a Texan point of view of Florida diving.

[jar546]

Really poor timing. 81 degrees today in Jupiter. Terrific diving

Same in Boynton yesterday. 81 at depth, sunny, calm seas, light current

 

[SailNaked]

Yes, I seem to have really bad Florida luck, not sure what I did to piss off the state. shouldnt there be some old seminole indian dance I can do to beg forgiveness?

 

[billinwilliamston]

Thinking about going to Key West August 22-27 and really mainly to dive, so are you saying that it's a high percentage chance that we won't be able to dive due to the weather? I obviously would cancel if a tropical storm or hurricane was in the area, but was hoping that without those variables the weather would be good. Thanks for any input.

I'm no meteorologist, but if there are no named storms causing havoc, things *should* be good.

 

[MrChen]

I must have dove the first day the temp went back up. It was recommended to me that I buy a lava core with hood, so I did and the temps were fine. Nothing like spending $100 for no reason . But who knew and now I have a lava core in case it ever gets cold again.

 

[letterboy]

it does get chilly down here late winter . . .

mostly on the surface. . .

 

[danvolker]

FWIW, as a Texan who has dove in Florida, FL is kind of a big state like Texas. (Not as big of course!)

I'm thinking Florida Diving would be:

Keys
East Coast / Atlantic
West Coast / Gulf
North Florida Springs / Caves
Gulf Panhandle

Is that breaking it down too much or too little?

I would answer this differently...
I would say that if you want to dive in Florida, the areas to consider are:

1. Palm Beach for most marine life, largest marine life, and most vibrant corals....most Turtles, most Goliath Groupers, largest schools of fish....
2. the Keys.....shallow, easy, pretty, well established dive tourism there..great for new divers.
3. Lauderdale.....lots of shore diving and the wreck diving is pretty good.
4. Miami, Tampa, and places north are for locals that don't want to drive to Palm Beach or the Keys or Lauderdale.
5. Caves.....North Florida

Some people think I am biased because I am involved in Dive Tourism with Palm Beach.....However, I would be thrilled to have a "match" between images or videos of marine life from the Keys, and from Palm Beach....and my message here is not to say that there is anything wrong with the Keys.....my message is that people think that the Keys are the top place to go in Florida, and I am saying this is only because it has had millions of dollars of Dive Advertising in the last decade, and the print magazines have pledged their fealty to those destinations that give them lots of money--and are largely unconcerned about coverage of great diving where advertising has not been paid for.

 

[jar546]

Dan, We need a Spiegel Grove here and a shallow reef with mooring balls for students other than the bridge and Commercial Pier in Lauderdale. Breakers is hit and miss. I do believe that our Palm Beach County reefs are much better than the Keys but the ease of diving for many people on nice shallow reefs is a big draw for the Keys. Not much we can do about that. I think it is more than marketing. It is the reality that many divers just want to go to shallow water to see the pretty fish in good vis and little to no current which has been my experience in the Largo/Tavernier area with the exception of the wrecks that can have some ripping current.

What's basically missing off our coast is a very large, high profile new, intact wreck set up similar to the Spiegel where you have multiple levels to dive. JMHO

 

[SeaHawk12]

In summer, the Keys tend to pick up a pretty predictable weather pattern: nice in the morning, down pour and thunder storms in the afternoon. Because of this, I'd recommend trying to do morning trips when given the option. Subsurface will still be as beautiful as ever, so unless there's a named storm you should still be good to go!

 

[danvolker]

Dan, We need a Spiegel Grove here and a shallow reef with mooring balls for students other than the bridge and Commercial Pier in Lauderdale. Breakers is hit and miss. I do believe that our Palm Beach County reefs are much better than the Keys but the ease of diving for many people on nice shallow reefs is a big draw for the Keys. Not much we can do about that. I think it is more than marketing. It is the reality that many divers just want to go to shallow water to see the pretty fish in good vis and little to no current which has been my experience in the Largo/Tavernier area with the exception of the wrecks that can have some ripping current.

What's basically missing off our coast is a very large, high profile new, intact wreck set up similar to the Spiegel where you have multiple levels to dive. JMHO

I agree we don't have the nice pool-still 15 foot stuff Key Largo has, that is ideal for students.
We do have the 15 to 20 foot deep shallow Breakers reef, but there is a slight current on it, so it is going to effect some new divers more than a Key Largo site might.....But we also have the BHB dive, that is free off the beach, and with no current during peak high tide....though I really don't like seeing it being used for students at all....I think it should be for sight seers and photographers---students and big classes destroy viz quite selfishly( no thoughts for the tourists that came here to see rare marine life).

I like the wrecks like the Mispah, or the Zion, or the Castor.....again, they don't get the advertising of the Spiegel Grove....but they do get unmatched marine life.
Would I complain if a wreck the size of the Spiegel was dropped in Palm Beach? Nope

But size is not everything....
[video=youtube_share;vGB8XNq8QF0]http://youtu.be/vGB8XNq8QF0[/video]