Question First trip to Florida

[chrisjur]

I am still deciding between Miami and West Palm Beach but leaning towards the latter.

We don't talk a ton about Miami diving around here, but there are two really good diving operations in Miami that I highly recommend, which hit all the shallow and deep stuff in the area: Divers Paradise and ACE Divers. There is lots of variety very close to Miami/Miami Beach.

The upside to staying in Miami is that you have diving options very close to areas where you'd stay (the boats are close to South Beach/Downtown/Wynwood), you are an hour away from Fort Lauderdale and Key Largo, and you have lots of things to do for the other 20 hours a day when you're not on the dive boat...

 

[chrisjur]

I am a bit confused by the pricing structure compared to all my previous diving experience. It seems that the dive shops I've seen so far charge you for the trip, e.g., $110/2-tank, but that does not include tanks. So one needs to rent 2 tanks per trip - correct? I assume tank rentals include air, but I'm not sure. Are there extra taxes or park fees? So what is the resulting per person per dive cost including all this plus tips? Are there multi-day diving discounts?

Correct. You can pay just for the charter (no tanks) and those usually run $90 to $120 for a 2-tank trip, depending on the operator. There are a few operators that also run 3-tank trips once or twice a week, and those are usually proportionally more expensive.

So you would need to rent tanks, which usually run $10-$12 EACH tank for air and $15-$20 EACH tank for Nitrox (multiply that by the number of tanks required for the dive trip, and that's your total cost). Yes, these prices DO include gas.

 

[MrChen]

I am a bit confused by the pricing structure compared to all my previous diving experience. It seems that the dive shops I've seen so far charge you for the trip, e.g., $110/2-tank, but that does not include tanks. So one needs to rent 2 tanks per trip - correct? I assume tank rentals include air, but I'm not sure. Are there extra taxes or park fees? So what is the resulting per person per dive cost including all this plus tips? Are there multi-day diving discounts?

Correct. Most locals that I know have tanks. When you go to a charters site, they will present the option to rent tanks, which will be waiting for you on the boat. Taxes are a given. I haven't come across any park fees.

Several dive charters offer discounts if you buy 5 or more trips. Pura Vida will give you 6 for the price of 5.

 

[MrChen]

One thing to consider is how you feel about driving in traffic. If you stay in the Lauderdale/Jupiter region, you'll be dealing with plenty of it.

In my experience as someone who lives here, there's a large difference in traffic when comparing Ft Lauderdale to Jupiter.

I would say this, the further south you are, the worse the traffic is. It's taken me 2 hours to get from Ft Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and only 30 minutes to get from West Palm Beach to Stuart (which includes driving past Jupiter). The population density is higher the further south you are.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I would say this, the further south you are, the worse the traffic is. It's taken me 2 hours to get from Ft Lauderdale to West Palm Beach and only 30 minutes to get from West Palm Beach to Stuart (which includes driving past Jupiter). The population density is higher the further south you are.

BINGO! As someone who used to live in Boca Raton (south Palm Beach County) and now drives from SWFL to SEFL regularly, traffic from West Palm Beach south to Deerfield Beach is definitely much heavier than traffic north of WPB. Then again, traffic from Deerfield South gets much heavier again. And don't get me started about Miami. I avoid driving south of Ft Lauderdale like the plague. Traffic north of Jupiter is heavenly ... meaning almost nonexistent!!

 

[MrChen]

Traffic north of Jupiter is heavenly ... meaning almost nonexistent!!

Now you've gone too far

One complaint I have about FL is the freeway system. We have I95 and the Turnpike. The Turnpike is a toll road with only 2 lanes and limited access. 95 has 3+ lanes and lots of access but is free. If there is an accident north of Jupiter on either, you're stuck in a parking lot. Heavenly would be able to hop over to other

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Now you've gone too far

One complaint I have about FL is the freeway system. We have I95 and the Turnpike. The Turnpike is a toll road with only 2 lanes and limited access. 95 has 3+ lanes and lots of access but is free. If there is an accident north of Jupiter on either, you're stuck in a parking lot. Heavenly would be able to hop over to other

Fair enough! You drive that area FAR more than I do. The time's I'm up around Hobe Sound/Stuart are always on weekends. Compared to traffic in southern Palm Beach County and Broward, it is heavenly. But my dataset is very small!

 

[NothingClever]

Without any intent to boast, I probably have more time along I-95 from Miami all the way to Wilmington, Delaware than several members combined.

There is only one section of I-95 that's tolerable and that's a modest little stretch in South Carolina.

All other sections of I-95, regardless of state, are plagued with people who have simply lost their minds.

 

[Dan G]

I-95 is the devil's work. Regarding the people driving it who have lost their minds, it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing. Have they lost their minds because of driving I-95 or do they drive I-95 because they have lost their minds?

On occasion I have been fortunate enough to stay with a friend is lives in the Boca area on a few diving trips. He does all the driving and uses Google Maps to decide which highway/route to use based on travel time. I did the same on my most recent trip between Miami and Key West and found it to be very helpful. With a transponder, the tolls are not too bad and worth paying when they save you travel time. Waze is probably equally as good.

Driving and traffic is just something to factor in. Some people really hate traffic or driving in a new areas with lots of traffic. Others do not care. The OP is from Houston, so I would imagine traffic is not that big a deal to them. The use of GPS on our phones has made driving in new places so much easier. No more directions written on a sticky note or printed out MapQuest instructions.

 

[riceowls]

Plans are coming along. Booked Oct 11-16 tickets coming to FLL. Now, I am deciding between staying in the Pompano Beach area (with wreck dives nearby and shore diving options nearby but dive Jupiter/WPB for a day with shark/grouper dive and probably for a Heron bridge afternoon dive) or staying around WPB and sticking to that area. In terms of shore times - is any area better? Is traffic in the morning both ways? Is grouper season still going mid-October?