1st time to Florida. SHould I stay around Ft Lauderdale or venture to the Keys?

[steveb3000]

The Keys are worth visiting.
Bring dive gear, save rental cost and use your own gear.
Extend trip for as many days as possible.

I agree with lion fish-eater on these points. Get a price from the airline for the luggage.

If it's too expensive, make sure you check you hire gear "THOROUGHLY".

I have also dived the ex USS Vandenberg over there. It's a little more advanced but fantastic.

Stevo

 

[MrChen]

Ft Lauderdale is right in the middle Enjoy it!

 

[acteg]

Anna,

Maybe this well help. Watch in 1080p if you have a highspeed connection.

Jupiter Dive:
[video=youtube;6uMgbtV25IA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uMgbtV25IA&list=UUjuQmEQ9YvzRkG1pweqjnvA& feature=c4-overview[/video]

Key Largo Dive:

[video=youtube;jSB-5qqdzDo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSB-5qqdzDo&list=UUjuQmEQ9YvzRkG1pweqjnvA&feature=c4-overview[/video]

 

[drinksfromtap]

There are lots of reefs and artificial wrecks in the Fort Lauderdale area at depths ranging from 12 feet to over 100 feet. A few sites can be reached from the beach, and most others are a relatively short boat ride from shore.

Here's a video shot by one of the locals (K. Porter) of a shore dive near the Commercial Blvd. pier:

Shore Dive Capital of Florida Lauderdale by the Sea - YouTube

 

[fjpatrum]

Someone may have already given you a bit more detail about sea life but I really really enjoyed my three days at Lauderdale by the Sea when I was in FLL a couple years back. I saw octopus, turtles, tons of skates, a bunch of colorful fish, a few rays, lobster, and a bunch of other stuff, too. All in 3, 20(ish) foot night dives with an easy shore entry and no boat fees. FLL has a lot to offer, in my opinion, and it's cheap with more options for night life and eats than the Keys offer.

I can't speak for the diving in the Keys because the one time I was there I got blown out and ended up moving up the coast to Jupiter instead. We did eat well and enjoyed the diving museum in Islamorada though.

My brother and I are in the planning stages for our next FL trip and FLL is on the itinerary, as are the Keys, Blue Heron Bridge (not to be missed) and Jupiter.

 

[PatW]

I have dove Jupiter, West Palm, Pompano, Key Largo and the lower keys.

Florida diving is pretty much all boat diving.

Jupiter has the best big fish diving in Florida. The dives are deep 85' and they are drift dives. Also you really don't see hard coral nor much soft coral that far up.

I think the best diving in the keys is Key Largo. The reefs there have abundant hard and soft corals. Also the fish populations are very good. The reefs are shallow, 30'. There tends to be no current. The visibility on the shallow reefs is ok at around 60-80'.

At Key Largo, you can dive the deep wrecks. There are more big fish out there and more current.

it is a bit of a haul out to the reefs of about 40 min. When I have been there, I have done 2 dive morning trips. Doing 4 dives is a bit tough because the boat comes in, drops off the divers, gets new divers, and goes right out.

i think some operators might do a 3 dive trip, but I am not sure.

As mentioned above, expect to rent a car. The USA is not pedestrian friendly.

 

[NZAnna]

Thanks for the great movies! That certainly helps give me an idea.


Although id is love to visit the keys I'm now swaying towards not for a number of reasons.


One, I would be visiting over a busy long weekend (I was looking at the 22nd-25th May which is likely going to be getting booked up and busy).


Two, I'm not that keen on hiring a car and getting used to right-hand-side-of-road driving while traveling alone and most people have told me a car is a must for travel once in the Keys.


Three, I'd still be keen to dive around Ft Lauderdale (or further north) and as it will be my first time diving in the US I'm sure the experience will be great, just maybe not the best Florida has to offer.


I would still be interested if anyone has advice about me still going to the upper Keys by shuttle and staying somewhere that doesn't require a car, but so far I haven't had any good news in that department. It also looks pretty expensive too! That said, any info is helpful, so far everyone's advice is helping - especially if it's convincing me that Ft Lauderdale will suffice for some great, but not necessarily the bet, diving while I'm visiting.


Thanks!

 

[diversteve]

If you're unsure about driving down to the Keys you certainly don't want to try that weekend. Monday the 26th is Memorial Day, a U.S. National Holiday. Plan on a lot of traffic and people down in the Keys. I wouldn't even try to get to Key West that weekend from the Upper Keys.

One other thing to be mindful of is that FLL is a cruise ship arrival point. Usually most of that occurs on Saturday morning. I think they depart from MIA though - or did when we cruised from there once.

There's a marina at MM100 in Key Largo. On the south side is this Holiday Inn: Welcome to Holiday Inn Key Largo It was one of the host hotels for the first couple of ScubaBoard Invade the Keys trips IIRC. On the north side of the Marina is a Courtyard by Marriott - never stayed at either.
Keyshuttle.com is an option to get down there. There's also the Greyhound bus - IDK much about that except I believe the terminal is at the MIA airport. There's FLL->MIA inter-airport shuttles - I used one once.

Several dive operators leave from the marina. Rainbow Reef, Sea Dwellers and Horizon all keep boats there IIRC - others??. Here's a list of Key Largo operators: Key Largo diving and scuba diving certification information - Fla-Keys.com, The Official Tourism site of The Florida Keys. Find your favorite Key Largo dive shops here!

I think I'd stay around FLL/West Palm for a long weekend. Find someone here willing to show you around Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm - expect it to be crowded also. Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Blue Heron Bridge of Florida, USA East

I haven't been in that area in years so some of this may be incorrect...

 

[sportxlh]

Like PatW, I dive all over the east coast of Florida, from Jupiter to Key West. One of the prettiest reefs, in my opinion, in the area is the Nursery located off of Pompano which is very close to Ft Lauderdale. It is shallow and an easy easy dive. Numerous dives operators like South Florida Dive HQ, Scubatyme and Pompano Dive Center all go there. Outside of the Keys, it seems to me that most dive operators are expecting somewhat self sufficient divers. So your best bet, if you decide not to go to the Keys and if you are a little uncomfortable is to hire a dive guide and try one of the shallow beautiful reefs in the Pompano/Lauderdale area.

Here's some info on shallow Pompano sites:

Dive the Nursery Reef Dive Site with South Florida Diving Headquarters
Dive the Pompano Drop Off Reef Dive Site with South Florida Diving Headquarters
Dive Suzzane's Ledge Reef Dive Site with South Florida Diving Headquarters
Scubatyme Charters: Pompano Beach Scuba Diving Experts. Wrecks, Reefs, Spearfishing & More!


Another choice is Lauderdale by the Sea. Gold Coast Scuba has a Meetup.com group that is very active with boat dives and beach dives, though they don't operate their own boats. You could also hire a guide from that shop or try to hook up with one of the planned Meetup.com group dives.

On the shallow dives, you'll see a multitude of tropical fish (in both Pompano and the Keys). Occasionally you'll see a big creature like a turtle or shark, but I mostly see those on deeper dives.

Here's some links to the shops/boat/groups I mentioned.

Scuba Dive and Snorkel Sunny South Florida, with South Florida Diving Headquarters
Pompano Dive Center
Scubatyme Charters: Pompano Beach Scuba Diving Experts. Wrecks, Reefs, Spearfishing & More!
Gold Coast Scuba - Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida
Gold Coast Scuba Divers (954) 616-5909 (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Meetup

 

[1bubbleoff]

Hope ya have a great time while your here Anna....the Keys...and Pennecamp are not to be missed!! Its my FAVORITE place to dive!!

Rental gear is available if you ask around...that shouldn't create an issue...

I AM surprised....that someone in our SB community hasn't offered to take ya diving in Key Largo yet!!

Hint..hint..SB'ers!!!