coming to Fla-7/18th in Florida City

[anton]

Hi all,(sorry for the cross post but I just noticed the "private trips" area)

I would like to intrude on your board for a quick few questions. I normally lurk elsewhere on this site but I will be coming home to the US for 2 weeks this month and will find myself in Florida City for a couple days... I would like to get a dive in while I am there and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for a LDS that is in the area or a "private" trip on the 17th or 18th. My wife is happy to stay on shore and look around/relax (VERY UNDERSTANDING with my diving!)

Is diving good during July in this area or are there things I should watch out for/avoid? Am I in a bad area for diving in Florida?? (further down, etc.) I am a California native and presently live in Qatar (water is a comfortable 80.6 degrees right now, air is 110!!) so I have no clue wrt diving on the east-coast.

My experience is 70+ dives, over the past 7 months (I am going out now 3-4 times a week now), and I normally dive in the 14-22 meters in the persian gulf. I would be happy with some nice reefs and picture taking. In Qatar, there are not many nice reefs (have to jump over to Oman for that) so I am easy to please.

Any tips/ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks,
Anton in Qatar

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Hey Anton. From Florida City, you can head east to Biscayne Nat'l Park. I hear the diving there is supurb, kinda a hidden gem. Yes, its a boat dive.
Go south a half hour to Key Largo. If you do a search in this section, you will find a good dive op. Almost everybody has something nice to say about each op, just some have more nice things said about them!
If you head north an hour, there is plenty of diving in Broward County. This is the only place really to do any beach diving, the rest is boat diving.
Current surface temps are hitting 88 degrees, with air temps in the mid 90's, and the humidity factored in, feels to be more in the 100 degree range.
Good luck! And welcome home!