Dive Operator Recommendations

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Eddie A.

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Messages
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Location
United States
# of dives
50 - 99
My wife is getting certified here in Missouri in July and we’re planning a trip to Florida at the end of September. We’ll be staying in Tarpon Springs for a few days of the trip and are looking for recommendations for dive operators to get out and dive for a day or two. My wife specifically want to dive the Circle of Heroes and I hear there are places in the area to run into some Goliath Groupers. Anyone have any recommendation for outfits to dive with or to stay away from? Thanks in advance!
 
I would imagine scuba offerings are limited.
Would you say that would be due to COVID or weather that time of year? We’re both fully vaccinated and I’d imagine there’s at least done boats running limited capacity, no?
 
Would you say that would be due to COVID or weather that time of year? We’re both fully vaccinated and I’d imagine there’s at least done boats running limited capacity, no?

I think he means that there literally are not a lot of options. It has nothing to do with COVID. It’s not a heavily dived area. A few charters that focus primarily on spearfishing I’d expect. That’s how it is down here in far SWFL. The west coast has fantastic beaches but the diving is not the best typically. Most of the regular divers on the west coast head east to Palm Beach/Broward Counties or Key Largo. Folks who regularly dive off the west coast are typically spearfishermen. They are a unique breed who approach diving very differently than most recreational divers.

Check with the two options listed in the post above.
 
I think he means that there literally are not a lot of options. It has nothing to do with COVID. It’s not a heavily dived area. A few charters that focus primarily on spearfishing I’d expect. That’s how it is down here in far SWFL. The west coast has fantastic beaches but the diving is not the best typically. Most of the regular divers on the west coast head east to Palm Beach/Broward Counties or Key Largo. Folks who regularly dive off the west coast are typically spearfishermen. They are a unique breed who approach diving very differently than most recreational divers.

Check with the two options listed in the post above.

Ah, I see, thanks for clearing that up. I guess the main draw for her was the Circle of Heroes Memorial site there. I’m a combat veteran and she’s still active duty Army so I guess it seemed fitting for that to be her first ocean dive ‍♂️. Anyhow, she found the site and wants to dive it and I’m just glad to get her in the water.
 
I used to own a place about four miles south of the center of Tarpon Springs and did a fair amount of local diving there. It's true that the ocean diving options are more limited, and, due to the dive sites being farther offshore, more expensive than on Florida's east coast. But the area is not a total diving wasteland. If you'll have a car, I'd strongly suggest checking out some of the freshwater springs a bit to the north. While northern Florida is one of the world's big cave diving areas, there are plenty of dives suitable for open water divers, including new divers, and it's a fascinating kind of diving you don't find just anywhere. Do some Googling on "Florida spring diving" and you'll see what I mean. Some specific sites to consider might be Rainbow River, Manatee Springs State Park, Devil's Den, Blue Grotto, and, a bit more of a drive but fascinating to dive, Ginnie Springs. Think about snorkeling with the manatees in Crystal River, if Three Sisters Spring, is open. Pick up a copy of Ned Deloach's Diving Guide to Underwater Florida - it's quite exhaustive on all these places and more. Mac's Scuba and Narcosis are two dive shops right in Tarpon Springs that I can recommend to help you plan this, as well as offshore charters.
 
Thanks @jpowers for the info on the local spring dives and manatees! I think we’ll do one day boat diving and on day shore diving the local springs. Thanks again for the excellent info!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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