Another "Where to dive in Florida?" post??? Hope not

[ggthatcher]

My son and I would like to get back into some warmer water. Hood Canal and Puget Sound are amazing, but we would like to put back on a normal suit and feel the water again.
I have a brother who lives in Inverness (near Crystal River) and swimming with the Manatees does sound like a blast. But... I have several questions. I have never been to FL.
I'm AOW and my son is OW.

1. It appear most of the manatee dives talk about snorkel swims. Is this a surface deal or at depth?
2. Best time of year to dive Florida? It appears the vis changes quite a bit. Not that I'm complaining, but I'm looking for good vis. I consider 30' to be amazing in the NW.
3. Water temp averages? I'm guessing that it is pretty warm, correct?
4. If I go see my brother, and then would also want to dive another location in Florida, what would that one other place be? Keys? Clearwater? Tampa?
5. How would I get from Inverness to the next location? Is this drivable in a decent amount of time.
6. What is going on over in Panama City with diving? There are a ton of dive shops there.
7. If I go down to the keys, is there a difference between the part close to the mainland and further out to the end? Does it get more interesting in terms of things to on/below the surface.
8. My non-diving wife may come as well. Plenty to keep her busy while I'm down?

I know this is a ton of questions, but what I'm seeing is a huge range of options. Usually when I've picked a spot to dive, there will be 3-4 shops to choose from. This time I'm staring from "Florida" and well... wow... Hoping to learn a few things from shared wisdom.
Thanks

 

[Steve_C]

1. It appear most of the manatee dives talk about snorkel swims. Is this a surface deal or at depth?
2. Best time of year to dive Florida? It appears the vis changes quite a bit. Not that I'm complaining, but I'm looking for good vis. I consider 30' to be amazing in the NW.
3. Water temp averages? I'm guessing that it is pretty warm, correct?
4. If I go see my brother, and then would also want to dive another location in Florida, what would that one other place be? Keys? Clearwater? Tampa?
5. How would I get from Inverness to the next location? Is this drivable in a decent amount of time.
6. What is going on over in Panama City with diving? There are a ton of dive shops there.
7. If I go down to the keys, is there a difference between the part close to the mainland and further out to the end? Does it get more interesting in terms of things to on/below the surface.
8. My non-diving wife may come as well. Plenty to keep her busy while I'm down?

1. Snorkel. Scuba with manatees is not allowed. In fact with snorkel you are required to stay at surface.
2. There are a few easy dives in the area also.Like Rainbow river. Viz will depend on weather and can vary during the year and where you are diving.
3. Water temp varies. Manatee watching is in the winter since they bunch up at springs. Springs =70F, not spring = 60s during winter. Down in Keys water ranges from 80s in summer to high 60s in dead of winter.
4. Definitely Keys with a young OW.
5. 5-6 hours should put you in Key Largo. Lots of diving there. Lots of shallow reef diving.
7. At KeyWest on end there is much more in terms of night life etc. Upper Keys like Largo better for diving.
8. Depends on how long you are there for and what she likes to do. If it is just a few days and she likes to sit under a palm tree and read, or do a little shopping, etc. Largo is fine. If she wants lots to do for several days Key West is best. Key Largo is an hour from Miami

 

[THRASH]

I will give a fairly basic response since I don't live in Florida, but have dove there quite a few times now.

Snorkel only with the manatees, but sounds like fun still. I have yet to go, but this is what the manager at the place I called advised me.

Diving in Jupiter, FL has always been enjoyable for the wife and I. If you go I highly recommend Captain Sl8tr. Top notch operation with excellent dive sites. The area is nice too with some good restaurants.

 

[Steve_C]

How old is the son. How many dives as an OW? Some of the Jupiter drift dives are a bit much, in my opinion, for a young brand new diver.

 

[DavidFL]

I live in Florida, but I grew up in OR/WA; I have been diving in Hoods Canal and Puget Sound, and some high altitude snow-melt lakes....welcome to the warm water experience! You already got good feedback about the manatees and Crystal River. The closest obvious "next" diving would be the Gulf of Mexico Tampa / St. Pete / Clearwater; while that's easy driving distance from Inverness, the diving in the Gulf is not generally comparable to south Florida and the Keys. It will be a day's drive, but I recommend the upper keys (Key Largo has lots of dive shops and dive operators who will be glad to help) and/or diving the Atlantic in south Florida (basically from Jupiter south), depending on how much time you have.

It's also a long drive from Inverness to Panama City; trying to put myself in your shoes, if I had to choose one day-long-drive I would head south. When my (adult) son needed a refresher before he went on a trip to Australia/New Zealand, we went drift diving in West Palm Beach...highly recommended if you and your son have had previous open-water live boat exposure.

 

[ggthatcher]

How old is the son. How many dives as an OW? Some of the Jupiter drift dives are a bit much, in my opinion, for a young brand new diver.

Sorry, my son is 20 years old. Has over 60 dives as an OW diver. Most of the dives have been in a dry suit which I could consider much more difficult and technically challenging than diving warm. He's a fantastic dive buddy. Excellent buoyancy skills and just sips the air. His biggest issue is that he's skinny as a rail and gets cold easily. No fat anywhere to keep him warm. We have done drift dives in Cozumel. We have done boat dives in the NW, Hawaii, Cozumel.

 

[Johnoly]

Below is just what I'd do and no idea if it fits your needs....

...I know this is a ton of questions, but what I'm seeing is a huge range of options.....

Wow, the quadruple conundrum!!
* Brother visits
* Keep wife happy
* Son wants to see something incredible underwater
* Dad wants all the above and make everyone happy

1st off you should base your stay in Orlando. Probably direct & reasonable flights from any west coast major airport. Why Orlando? You will be 1 hour drive to Inverness (I live in Orlando and going to Inverness this weekend for the go-kart races ). Also it's close enough your Bro could drive down to see you one day too and you go up to see him another day. And driving from Orlando to West Palm/Jupiter is about and hour & 45 mins. Many of us drive it every other weekend to dive and it's easy to do back and forth in a single day so you can rejoin the wife by 4pm.

2nd ...What wife wouldn't like Disney and all the attractions to see and keep her swamped with things to do and plan. Want to know if it's safe to leave her to go diving for the day? Just yell out now while reading this "Honey want to go to Disney World? " and you'll be set. Shopping is just off the charts and the food choices are even better. Stay on Disney property with both the monorail and safe flexible transportation easily available to anywhere, she won't need the hassle of a car. Trust me, she may actually push you out the door to go diving cause your cramping her plans.

3rd....Diving. I'd go hit West Palm on the 1st dives. It's colorful and shallower to get acclimated. Plenty of easy boats to pick from. Some boats leave at 8:30, some 9am, and some at 10am. But you could easily be back to your wife by 4pm (and with fresh lionfish too for her to savor). Your 2nd trip to go diving, move up to Jupiter to see the sharks and the huge 800lb goliath groupers which will be etched into your son's memory for a lifetime.

4th... When?? Go in the beginning of June. Your son will be just out of school and flights are reasonably priced as well as places to stay. Florida has calm seas at that time, incredible 80ft of blue viz, warm teeshirt 80 degree diving and mild no finning current to sweep you along.

Although some driving on your part, you could hit a home run and make everyone in the family happy all on one trip.

What ever you decide, please post up a short trip report that everyone loves to read.

 

[C P]

Just about an hour and a half north of Crystal River is Williston which has two fresh water springs, Devil's Den and Blue Grotto. Both really nice sites for a quick dive or two. They are so close together that you could do both in one day. Water temp is a constant at 72 year round. Devil's Den, I think, beats Blue Grotto on the "cool" factor. Both have a pretty good website, if you search by name and Williston they will pop right up. About another hour north in High Springs is Ginnie Springs. Also another fresh water 72 degree clear dive. Ginnie Springs is a cavern dive that OW divers can enter, Devil's Den is more of a classic sinkhole with some swim thrus . They are dives that are pretty much exclusive to Florida and not all that far from Crystal River.

 

[sportxlh]

1. Snorkel. Scuba with manatees is not allowed. In fact with snorkel you are required to stay at surface.

While scuba diving with manatees is not allowed, there is a way to 'sort of' dive with manatees if you're lucky. American Pro does a combined snorkel, followed by a dive into King's Cavern, which is in the Crystal River. If you're fortunate, there might be a few manatees hanging around the entrance to the cavern as you descend at the beginning of the dive or ascend at the end. I did the combo snorkel/cavern dive a few years ago and my dive buddy and I got very lucky. There's nothing quite like looking up to see manatees swimming above you or gently beside you as you slowly exit the cavern and head to the surface.

Swim with manatees tour in Crystal River FL

I agree that Rainbow River, Devils Den and Blue Grotto are fun enough dives. But is you have the time, I'd head to SE Florida (Jupiter, WPB, Boynton, Pompano, etc.) or the Keys some ocean diving.