Diving in Florida Keys

[lmichaels22]

Howdy all, I have been reading information on this site for over a year but never joined untill today...

A friend and I are headed to the Florida Keys to do a couple days of diving. Any suggestions on the following:
1) Which Key shoud we stay on?
2) Any suggestions on a good dive shop to use while there?
3) What special dives should we do? Neather of us are big in wrecks and we konw that is big there so wreck dives would be OK but we like the sea life!!


Thanks for any help!!
Zeb

 

[SIUegyptiandiver]

Hey! Welcome aboard!

Depends on what kind of diving you want to do. From Largo to Key West there are great reefs to dive from 15' to over 70'

Largo is very convenient, lots of great dives that are not on wrecks and you can usually find good packages.

Islamorada has some nice reef dives, but is also geared towards wrecks.

Marathon, Ramrod and Cudjoe have easy access to Looe Key and a few others, as well as some nearby wrecks if you decide to give it a go.

Key West has a bit of every thing from shallow reefs to deep wrecks, the Dry Tortugas and half day or full day trips.

I have used Bud and Marys, Innerspace, Looe Key Reef Resort and a few different operators out of Key West. No one has dissappointed me. Its a matter of convenience, comfort, price and what-do-you-wannado-besides dive....

I highly suggest Pennecamp, Sombrero Key, Looe Key or any other number of great nearby reef dives if you dont want to focus on wrecks.

If you are not into wrecks but want to try one, you will need an advanced open water cert and a log book for most operators to let you go without a guide. But its worth having the guide, even if you are AWO cert but have little wreck experience.

Hope that helps a bit.

Safe Diving!

Dave

 

[PatW]

I would suggest Key Largo. I think the reefs up at Key Largo get less pollution because the mangrove swamps on the east side of the key tend to suck up the nutrients run off from the key (at least that is my guess).

Key Largo is also closer to the mainland.

I generally do pretty shallow water dives at Key Largo. I indulge in photography and shallow water works just fine. Molasses Reef is very good. But there are any number of shallow reefs along there. Many of them have a max depth in something like 30'. We also dove a wreck in about 50' of water and it was the Benwood, I think. It went down in 1941 so it is pretty well encrusted with lots of marine life.

I dove with Quiesence. They operate 6 packs. They cost a bit more but then again you pretty much get to choose your diving spot. They also have their secret little places. One day, they took us to a small patch reef that was all of 50' long. As I descended to it, I thought this looks pretty mediocre, but once I got close, I discovered that the reef was full of all sorts of critters. It took a full hour to give it a quick go over because there was just one thing after another to see. I could easily have done 2 dives on that little spot.

Have a good time.

 

[DMDavid]

My personal favorite place to stay in Key Largo is Amy Slates Dive Resort and they also have an excellent dive boat parked at your doorstep.
If you're in need of a diveshop then Key Largo has the largest shops and best selections.

In Key West my favorite place to rest my bones is The Southernmost Point Guesthouse.

In the middle keys I stay with family but that is where my favorite reef dive is "Looe Key".

Have great time!

...0p