Question First trip to Florida

[riceowls]

I have a few days off in early October and thinking of an extended weekend trip (perhaps Thu/Fri to Wed morning) and hope to get 4-5 diving days. I am still thinking of defaulting to Cozumel but have never driven to Florida, and October may be a good time to visit. Where should I go to have a good combination of reliable boat dives and perhaps a few shore-diving options? Blue Heron Bridge sounds like something I would want to do, so inclining to the West Palm Beach area. But I am open to hearing from locals.

 

[Allen-1]

Blue Heron Bridge is close to Jupiter, Florida

Check out threads palm beach and jupiter in this forum.

 

[The Chairman]

Have fun! Dial in a spring, like Troy or Alexander. They are a wonderful way to rinse your gear off after diving in that icky salty stuff.

 

[Johnoly]

, so inclining to the West Palm Beach area.

Southwest (2free-bags) flights into West Palm Bch FLa from Houston and good fares too. October diving in our area is really good. Still warm at 80 degrees and 60ft of viz usually. Some Goliath Groupers will still be hanging around from the mid September gathering and the reefs are colorful. Plenty of boats to choose from, just decide if you want small stuff or big stuff for which one to choose. Lots of empty Air BNB's that time of year and rates are cheap for hotels. Lots of stuff to do & see topside also.

 

[NothingClever]

I’ll echo @Johnoly ’s recommendation for the Palm Beach County area.

To help zero in geographically, you can look at Jupiter to Boca Raton on a map of Florida and that encompasses the county's coastline.

He shared a few weeks ago that PBC offers something for everybody and I concur with that. OK, full disclosure - we don't have massive coral walls dropping to 200-400m but nonetheless PBC has great features and attractions. My observation is Jupiter dive sites are a bit deeper and offer big sealife (for example, 16 goliath groupers at one site last weekend) whereas dive sites further south are a little shallower and have much more interesting reef.

Here are some useful websites that might help with your research.

Diving Palm Beach Florida - Palm Beach County Diving Association

Palm Beach County on Florida's southeastern coast provides an incredible diversity of marine life divers are sure to find exciting.

divepbc.com

Diver's Hub - your one stop for diving in FL! - this will show you a wider variety of information (and much more than PBC) that can be narrowed according to your desires.

Guidebooks - Reef Smart Guides

reefsmartguides.com

Palm Beach - Reef Smart Guides

ISBN: 9781989693001 Language: English Authors: Ian Popple, Otto Wagner, Peter McDougall Dimensions: 5.5 inches x 8.5 inches Description: Waterproof cards printed on plastic or laminated synthetic paper Shipping: Shipped from our distribution center within one week. Shipping time depends on...

reefsmartguides.com

I really think the Reef Smart Guides are worth the price. They will greatly enrich your dive experience by lifting you out of a narrow memory to a much deeper appreciation because of all the amplifying details the guidebook offers.

 

[riceowls]

Have fun! Dial in a spring, like Troy or Alexander. They are a wonderful way to rinse your gear off after diving in that icky salty stuff.

Both look too far off from salt water sites. Anything closer?

 

[riceowls]

Southwest (2free-bags) flights into West Palm Bch FLa from Houston and good fares too. October diving in our area is really good. Still warm at 80 degrees and 60ft of viz usually. Some Goliath Groupers will still be hanging around from the mid September gathering and the reefs are colorful. Plenty of boats to choose from, just decide if you want small stuff or big stuff for which one to choose. Lots of empty Air BNB's that time of year and rates are cheap for hotels. Lots of stuff to do & see topside also.

I am gold with United, so perhaps stick to that, but fares are very good. WPB it is. I definitely like the large staff more. What are your recommendations for dive boat operators and tank rental places for shore diving and a good base to live in?

 

[Johnoly]

What are your recommendations

I'd really suggest reading the frequent reports in the Florida section from all the different divers ( I'm a spearo). In very rough general terms:
Big stuff > Juno/Jupiter
Pretty reefs > West Palm
Small stuff > Blue heron bridge
A good 'midpoint' sleeping location would be anywhere between North Palm Bch & Juno Bch. Good rates on hotels and not far from all the best diving either direction. There's ALOT to see underwater and it's all different so book with 1/2/3 dive boats and you'll get hooked very quickly for a return trip.
After reading the reports, Others here can give great input and suggestions.

 

[NothingClever]

Superb response from @Johnoly .

He said it way better than I would have.

You might try clicking on the "Divers's Hub" website, then click on "Operators" in the left margin menu and that will show you the most prominent choices. From there, click on each charter's website to review their webpage and gain some insight. Then you can come back and do a word search for that charter in the Florida forum to narrow things down to your liking.

 

[Rilelen]

I live in Florida and frequently have folks visit. I would say skip the shallow reefs. Here’s my quick rundown of Florida diving:

• Wreck dives. There are a ton of great wrecks in the panhandle and keys. If you’re a more advanced diver, the Oriskany is a huge aircraft carrier you can reach from Pensacola; I like Niuhi Dive Charters. In Key Largo you’ve got the Spiegel Grove, and down in Key West you’ve got the Vandenburg. Lots of smaller wrecks as well. You will want your AOW + nitrox for those dives.
• ⁠Shallow reef dives. There’s a ton of shallow reef in the keys, esp Key Largo; in general the reef is best there and gets less impressive as you move south. I like Conch Republic, and Silent World.
• Florida springs. There are freshwater springs and caverns all throughout central Florida - these are like the Mexican cenotes, but right here in the USA. I generally recommend folks try Devil’s Den, Blue Grotto, Ginnie, Manatee, and (if you like drifts) Rainbow River. Unlike boat charters, you do need to bring a buddy for the springs, but it’s easy to arrange a guided dive.
• Venice fossil dives. Find Meg teeth! Do a three-tank fossil megalodon shark tooth dive with Aquanutz.
• ”Big stuff.” The drift diving off Jupiter is known for big sharks, Goliath grouper, etc. There are annual aggregations of lemon sharks and groupers. You can also do shark feed dives with Emerald if that’s your thing. Again, AOW + nitrox.
• ⁠Blue Heron Bridge. Great “muck” dive, timing depends on tides. Unless you’re experienced with spotting small/macro stuff, hire a guide - not because it’s a challenging site (it’s not), but so they can point out all the cool critters the site is known for.
• Epcot. Throwing it in for Disney fans - you can dive in the aquarium at Epcot.
• ⁠Jacksonville. Doesn’t really fit into any of the above categories, but Nautical Divers has an awesome boat with a lift. Diving is advanced, requires AOW + nitrox. Expect short deepish offshore dives.

Have fun! I’d prob target West Palm for your trip - you’ve got good drift diving, BHB, and shore diving down by lauderdale-by-the-sea in that area. Personally my fav boat is Kyalami (Jupiter Schuba Diving in Jupiter, Scuba Club in West Palm).