Flordia keys Diving

[Padipro]

Not many places to shore dive in the Keys, the water is shallow for a long way out. Most of the diving in the Keys is boat diving.

IMO I would skip the Keys all together and stay North, anywhere between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. We have some great beach, boat, reef and wreck diving right here and I find the boat crews much friendlier up this way then they are in the Keys. There are so many tourests down there that the crews tend to assume that everyone is an idiot rather then checking ones experience level. Even I, a local Instructor, am told exactly what I am going to do and how I am going to do it.

The only reason, IMO, to go to the Keys is to dive the Grove.

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

Where is the best place in the keys to go diving?

It's a toss-up between Key Largo and Looe Key.

 

[Wristshot]

Brent,

Since you rate Looe Key right up there with Key Largo, perhaps you could give a couple quick comments about Looe Key. (Never been there, dove Key Largo a few times, curious about Looe Key) Interested in your opinions since you live there and you are associated with a dive op.

Anything special to be sure to do at Looe? anything to avoid? Highlights?

FYI, I have ~4 dives on the Speigel Grove, ~6 on the Benwood etc, plus Molasses Reef, French Reef, Touchdown Jesus etc. Personally I prefer dives in the 40-plus foot range.


Wristshot

 

[av8er23]

I was told that Ft. Lauderdale if a nice place to dive. Can it really compare to the keys? Do you happen to have any pictures. Are you leaving due to the hurricane?

 

[Padipro]

I was told that Ft. Lauderdale if a nice place to dive. Can it really compare to the keys? Do you happen to have any pictures. Are you leaving due to the hurricane?

IMO yes it can compare to the Keys. Ft. Lauderdale isn't that far north so the reef is nearly the same, we have the same kind of marine life here, the water is just as warm and just a clear BUT we usually have much less current up here. The wrecks and reefs here IMO are every bit as good as the Keys.

Search for any pictures posted by FLLDiver. He's a local diver with a nice camera that has taken quite a few great pictures.

The hurricane??? What a disappointment that was. We got about 20 minutes of rain and winds that maybe hit 25 mph it was one of the most beautiful days we've had all year. The sun was out and the sunset was fantastic.

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

Brent,

Since you rate Looe Key right up there with Key Largo, perhaps you could give a couple quick comments about Looe Key. (Never been there, dove Key Largo a few times, curious about Looe Key) Interested in your opinions since you live there and you are associated with a dive op.

Anything special to be sure to do at Looe? anything to avoid? Highlights?

FYI, I have ~4 dives on the Speigel Grove, ~6 on the Benwood etc, plus Molasses Reef, French Reef, Touchdown Jesus etc. Personally I prefer dives in the 40-plus foot range.


Wristshot

I've only made a handful of dives at Looe Key, and I don't think any of them were deeper than 35 feet. Shallow spur and groove coral formations, seperated by wide sand channels, and populated by large schools of fishes, are predominant. The west end of the reef is very nice... don't know of anything to avoid (other than the occassional jellyfish). The nearby Aldolphus Busch makes for a great deep dive prior to visiting the reef at Looe Key.

 

[100days-a-year]

The Keys from Marquesas to Dry Tortugas have far more sea-life and usually better vis most times of year.I have never seen the current anywhere near what S.Florida gets.Atho they do have good shore diving and a lot of wrecks S. Florida has heavier boat traffic,more overfishing.For large animals the best place would be from the Central East Coast and north.For a large variety of fish and macro stuff to shoot(pics) Looe Key is hard to beat, I get about 20 dives there a year and still see stuff new all the time.

 

[av8er23]

If I am going to plan on taking a trip in oct. should i pay much attention to the tide predictions? Is that the best way to plan a dive trip?

 

[100days-a-year]

I would let the the captain figure out where to take me,at least the 1st time.Tides in the Keys are weird at best.

 

[Freak]

I did some diving in Pennekamp a couple weeks ago. (It's not a resort, but a state park) It was through It's a Dive. Wasn't too bad. Visibility was maybe 70(?) ft. Max depth was about 30 ft. Saw a decent amount of fish, eels, and a ray or two. Temperature at depth was 83 according to the computer.

The captains were very friendly, and although the boat seemed kind of crowded, I would definitely go with them again.