Best place to live as a retired diver

[FF / EMT]

WHAT? hahahahahahaha. I love it.

Guess it’s just America, not the world.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2022-08-20/why-is-the-villages-known-as-the-std-capital-of-america

 

[Wookie]

You'd buy your retirement dive home on Cozumel and live there?

If diving were going to be part of my daily routine, yes.

 

[The Chairman]

@The Chairman scare you away?

I now live in Cave Country in North Central Florida, aka Suwannee County. This is the prettiest part of Florida in my book.

 

[Eric802]

The roof replacement scam bills were passed a few years ago. They did nothing. Home owners insurance is astronomical here because the risk is high. Legislation can't fix that.

Legislation can help make frivolous lawsuits less attractive. One of the problems that drives up homeowners insurance rates is the system in FL that allows plaintiffs’ attorneys to recover fees if they get as little as $1 over what the insurance company was offering to settle. If the company offered the homeowner $6000 to settle but the HO wanted $6100, HO gets an attorney who eventually recovers $6005 AND $5000 in fees. At the end of the day the companies are paying out more than they should just to avoid costs of litigation. It’s a huge hammer that makes writing policies in FL a lot less attractive.

 

[The Chairman]

Legislation can help make frivolous lawsuits less attractive.

The biggest problem with my chosen home is indeed politics. However, this is not the forum to discuss politics. Ergo, I have created a thread in the Pub for any of us who wish to discuss the topic, can: https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/the-fascist-state-of-florida.636896/

If you can't view the thread, you'll have to join the Pub to do so.

 

[CuzzA]

The legislature cured the assignment of benefits problem which basically was a windfall for roofers and attorneys and homeowners getting "free" roofs. Of course there was not much love lost when the insurance companies mandate the replacement of perfectly fine roofs based on age rather than condition.

As for auto insurance, if you know a car accident attorney, be sure to let them know they are a dirt bag piece of ****. I wouldn't be friends with one. I'd have to think really hard about helping one if they were in a burning inferno car accident.

Morgan and Morgan?

 

[CuzzA]

The biggest problem with my chosen home is indeed politics. However, this is not the forum to discuss politics. Ergo, I have created a thread in the Pub for any of us who wish to discuss the topic, can: https://scubaboard.com/community/threads/the-fascist-state-of-florida.636896/

If you can't view the thread, you'll have to join the Pub to do so.

Your post has been reported for breaking the TOS.

It's either politics for all or no one. Posts have already been deleted on this thread. Seems a little fascist the website dictator is under a different set of rules than the members.

 

[The Chairman]

Your post has been reported for breaking the TOS.

It's either politics for all or no one. Posts have already been deleted on this thread.

Your post is simply stupid. My post is clearly an informational post showing a place where politics CAN be discussed. I even posted that this is NOT the place for politics. But you dislike me, so you're trolling the entire board.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

I think the best place in Florider would probably be Roatan.

 

[MrChen]

Hi @Todd999

I went through this thought process 14 or 15 years ago. Like many, I had only dived the Keys and then discovered drift diving in Jupiter. I spent several years diving between Ft Lauderdale and Jupiter. I decided on Boynton Beach, Palm Beach, and Jupiter.

My wife and I have had a townhouse just north of Boynton beach since the end of 2011. Of course, this turned out to be a very good time to buy. As stated, taxes and insurance have increased significantly.

No regrets, nearly 1,300 dives in SE Florida and I will be back down for Goliath Grouper aggregation in September. I still live in the Philadelphia area. Palm Beach International airport is a breeze to use, just 10 miles from our townhouse.

I have many trip reports in this forum. Click on one of the Trip Report icons and only trip reports will come up.

Good luck

This is a perfect response. For shore diving, the best diving is between Hollywood and Riviera Beach (BHB). Boca/Pompano are in the center of all that. For charters, you have two cultures, Riviera Beach/Jupiter, and then Boynton/Pompano (and south of).

I live in Stuart, which is about 20 minutes north of Jupiter. I can reach Riviera Beach in 35 minutes. 55 minutes to Boynton. Where it sucks is, going further south to Pompano/LBTS/Hollywood, it takes me over an hour without traffic.

If conditions are right, you can shore dive in Stuart and to the north in Ft Pierce and Vero Beach. Visibility is the main issue, and it requires a few days of perfect conditions to clear up.

Cost of living is usually lower the further north and west that you go. Traffic rapidly gets worse the further south you go.