Question Easily accessible shore dives in South Florida

[Cthippo]

"Their boat, their rules" is a good enough reason to shore dive.

 

[LI-er]

"Their boat, their rules" is a good enough reason to shore dive.

Yeah those pesky rules. Good enough reason to never go anywhere that prohibits you from doing whatever you want.

 

[LI-er]

I would suggest taking a boat dive, but you seem to not like that idea, so I’ll stop here.

The Op only wants advice that fits his predetermined narrative. To suggest anything else is to invite antagonistic responses to the effect of "What's wrong with all of you?!"

 

[Cthippo]

Yeah those pesky rules. Good enough reason to never go anywhere that prohibits you from doing whatever you want.

Thats why I dive local!

 

[LI-er]

Thats why I dive local!

My post was tongue in cheek. Do you really find boat rules so unreasonable and difficult to follow?

I never had that issue. For the most part boat rules are designed to maximize safety of the passengers and efficiency of the crew. Not seeing anything wrong with that.

 

[ChetM]

Hey gang, my wife and dive buddy has recently been going through some medical issues and thus gets winded very easily. We are going to south florida, staying in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, in two weeks and she says that she would really love to be able to do a dive while we are down there. Can anyone recommend a spot where we won't have to battle waves and long walks too hard to get in the water? Any spots closer to shore than others?

(I already know about BHB and suspect that is likely the best option but maybe there is something closer to where we are staying?)

Based on the date you’ve probably already had your visit… but for future readers, the answer is shocking; aside from the Blue Heron Bridge (BHB) there are no easy access shore dive sites worth diving in Florida.

They all have long walks through the sand with all your gear, usually a pretty steep hill at the surf line, and then you battle surf to get your gear on… unless you want the public humiliation of gearing up on shore and crab crawling in.

I have thousands of dives all around the world. My favorites are Pacific Islands (one of my favorites is Guam) parking 15-20 feet from the shore, protected bays with little surf for easy gear up, 100 foot depths 30-50 feet from shore, National Geographic quality reefs…

Florida has amazing beaches and sun, sunbathing, not diving.

I’ve tried all types of beach carts but have not found one that can easily be dragged through 150-200 feet of soft sand with about 300-500 pounds of scuba gear for our group… and is safe from theft while we’re underwater.

After 50 years of diving it is overwhelming to me to carry it individually to the water through the long sandy beach.

Lately I tip a boat dive master an extra $20 to lift my gear onto the boat at the end of a dive rather than struggle up the sea ladder.
It seems nobody here uses the Newton dive boats with a water level open transom. They almost all have 3-4 foot sideboards.
And it seems they love drift dives.

I understand your predicament. There answer is none… until they make it legal to drive on the sand while loading and unloading scuba gear.

 

[tekkydiver]

Yeah those pesky rules. Good enough reason to never go anywhere that prohibits you from doing whatever you want.

Of course you could just purchase a boat of your own. By the way the best shore diving in S. Florida is at the 6th Street reef in Pompano Beach. Short swim out to a pretty reef.

 

[MrChen]

There are definitely shore dives worth diving besides BHB. I love BHB and have around 150 dives at the site. I also look forward to diving at some of the other beaches. Do some of the walks feel ridiculously long and have a steep incline on exit? Yes, but some are shorter walks and have less of an incline. The longer/steeper ones are a challenge based on your physical health and whether you're lugging around a large camera or something else.

 

[NothingClever]

Lovely forum.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

And here's the thing about shore diving in Florida....
Are the reefs pristine? NO.
Is there white sand and blue water? Usually NO.
Are there long walks, or lack of showers? YES.
Is it physically demanding? YES
Is the swim out long? Sometimes.
Will you improve your buoyancy diving in shallow water? YES
Can you dive whenever weather permits? Yep.

I can grab my gear, find a parking spot and have a couple hours of bliss and serenity for under $20. Not a bad deal. Cool if you prefer spending $100 on a dive boat. Please. Do that. I'll take the parking spot. Thank you.