When I hit Key Largo, I was told I could fly into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, and that Miami's closer but by the time I dealt with various hassles travel time would be about the same. I like easy, so I flew to Ft. Lauderdale.
Here's my trip report from Sept. 2013 to Key Largo with Rainbow Reef Dive Center. 20 Dives in 5 days, about the cheapest I've done, guided at no added charge, a mix of deep wrecks & shallow reef diving, plenty fishy, with the benefits of mainland Florida topside attractions within a 3 hour drive. The upper Keys have a stronger rep. for scuba diving (e.g.: Key Largo, Islamorada) than Key West, from what I hear & read. There's a lot to recommend to recommend Key Largo.
Here's an old thread with suggestions for non-diving family members on a Florida Key's trip.
Here's a 10-day Keys Diving Itinerary thread where someone wanting a beach came up.
I excluded it with you since I don't associate Key Largo with beach. I'm also a little confused trying to get a handle on what you want.
Preferable tech or DIR oriented to not confuse staff with my B/P, wing, long hose and DIN connections.
It will be great if will be possible to rent double. I like Nitrox 32 if available.
I don't like caves and wrecks, prefer corals and fishes.
The big bonus can be GUE oriented shop where I can upgrade my GUE-F rec to GUE-F tech and maybe do other GUE course.
Florida Keys reef diving is shallow. Hard for me to imagine something diving Molasses Reef with manifolded doubles. Not on dives where your max. depth might not exceed 40 feet and average around 20?
You can get deep diving in the Keys, but then you're looking at wrecks like the
Spiegel Grove (3 of my 20 dives) &
Duane (1) &
Bibb (haven't done it). And then be careful you book a boat with tec. divers; does you no good to dive with doubles if everyone else is on an AL 80 & the captain says be back in an hour.
As for getting a buddy, a lot of people show up, head out, and get assigned an instabuddy on the boat. If you're not picky and willing to make do, this usually works okay. If you're a big stickler for buddy procedure, maybe not...
I'm told Miami is big on wreck diving, but that doesn't look to be your thing.
Richard.
P.S.: Often people traveling with non-divers have a range of desires and have to compromise & give up some things. Great diving is often not near beautiful sandy beach, though it can be done; Curacao and perhaps St. Croix if you like shore diving? Jupiter Dive Center in Florida wouldn't be thrown by DIN and have nitrox; they even do some tec. boat trips (I saw one the 5 days I dove there; I think djtimmy was on it. I was on the rec. boat, though). Best of luck with your planning, but I think you're going to have to give up some things.
P.S. #2: I'm not sure how reliably sunny with warm water even south Florida is in early April. How warm is warm?
P.S. #3: If I were you, I'd think about West Palm Beach, for often lauded good boat diving. I'd also make a decision; is this mainly a fun diving trip, or a GUE Fundamentals 'upgrade to tec.' course trip? If you have to base location on spending a lot of time near a GUE instructor, that's going to limit you further.
---------- Post added March 4th, 2015 at 08:36 PM ----------
I read few posts that "Key Largo" is more popular place for diving, I just afraid if it is not about wrecks and caves only.
Not caves. Some wrecks, but they're not the main draw. If you want caves, I believe they tend to be freshwater and on the mainland; not something I follow.
Key Largo is mostly about shallow fishy coral reef diving. The huge reef with multiple sites is called Molasses Reef, but you will likely hit French and maybe Conch Reef at some point. These, 2, are big and have more than one site.
Richard.
---------- Post added March 4th, 2015 at 08:42 PM ----------
Key West water temp. averages by month (Key Largo shouldn't be a lot colder) -
this link.
Average water temp. March 75, April 79, so figure mid. to upper 70's when you go, but no guarantees?
Scuba-Fun Dive Center's site has this blurb:
When is the best time of year to go diving in Key Largo?
The best time of year to go diving in Key Largo is year-round. Underwater visibility depends on the distance of the Gulf Stream and the strength of the wind, and both are not predictable and not seasonal.
Winter (December - February): sometimes windy and choppy, visibility mostly good to very good, water temperature 20-22 C, 69-76 F
Spring (March - April): less windy, sometimes choppy, visibility mostly good to very good, water temperature 24-26 C, 75-79 F
Summer (May - September): rarely windy, mostly calm seas, hurricane season starts mid-June, visibility mostly good to very good, water temperature 27-33 C, 83-87 F
Fall (October - November): rarely windy, mostly calm seas, hurricane season until mid-November, visibility mostly good to very good, water temperature 27-30 C, 76-82 F
Click here for our highs and lows in the Keys.
