Boat rentals for divers in SE Florida?

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Astran

Banned
Messages
67
Reaction score
16
Location
MD
# of dives
200 - 499
I'd like to steer away from the charter scuba diving operators on my next dive trip to Florida, and try to dive some of the "off road" sites not visited by the regular commercial charters. I've got a boat where I live and dive cold water wrecks rather frequently, so I've got the experience,and I've got the GPS numbers, I just need to find a boat!

Don't even need sonar or GPS, which are now available on portable devices.

The problem I'm finding after calling around is that 1) boat rentals are rather expensive and 2) most places don't want dive gear on their rental boats and 3) they don't want most of their boats out on "the ocean". From what I can tell most of the diveable wrecks I'd be interested are within 5 miles of the coastline.

In fact South Florida Boat rentals which covers over a half dozen locations only has "one" 26' center console that is allowed for diving.

So I'm just wondering if anyone knows of other boat rental places from Jupiter through the Keys that allows dive gear and aren't crazy expensive that can be taken a few miles offshore.

Thanks
 
...So I'm just wondering if anyone knows of other boat rental places from Jupiter through the Keys that allows dive gear and aren't crazy expensive that can be taken a few miles offshore.
Most of the SE FLA marina's got out of the 'Daily Boat' rental business. Now it's all "Boat Club" memberships that can run about $5000 per year and you can take the boats out as often as you want if they are not reserved already. With our heavy tanks, lead weights and huge coolers that do nothing but scratch the crud out of the gel coat and you can understand why they prefer vomit and red wine stains that are easier to clean up (and charge huge cleaning fees for). You can try to find a member on Freedom Boat Club | Private Membership Boating Club that may help you out. But in reality, it would be cheaper to advertise on SB about putting a wreck trek trip together and charter out a 6 pack boat with a captain and everyone pay their share. Several have done it in the past. If you are trying to get off the beaten path (which is 150' deep) there are some charters that will do it provided you have the c-cards to prove it.
 
I think you can pretty much forget about a boat rental suitable for diving. I agree with Johnoly. Your own Private Charter, or make friends with an experienced diver with their own vessel. A bottom finder is an absolute necessity. Finding strangers to fill seats on a private charter might not be the best idea.
 
Ok thanks that's pretty much what I'm finding out there.

If you are trying to get off the beaten path (which is 150' deep) there are some charters that will do it provided you have the c-cards to prove it.

By off the beaten path I meant dive sites mostly wrecks within recreational limits that the charters don't go to regularly if at all. Seems like it's always the same sites.

Between these two web pages there are a couple of hundred, most of which I've never even heard of.

FLORIDA EAST COAST Free Shipwreck GPS Location Coordinates

Palm Beach County GPS Coordinates Reefs Shipwrecks - Palm Beach, Jupiter, Boca Raton, Lakeworth, Boynton

A bottom finder is an absolute necessity.

Yes I was looking at portable depth finders today.

The Garmin Striker 4 seems to be adequate, with it's own transducer and easy to read screen.
 
...Between these two web pages there are a couple of hundred, most of which I've never even heard of....
Those websites and GPS numbers are STALE and have not been updated. While many sites are still valid, especially the concrete rubble stuff that doesn't move, many of the wreck sites move. An example is the Jupiter Zion wreck. In the 2004 hurricanes, this 165 foot long massive wreck broke the bow off and moved it thousands of feet. It took us 2 weeks to find it !! The Speigel Grove is a 10,000 ton, 2 football fields long ship that was pushed from a 45 degree lean to straight up and vertical !!. These past 2 weeks after hurricane Irma in Jupiter we have been battling massive sand movements that has covered up 8 foot deep, highly productive, blowout reefs that are literally "gone" now and we can't see them anymore.

I'd estimate we're going to throw away about a hundred of our lobster GPS numbers because they are gone. Mother nature is a bitch ! To complicate matters more on those websites is that the older wrecks from the 1990's have GPS numbers that were converted from the old Loran numbers and the offset calibration was not accurate in the conversion.

So who has the most accurate GPS numbers???? The charter boats do,,,because they have repeatedly sent divers down and corrected their GPS locations to make them spot on. Using the website numbers will get you in the general area, but you may spend 30 minutes to an hour looking at your sonar to actually find it below. One last problem with GPS is that different programs use different algorithms. What google maps says is very different what Garmin or Lowrance says and that throws you off site even more. That's why new visitors just find a dive boat and speed up next to them to drop their fishing lines since they know us divers have the best GPS numbers.

Best of luck putting together your trip, but just like your home waters,,,local knowledge is king when you want productive results.
 
As it says above, published GPS numbers are iffy. The Garmin unit you are considering is a dime-store toy for the use you plan. Charter boats have the posits of all the wrecks in the area, but then of course your stuck being on a cattle boat and at their mercy. As far as going off the beaten path to dive wrecks within recreational depths, there is really no such thing, in S. Fl they are all well known and zero opportunity for "exploration." And really what does it matter as these wrecks have all been sanitized prior to sinking. From where I sit you have 2 options; private charter or find a diver with a boat and make a friend.

BTW; I wouldn't recommend dropping fishing lines over divers, nor would I drop divers where folks are fishing.
 
Those websites and GPS numbers are STALE and have not been updated. While many sites are still valid, especially the concrete rubble stuff that doesn't move, many of the wreck sites move.
Best of luck putting together your trip, but just like your home waters,,,local knowledge is king when you want productive results.

The Garmin unit you are considering is a dime-store toy for the use you plan.

Thanks, very helpful, perhaps my plan is going to be prone to failure. Might have to put things off a few years until I'm actually living there, with my own boat, a quality depth finder, and plenty of time on my hands.

As far as going off the beaten path to dive wrecks within recreational depths, there is really no such thing, in S. Fl they are all well known and zero opportunity for "exploration." .

I guess my other question is why do the commercial charters seem to always go to the same couple of dozen wrecks and reefs when there is so much other stuff to see in SE Florida.
 
I think you will find that most Cattle Boats operate fairly close to to the inlet they operate. With the exception of mini lobster season, you generally don't see them more than a mile or two from their home inlet. this helps save fuel. There are enough wrecks and reefs nearby to keep busy. Other than those wrecks and reefs the only other thing to do is dive on sand, or if you're up around Jupiter you can dive deeper on the boats without dive flags or the accident-waiting-happen-shark-chumming-operations
 
I used to mostly dive with Jupiter Dive Center but occasionally went out with friends on their private boats. Most of the reefs JDC goes to are pretty.... And in good condition, they know good spots. Most of the reefs and small ledges I dove with friends weren't pretty at all, but that's where you find the bugs. I liked diving with friends, but not for sightseeing or photography, only for hunting. Plus it ain't cheap... We'd blow through a lot of fuel getting to off the beaten path locations (usually only 3 on the boat, so spitting fuel was still expensive).
 
I'd like to steer away from the charter scuba diving operators on my next dive trip to Florida, and try to dive some of the "off road" sites not visited by the regular commercial charters. I've got a boat where I live and dive cold water wrecks rather frequently, so I've got the experience,and I've got the GPS numbers, I just need to find a boat!

Don't even need sonar or GPS, which are now available on portable devices.

The problem I'm finding after calling around is that 1) boat rentals are rather expensive and 2) most places don't want dive gear on their rental boats and 3) they don't want most of their boats out on "the ocean". From what I can tell most of the diveable wrecks I'd be interested are within 5 miles of the coastline.

In fact South Florida Boat rentals which covers over a half dozen locations only has "one" 26' center console that is allowed for diving.

So I'm just wondering if anyone knows of other boat rental places from Jupiter through the Keys that allows dive gear and aren't crazy expensive that can be taken a few miles offshore.

Thanks
There are a few smaller operators in South Florida who take out between 2-6 divers and pretty flexible on the dive sites. Not your typical cattle boat, and prices are reasonable. Look up MissConduct in Pompano Beach.

I’d recommend this route vs renting your own boat. South Florida waters can be pretty heinous this time of year, even for experienced boaters.
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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