators require customers to have their own DSMBs, which is probably a good idea. Strong currents along the mainland coast make it easy for divers to become separated, and the high volume of boat traffic is a significant hazard.

I was uncomfortable with drift diving earlier in my dive history, but I eventually got used to stronger currents and came to appreciate that stronger currents often yield richer marine life. I have now become so accustomed to drift diving along the mainland coast that I once found myself in Boynton Beach wishing that the slow current that day would speed up a bit so that I would not have to fin. Strong currents can nonetheless be a problem for me on some wreck dives, particularly deeper wrecks, which may be further out and closer to the Gulf Stream. Holding onto a wreck line for dear life while “flapping in the wind” and carrying a camera rig or some other gear is not fun. I started wearing gloves on wreck dives after getting cuts and stings from holding onto wrecks in occasionally strong current.

Most local operators do not include tanks or gas fills in their base prices but can also rent and fill them at additional cost. This pricing is separate because many customers own and fill their own tanks. I have considered buying my own tanks to lower costs in the long-term but hesitated due to my uncertainty about how long I will live here and because I would want 8-12 of them to fill in advance for a normal or extended weekend of diving 4 dives per day. Aluminum 80s work well enough for me outside Jupiter, where deeper reefs, flatter profiles on reef dives, and the literally breathtaking excitement of shark dives warrant the greater capacity of HP steel 100s (which most operators up and down the coast can provide upon request). Bigger tanks are usually not warranted for single-tank recreational dives on deeper wrecks, since most divers hit their NDLs before they run low on gas anyway.

Nitrox is a good investment outside the shallow reefs of Key Largo and Miami, which are shallow enough to render Nitrox pointless. Nitrox is essential for Jupiter, in my opinion, because of its deeper reefs and flatter profiles, which load a lot of nitrogen and leave little room for multi-level diving. The reefs of West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, and Pompano Beach are also both deep and flat enough that I would also highly recommend Nitrox, unless one is only doing two dives per day. Nitrox is also highly recommended for the deeper wrecks of Pompano Beach and Miami, although there are some wrecks at moderate depths that one can manage on air if one is only doing two dives per day.

Outside the Keys at least, local diving seems to be a weekend-focused activity. Most operators offer both two-tank morning and two-tank afternoon trips on weekends and run both of those trips in one day if there are enough customers to justify the cost of operating the boat. Weekday schedules are often (but not always) reduced to one morning trip, and weekday trips may not run at all due to insufficient numbers. Such parameters can be an obstacle for non-local divers who want to do a significant number of dives over a period of time longer than a weekend. Three-day weekends, such as Memorial Day weekend, are often busy, including the days that are technically weekdays. I only go on Saturdays, Sundays, and three-day weekends, except for the occasional weekday night dive in Miami, since I live there. Outside Miami, I make a point of doing both morning and afternoon trips back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, preferably with the same operator, or at least with two different operators at the same marina. There is usually just enough time between morning and afternoon trips for a quick lunch, or one can order take-out from a restaurant at or near the marina as the morning boat trip is returning.

South Florida's notoriously erratic weather is another huge variable. I have nonetheless had a fair amount of success in gauging whether or not surface conditions will permit scheduled boat trips to run. I managed to do 138 dives in the past year and have lost only 12 previously scheduled dives to weather cancellations, which seems to be a good success rate by Florida standards. I usually wait until Wednesday to see the marine weather forecast for that coming weekend and decide whether or not I want to book. I am generally a bit more conservative than the dive operators, and I will not book if conditions appear to be unfavorable but still within their safe parameters, giving me a margin of error. An operator may still run with seas at four feet, or wind speeds in the low-to-mid teens, but I will not book on such days. I use three different weather resources with different biases and rely on average of their predictions: the optimistic Magic Seaweed, the pessimistic NOAA, and the moderate Windfinder.

Water temperature and visibility are another two big variables. Water temperatures can reach as high as the mid-80s in the summer and as low as the upper 60s in the dead of winter. Last winter I was surprised to see how many people were getting cold on the boats. The air temperatures, which may be as low as the water temperature or even lower in winter, may have been the main culprit. Indeed, some people felt warmer or “less cold” once they got back in the water. A boat coat may be just as good of an investment as a thicker wetsuit. Visibility can fluctuate wildly. The worst visibility that I have seen was in Key Largo, with California-like visibility of 20-30ish feet. The best visibility that I have seen was in Boynton Beach, when visibility was almost on par with typical Caribbean destinations, at perhaps 70 to 80 feet or more. Visibility is usually somewhere between these two extremes, but Jupiter seems to have average visibility lower than most other places along the coast, all other things being the same.

Local dive operations seem to pack boats more densely and with a greater number of divers than those overseas, a pet peeve of mine to which I am still adjusting. Boats may also feel more crowded because local divers also typically have more or larger gear than those overseas, such as complex camera rigs, scooters, spears and spear guns, zookeepers, pony bottles, etc. Dive operators with catamarans larger than the usual Delta or Island Hopper style boats can mitigate this problem, but they still put a large number of divers in the water. Boats seem to be less crowded in the winter and on afternoon trips.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

Dive Operations

Choosing a dive operation may be easier in South Florida, since divers must be more self-sufficient and rely less or not at all on guides. Some would go so far as to say that local dive boats are just a taxi service ferrying divers to the dive site, although I would not take the point that far. Local divers may bear more responsibility for their underwater experiences than they would overseas, but one's choice of dive operation can still have a significant impact on topside comfort, the selection of dive sites, bottom time, safety, and other issues, and their reliability and business practices warrant consideration as well.

Key Largo has many different dive operations, but the one that stands out among local divers for its stellar reputation and excellent service is Horizon Divers. I have not tried any of the other operations in Key Largo yet because I have not seen the need to do so. This one works well enough for me, so I have stuck with it. One of its selling points is regular deep trips to the Spiegel Grove and other wrecks. The crew moors on the wreck and offers either two single-tank recreational dives or one long technical dive for those with appropriate training and equipment. More broadly, I like the atmospherics and the helpful crew, which seems to have a stronger sense of customer service than any other local operator I have tried thus far. They strike a good balance between being supportive without babysitting or interfering. They have the advantage of a bunkhouse at their retail location, which provides affordable lodging for those that do not want to shell out for the ridiculously overpriced hotels in the Keys.

Jupiter has two different types of operators: regular reef/wreck diving boats and specialized shark diving charters. I have gone out with both of the shark diving operations, Emerald Charters and Salty Divers. They are quite similar to and cooperate with each other. I was satisfied with both of them but had a slight preference for Salty Divers for their atmospherics. Unlike the regular reef/wreck diving boats, their normal schedule consists of one three-tank trip per day. The primary operator for regular reef/wreck diving is Jupiter Dive Center, which has two boats and an ample schedule of morning and afternoon trips, and they even offer occasional night trips. I have been satisfied with those trips that they actually ran, but they seem to be more prone to cancellation than other local operators, perhaps for questionable reasons. I thus tried my luck with the competing Scuba Works, a smaller operator whose atmospherics and customer service I preferred, but it may be harder to get a full weekend schedule with them. I would go with either one again but would be more confident and comfortable with Scuba Works. The Kyalami gets good feedback via word of mouth, but I have not tried it yet because they only offer one trip per day that returns too late to combine with an afternoon trip elsewhere.

West Palm Beach has several operators to choose from, but I have found it harder to book spots with them, as they seem to fill up faster. Pura Vida Divers seems to be the most popular by far, and it took me longer than I would have liked to get spots on their popular trips. I was ultimately quite satisfied with their customer service and would be happy to go with them again. The other advantage of this operator is that they specify the depth range and types of environments that they plan to dive on each trip, which is key for me, as I found that the shallower reefs here are much better than the deeper reefs and the wrecks. I also hope to go on one of their blackwater night dive charters in the future. I have also gone out with Narcosis, which was satisfying too but did not have the same competitive advantages as Pura Vida. There are two other operators, Calypso and Walker's, that I have not had the opportunity to try yet, also because of scheduling issues and their apparent popularity.

Boynton Beach has three dive operations, all of which use the same marina: Starfish Scuba, Loggerhead, and Splashdown Divers. Starfish has a more “boutique” feel to its trips, and perhaps a stronger sense of customer service, and thus charges somewhat higher prices. Its boat trips often have fewer customers, which I prefer, but it may get to the point that they do not have enough customers to run at all, which I obviously do not prefer. Loggerhead seems to be more willing to go the extra mile, if you will pardon the pun, to get divers to more interesting and often more distant dive sites. Splashdown is fine too but, in my experience, have not distinguished themselves as much as the other two. I would be happy to go with any of these three again but would have a preference for the first two.

The two main operators in Pompano Beach are right next to each other in the same marina and have a cooperative relationship with each other: South Florida Diving Headquarters (SFDH) and ScubaTyme. SFDH has the advantage of size and volume, with three boats, two of which are more spacious catamarans. The problem is that SFDH is disorganized and prone to errors, the most glaring of which was the July 2021 sinking of one of its boats due to an unsafe stern tie-in on a wreck dive. As the icing on that cake, I booked a trip with SFDH after that incident (which I had not heard about yet), when SFDH knew that this boat was unavailable but had left it on the schedule of the online booking system anyway. To its credit, SFDH comped me a trip on the ScubaTyme boat for that same time slot. I used to prefer ScubaTyme, but they have had some staff turnover and gotten stingier with bottom time since since I first went with them. These changes makes them less competitive, particularly since they just have that one smaller boat. Operator issues are one reason that I do not dive in Pompano Beach more often, as I like the wrecks and the proximity to Miami. (The other reason is that most of their two-tank trips have one wreck and one reef dive, the latter of which is usually not that great. I would go more often if both dives were on wrecks.) I have since discovered a third operator, AquaLife Divers, that I would like to try, but I have not had the chance yet and have not heard much feedback about them.

Miami has two dive operations: Deco Divers/Tarpoon Lagoon out of Miami Beach, and Diver's Paradise in Key Biscayne. I have a strong preference for the former over the latter. Deco Divers usually does two wreck dives on a two-tank trip, whereas Diver's Paradise offers a wreck dive followed by “Captain's choice,” which is usually a reef dive (Miami's natural reefs are sparse in life and barely worthwhile). Deco Divers usually sticks to the wrecks that they advertise on the schedule, whereas Diver's Paradise often changes the destination at the last minute for no apparent reason. Deco Divers/Tarpoon Lagoon also displays a higher standard of professionalism, from their precise Nitrox fills to a perfectly executed “hot drop” that their captain set up for us due to strong current on a deep wreck. Deco Divers/Tarpoon Lagoon also enables customers to specify the percentage of their Nitrox fills, tailoring them to the depth of the wrecks on the schedule in order to maximize bottom time.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

Marine Life

The richer marine life of South Florida, compared to the Caribbean islands where I did much of my diving before moving here, has been one of the most rewarding aspects of living and diving here. At first glance, it might seem similar to the Caribbean at least insofar as it has most of the same species of fish, macro critters, coral, etc. South Florida nonetheless has many bigger animals that might be difficult or impossible to find in most popular Caribbean destinations, including: larger and “sharkier” sharks, like lemon sharks, bull sharks, hammerheads, and even the occasional tiger shark, beyond the usual Caribbean reef and nurse sharks; larger loggerhead turtles, in addition to the usual green and hawksbill turtles; and massive Goliath groupers, particularly during their aggregation in August and September. It has also been my experience that the medium-sized predators that one might encounter in the Caribbean, such as barracudas and green moray eels, are somewhat more common in South Florida.

South Florida, particularly Boynton Beach, seems to have a much higher fish density, including large schools of fish, than the typical Caribbean destinations. This higher fish density and the greater frequency with which I have seen large schools of fish came as a pleasant surprise to me, considering how much fishing occurs here, the greater human impact on the local environment in general, and the South Florida origins of the lionfish invasion. Even barracudas occasionally appear in schools here, which I have never seen anywhere else before. I have noticed, however, that South Florida fish seem to be more afraid of divers than elsewhere, perhaps because of spearfishing. This fear of divers can make photography a bit more difficult. My local favorites are spadefish and porkfish.

Coral and sponge growth on most South Florida reefs seems quite healthy compared to the Caribbean, despite the supposed South Florida origins of stony coral disease. It is refreshing to not see so much dead coral overgrown with algae, or bleached and dying. Only in Key Largo have I seen the amount of damage that I would expect to see on Caribbean reefs, although much of that damage may have been from hurricanes, rather than bleaching or other health problems. Jupiter's reefs have a mix of animal (coral and sponges) and plant (algae) growth. I get the sense (correct me if I am wrong) that Jupiter is a qualitatively different type of environment, and that the algae is “supposed” to be there, along with the coral and sponges. In any event, the trade-off for this healthier growth is that South Florida's reef topography might be unimpressive for many divers. Key Largo's stand-alone coral heads and spur-and-groove formations are about as interesting as it gets. The reefs along the Atlantic coast are relatively flat and have little relief or complex structure beyond their ledges or relatively short drop-offs. Perhaps this lack of natural relief is why many South Florida wrecks are such rich environments, as they provide a degree of relief and complex structure that the natural topography does not.

(to be continued in the next post on this thread)

 

[Ironborn]

The Future

The opportunity to dive locally in South Florida has literally changed my life as a diver. I can dive more frequently and in shorter bursts on weekends without having to travel internationally or even out of state. The two dive operations in Miami are just fifteen minutes from my home. Diving locally has greatly improved my skills as a diver and a photographer by giving me more frequent practice, more opportunities to learn and experiment, and greater familiarity with the local environment. I no longer feel the need to cram all the highlights and as many dives as possible into a limited window of time on a longer trip overseas; I can take my time and achieve my goals at my leisure and at my own pace.

I kept telling myself last year that I should use this opportunity to do more training and expand my skills and certifications beyond AOWD and Nitrox. I had previously been reluctant to use my limited travel time overseas for courses, but now that I live here I have plenty of weekend time to spare. I nonetheless kept procrastinating and was more interested in exploring these new environments. Now that I have settled down and familiarized myself with the area, I can take the time to invest in training that will further enrich my experiences. Wrecks are a significant feature of the underwater landscape here, so I will probably do a wreck diving course. Many of these wrecks, and even some of the reefs in Jupiter, are quite deep or even below recreational depths, so I will also probably pursue some light/introductory tech diving courses as well. I have also been meaning to do a Self-Reliant Diver course for years, ever since I first went to Bonaire. I now have more of a use case for that certification, since my reliance on “instabuddies” does have its occasional downsides and separations are not uncommon in these environments, with occasionally strong currents and sub-optimal visibility.

There is nonetheless still much for me to explore. I am curious as to what the rest of the Keys, such as Islamorada and Marathon, might be like, or if they are just another Key Largo without two of Key Largo's highlights (the Spiegel Grove and Horizon Divers). I have also thought about going further north for the springs, the manatees in Crystal River, and even the Oriskany near Pensacola (once I have the proper tech training). Even closer to home, there are still many wrecks in the Tri-County area that I have not dove yet, including many of the deeper ones for which I would need tech training.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Pompano diving hasn't been the same since Pompano Dive Center was forced to close, they set the standard for the area. The big boat with Pura Vida, the Aurelia, is the boat that PDC used to operate.

There is another operator in the area, Sea Experience but they are more recreational oriented so it is the double reef, or wreck/reef combo typically.

 

[Ironborn]

Pompano diving hasn't been the same since Pompano Dive Center was forced to close, they set the standard for the area. The big boat with Pura Vida, the Aurelia, is the boat that PDC used to operate.

There is another operator in the area, Sea Experience but they are more recreational oriented so it is the double reef, or wreck/reef combo typically.

I heard about Pompano Dive Center; local divers talk about “the good old days” on their boats. Why did they close?

Is Sea Experience the one with the small six-pack boat that “hot drops” divers and will go out with only two divers?

 

[Rob9876]

@Ironborn Great report! Have you done much shore diving besides BHB, or perhaps not for lack of dive buddies? I like the idea of doing more South Florida diving, and like the flexibility and lower cost of shore dives.