First dive trip to Florida

[dc22ball]

In the middle of November I am planning a trip to Florida. We will land and stay in Ft. Meyers our first night, then depending on the weather and where the good diving is we will probably travel. Curious how Key West is in November, there is a ferry to Key West we might try but just want to make sure the diving will be good. Also wondering about the Naples/Ft. Meyers area for diving? What should I expect for water visibility? Anything I should know? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[herbdb]

IMHO, You are going to want to travel to the east coast of Fla or the Keys. The west coast does not have the reef structures of the areas on the other side.

 

[MrChen]

Jupiter, Jupiter, Jupiter

 

[DeputyDan]

If you are diving in the key's - the closer to Key Largo the better the diving - as you get closer to Key West the quality of diving goes down.
Jupiter as mentioned above has good diving.
If you are newbie divers, Key Largo is a good choice.

 

[Twisted Bones]

There's good diving on the west coast of Florida too. Albeit nothing like key largo or Jupiter. Right now the water is pretty cloudy on the west side but by November that should start to ease. I live in central Florida and primarily dive the west coast. If I was going to go on vacation I would definately be diving key largo as a first choice and Jupiter as a second. Just my .02.

Matt

 

[bilsant]

All 3 choices recommended are good.

Ft. Myers to Key West is about 6 hours

Ft. Myers to Jupiter is about 3 hours

Ft. Myers to Tavernier is about 4 hours (but on the way to KW)

I'd keep it open and start checking here for conditions reports about 2 days before you get to Ft. Myers...

 

[Steve_C]

The Jupiter-West Palm area is predominately drift diving at medium depths.

Key Largo is either
-reef dives
-drift dives on the outer side of the reef
-deep dives on the three big ships.

If you are pretty new to diving, and very new to Ocean diving I would go with the reef diving in Key Largo. Save Jupiter for on the way back or after some experience.

 

[sportxlh]

Another possibility is megalodon shark tooth diving in Venice which is only about 60 miles from Ft Myers. I've not done it, but several friends say its fun enough: like a bucket list dive. If Venice is still divable in Nov, that might be a way to start your trip before you head over to Jupiter, WPB, the Keys, etc. You'll have to check with a Venice shop to see if November is still decent or not.

 

[mixedcouple]

I am planning a diving trip for my hubby and his two brothers in late October and have been looking at Key Largo. Any suggestions on good places to stay / dive resorts / dive companies? Two of the divers are very seasoned, the other just got his open water certification in june 2013. All are senior citizens but act like they are in their 40's!

 

[Steve_C]

I am planning a diving trip for my hubby and his two brothers in late October and have been looking at Key Largo. Any suggestions on good places to stay / dive resorts / dive companies? Two of the divers are very seasoned, the other just got his open water certification in june 2013. All are senior citizens but act like they are in their 40's!

I usually just stay at the Holiday Inn in Key Largo. It is at the Marina. It has a nice pool (two) and tiki bar. Easy walking to a number of boats. If you go there get ground floor pool side rooms. Couple places to eat or have an adult beverage. Generally the boats do reef or deep in the morning and reef in the afternoon. There are three deep sites. Duane, Bib, and Speigel. All are around 100ft to the deck. I typically dive either Ocean Divers or Horizon and hop between them depending on sites. Horizon has a big and a small boat. Require 3 for a charter. So you might be able to set up the dives you want on the small boat. May not be a private charter but close to it. Horizon will accommodate customer requests.

There are also some six packs in the area and boats that will take out small groups. Only one I have dove with is Bluewater.

There are a lot of good ops in the area and I am sure that there are others who will have many recommendations.