Budget diving in south Florida (Miami, Keys, etc.)

[lexvil]

Buy whatever ticket that will get you out of MIA as fast as possible

 

[gamon]

The diving is all expensive in the keys (personally not that great IMO aside from a couple of wrecks)

I wish this weren't true but it is. I've been traveling to Florida a few times per year for the past 20 years and each time I go I have less inclination to do it again. The reefs and corals are shot, other than a few colorful schools of the ubiquitous yellow reef fish, occasional green moray and a puffer or porcupine fish, there's not much to see.

I typically go for the wrecks- and there are only a few that are worth the trip- the Eagle and the Duane are my two favorites, but the Duane is often canceled due to currents and very conservative dive charters. I don't even find the Spiegel Grove to be all that interesting, not much life on it and let's face it how many times can you swim through rusty metal? The Bibb is too deep, the dives are short and again not much marine life. If you want to make the long trip to expensive Key West there's the Vandenberg- and it's been my experience that the visibility is typically quite bad with few fish to see. The few other wrecks between Key Largo and Key West within recreational limits aren't even worth a mention except maybe the Benwood which does have a good amount of fish on it, and being shallow it makes for a good long dive.

As stated by @Jonah Kowall, there are a few decent wrecks in Miami, visited by at least two dive Ops.

Skip Fort Lauderdale. Dead reefs with garbage all around, small wrecks. Pompano has a few good large deep wrecks, Boyton has the Castor which is rapidly deteriorating, and West Palm has two good "wreck treks" where you can see up to 4 wrecks on a single drift dive- those are my personal Florida favorites and you'll often see some sharks and Goliath groupers.

Jupiter has one wreck trek which is worth the trip up there if you're so inclined.

That pretty much covers diving in SE Florida.

 

[twistedt]

If you can make your way to Key Largo I recommend Rainbow Reef Dive Center. They have 8 boats that go out daily and sites are less than 30 minutes out. I have been on full boats and some with just 4-5 divers all staffed with great captains and guides. 1 dive is $90

 

[soduh]

Ok, a lot of grumps in this thread. I am all for taking advantage of opportunities like this since even a mediocre dive is better than a travel day.

Miami is fairly spread out, definitely not a walking or even public transportation city unfortunately, so the best bet would be to rent a car. I found a Tru by Hilton that had rooms for $100 that was in Brickell so pretty close to interesting restaurants and bars if you're into that kind of thing. Also people do get lucky with airbnb and vrbo sometimes especially if you are ok with those "rent a room in an occupied house" deals.

My only experience diving in the area was Diver's Paradise who do a 2 tank trip (roughly 4 hours) for $120 which includes tanks and weights and a DM in the water acting as a guide (you don't have to follow the DM though). I thought Neptune Memorial Reef was totally worth it to visit. Not sure if I would go every weekend but for a vacation splurge it seemed fine. If you see morays, barracuda, and big rays all the time on your dives, your milage may vary but for a North Florida guy who doesn't see those it ruled. Plus you can say you dove a graveyard which just warms my punk rock heart. As for tips I've always been told $10 a tank as long as the crew does a good job.

So overall, probably not cheap but if you are into taking the layover to save $200 you'll spend about as much and have a few more good stories. Hope it works out for you!

 

[formernuke]

Avoid rainbow reef.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Also people do get lucky with airbnb and vrbo sometimes especially if you are ok with those "rent a room in an occupied house" deals.

I stay in those type of AirBNBs pretty much once a month on weekend trips to Palm Beach County to dive. You just can't beat them!! Far cheaper than a hotel and I've run into nothing but fantastic hosts. I have several I use repeatedly and their home feels like a home-away-from-home.

VRBO I believe only rents full houses and I've had bad experiences with VRBO. I will no longer touch them with a 10' pole.

 

[Rob9876]

I believe you'll need a rental car either direction you go. SE Florida has a bunch of odd rental car companies, but it may be worth it to go with a national name -- my last 2 experiences with the odd ones have not been good (last one was Economy Rental Car out of FLL, not sure if they are at MIA also, would definitely not recommend).

I'm not into wrecks as much as reefs, and in my opinion there's some really good reef diving out of Jupiter and Palm/Riviera Beach. Not super cheap, but Scuba Works in Jupiter often has a Groupon that is a pretty great deal (I liked diving with them). Note that as someone mentioned above, in most parts of Florida the cost of a 2-tank dive trip does not include tank/gas rental and sometimes does not include weights, so you want to double check that. Also, many of these boat dives have pretty square profiles where Nitrox can make a pretty big difference. There's good boat diving out of Palm/Riviera Beach too, but it will cost more (Walker's and several others have recently raised their rates a good bit, going to try Ocean Quest on my next trip). EDIT: If you're interested in Scuba Works, call or check their online calendar before buying the Groupon, I believe they take Mondays off during June and July, and some trips may be hunting only).

As far as cheap diving you can rent tanks, weights and a dive flag-float (required by law) and dive the famous Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach. It's quite shallow with a lot of creatures, but you need to check the tide chart to be sure it works with your schedule. Several local shops rent gear and can provide guides if wanted, including Force-E, Pura Vida Divers, and @Scuba_Jenny who commented on Page 1 of this thread.

I have not dove the Keys yet, but researched and then cancelled 2 trips because of Covid. Hotels in Key Largo are expensive, but some dive shops (Rainbow Reef, and others) have some major savings discounts with hotels nearby. Also, some people mention that The Floridian in Homestead, FL is a good budget option (allow 30-45 minutes to get to Key Largo). Other budget names from my notes are SeaFarer Key Largo, Marina Del Mar, Hampton Inn Islamorada, and Holiday Inn Express in Florida City. I've also heard that Horizon Divers in Key Largo has a bunk house which may be closest to OP's search for hostel-like lodging, but I don't see anything about it on their website. Note: unlike most dive ops in SE Florida and the FL Panhandle, it does seem like a number of dive ops in Key Largo include (air) tank rental in the cost of their 2-tank trip prices (best to confirm).

You might also find some helpful info in this thread: Bargain Florida diving

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I wish this weren't true but it is. I've been traveling to Florida a few times per year for the past 20 years and each time I go I have less inclination to do it again. The reefs and corals are shot, other than a few colorful schools of the ubiquitous yellow reef fish, occasional green moray and a puffer or porcupine fish, there's not much to see.

I typically go for the wrecks- and there are only a few that are worth the trip- the Eagle and the Duane are my two favorites, but the Duane is often canceled due to currents and very conservative dive charters. I don't even find the Spiegel Grove to be all that interesting, not much life on it and let's face it how many times can you swim through rusty metal? The Bibb is too deep, the dives are short and again not much marine life. If you want to make the long trip to expensive Key West there's the Vandenberg- and it's been my experience that the visibility is typically quite bad with few fish to see. The few other wrecks between Key Largo and Key West within recreational limits aren't even worth a mention except maybe the Benwood which does have a good amount of fish on it, and being shallow it makes for a good long dive.

As stated by @Jonah Kowall, there are a few decent wrecks in Miami, visited by at least two dive Ops.

Skip Fort Lauderdale. Dead reefs with garbage all around, small wrecks. Pompano has a few good large deep wrecks, Boyton has the Castor which is rapidly deteriorating, and West Palm has two good "wreck treks" where you can see up to 4 wrecks on a single drift dive- those are my personal Florida favorites and you'll often see some sharks and Goliath groupers.

Jupiter has one wreck trek which is worth the trip up there if you're so inclined.

That pretty much covers diving in SE Florida.

Everyone is welcome to their opinion. I'm not going to say that you're wrong. Your opinion is your opinion. Personally, I dive SEFL once a month and still love it. But I'm an "animal" guy not a "wreck" guy. I love to learn all I can about everything that I see. I'm only into wrecks if they provide cover for fish and other life. The diversity and quantity of life on most of the reefs and wrecks is just staggering. Just offering a counter-opinion. SEFL is not perfect, but it still offers a great deal of fantastic diving.

 

[gamon]

Avoid rainbow reef.

Yes we should definitely not patronize a well known, recognized and established dive charter that happens to be the largest in the Florida Keys, with thousands of 4-5 star ratings because an anonymous internet posters says "avoid them".

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yes we should definitely not patronize a well known, recognized and established dive charter that happens to be the largest in the Florida Keys, with thousands of 4-5 star ratings because an anonymous internet posters says "avoid them".

Says the poster who wrote a few hundred words about how horrible diving is in SE Florida.

For the budget, SE Florida has some fantastic diving. You don't like it? Don't dive here.