Attention: Florida Gulf Coast & Keys Divers

[Canadian_Diver]

I need your assistance.

I will be staying on Isla Del Sol (St. Petersburg) at the condo my family has rented for March 2006.

I'm looking for "MUST DO" dive sites both in the near vicinity, and the upper Florida Keys (Key Largo etc).

I'm also looking for trustworthy dive charters that aren't cattle boats. Silent World was recommended to me by a friend. Any ideas?

Also, anyone want to join a coldwater canuck diver for a few dives?

 

[Big Mike]

My "MUST DO" list for Key Largo INCLUDES:

Deep Wrecks (100 ft +): #1 with a bullet: Speigel Grove; #2 Eagle (Islamorada)
Overrated: Duane/Bibb...almost ALWAYS CURRENT...varies from Moderate to HOWLING!

Shallow Wrecks (50 ft or less): #1 is Benwood (a great night dive); #2 is City of Washington

Reefs: Molasses...can be STUNNING on a bright sunny day with good viz. Christ Statue is a "been there, done that" type of deal...but you have to do it once (so you can say..."Been there, done that".

I've dove/dived/diven??? :10: with Silent World MANY times. They are VERY good. JANET is wonderful as well as Capts. Bob & AJ & Dan. 30' Island Hoppers can be "cozy" when they have a full load.

Reef Adventures out of Pennekamp Park runs a 45' cat-type boat. Can be cattle boatish during "hi season" but advantage is they go out almost all the time in slow season (winter months) when other ops don't have enough passengers to make the trip.

Further south Tavernier Dive Center is good & will take you to the "southern" locations...Eagle, Duane, etc.

I recently used Blue Water Divers for first time & they were very good. Smaller boat that is good for smaller groups. They will "tailor" the trip to your needs, if you have the bigger group.

I'm sure I'm leaving some MUST DO dives off, but this is a good start.

Have a great time.

I love KL & try to go 2 or 3 times a year.

Mike

I need your assistance.

I will be staying on Isla Del Sol (St. Petersburg) at the condo my family has rented for March 2006.

I'm looking for "MUST DO" dive sites both in the near vicinity, and the upper Florida Keys (Key Largo etc).

I'm also looking for trustworthy dive charters that aren't cattle boats. Silent World was recommended to me by a friend. Any ideas?

Also, anyone want to join a coldwater canuck diver for a few dives?

 

[Canadian_Diver]

I love KL & try to go 2 or 3 times a year.

Hey Mike, thanks for all the great information.

Are you planning a trip any time around March 2006?

Jeff

 

[jviehe]

Have you tried doing a search? Weve gone over the area several times.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Have you tried doing a search? Weve gone over the area several times.

Yup. I wasn't satisfied with what I found though.

 

[cdiver2]

I need your assistance.

I will be staying on Isla Del Sol (St. Petersburg) at the condo my family has rented for March 2006.

I'm looking for "MUST DO" dive sites both in the near vicinity, and the upper Florida Keys (Key Largo etc).

I'm also looking for trustworthy dive charters that aren't cattle boats. Silent World was recommended to me by a friend. Any ideas?

Also, anyone want to join a coldwater canuck diver for a few dives?

There are some very good dives on the gulf coast (st Petersburg area) but getting a boat to take you to them is a problem. The good dives are in the 20 mile out range, an all day job for a two tank dive. Most of the charters do the 4-5 mile dive sites so they can do two trips a day. I would consider driving to the east coast for your dives.

 

[jviehe]

Just checking. A must dive for st pete area is the Mexican Pride. Sea Fox Dive Charters is supposed to be pretty good.

http://www.seafoxdivecharters.com/

 

[cdiver2]

Just checking. A must dive for st pete area is the Mexican Pride. Sea Fox Dive Charters is supposed to be pretty good.

http://www.seafoxdivecharters.com/

Mecican Pride is a good dive 130' to the bottom great viz and about 40 miles out, hear in lies the problem. For a charter to go that far out they are all in the $100 area for a two tank dive and getting a full boat of divers to pay $100 each is next to imposable.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Mecican Pride is a good dive 130' to the bottom great viz and about 40 miles out, hear in lies the problem. For a charter to go that far out they are all in the $100 area for a two tank dive and getting a full boat of divers to pay $100 each is next to imposable.

Ouch. I really don't care if the dive is deep or shallow. $100 a pop is a bit pricey, especially for a poor Canuck.

Specifically, I'm looking for 'spectacular' views and abundant marine life. After diving coldwater lakes (36 to 62 degrees F) with 15-20ft visibility and no light at about 80 feet, it's nice to dive sunny warm crystal clear waters with plenty of critters to see.

 

[frogman_5]

$100.... That's about a zillion Canadian, right?

I used to dive the west end of Lake Erie, so to me everything down here is "spectacular". If you looking for beautiful coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, you're in the wrong place. We do however, have lots of artificial reefs (everything from old concrete to M60 tanks to old ships) ledges and wrecks. As said in a previous post, most good dives are 15-20 miles out.

It helps if you know someone in the area with a boat. I live about 20 minutes south of Isla del Sol, so send me a message a couple of weeks before you come down.

Rich