Thanks, kelemvor,
That's useful info. We are located in Collier County about 15 minutes east of Naples.
I've heard of the Venice site which could be a day trip. South of that is experiencing red tide issues at the moment
which is not uncommon for this time of year. I'll have to check out any free dive sites that I can to get dive time in between
the overnight trips.
It looks like you're just under 3 hours drive time to Venice beach. That's probably the best you can do for a shore dive from Collier. You might have to bite the bullet and pay for a spot on a charter boat (or buy your own boat).
You're only a 3 hour drive from Key Largo, the unofficial "dive capital of the world". More dive sites there than you can shake a stick at, but there are only a couple that do not require paying for a boat ride in the keys. If you like mangroves, there's a nice shore entry in John Pennekamp state park. I spent a day snorkeling there once. Once you're in Key Largo you can take your pick of boat operators and dive sites. You'll find super tourist friendly large boats like the 46' newtons run by Rainbow Reef, small "6 pack" boats, tech diving operators, and everything in between.
If I lived in Collier, I'd be driving to Key Largo at least once a month. It's a 5 hour drive for me, and I go a few times a year. Many of the operators will sell "local" packages where you prepay for a bunch of dives and get a cheaper rate. Rainbow Reef charges $80 for a two tank trip. $70 if you buy 3 trips at once, $65 if you buy 5 at once etc. They're a great operation for beginners, as they provide a DM for every group. Captain Slate's starts at $75 for the basic two tanker. There's so many charter boats in this area that I'm sure you can find both cheaper and more expensive.
There are a few dive sites off the shores of Naples, Keewaydin, Marco, or Ten Thousand Islands. They're all boat dives, and I don't know of any shore dives in that area.
There's a "fast boat" ferry that runs from Marco Island to Key West. I think they charge about $150 round trip.
Key West Express Official Page | Key West Ferry Service Personally, I'd prefer to dive in Key Largo over Key west but unless you've got a self-driving Tesla it's more work to get to Largo than West. Key West has the Vendenberg wreck. Eventually, you're going to want to dive the Vandy at least once but it can be a challenging dive with strong currents on the way down/up.
There's Lake Okeechobee but that water is super gross. It's also rumored to be full of gators. I wouldn't dive it, no way. It's only 30 minutes closer to you than Key Largo... 3 hours to world class diving or 2.5 hours to nasty gator infested lake water.. I know what I would pick
