florida destinations for the first time

[amyandbrodie]

Hi all,

Well, I just learned I get to take a trip to Florida this spring. Having travelled extensively around the "right" coast, I was excited to learn this trip is real. So, my next thought was where to go following a few days of business in Sarasota. Not knowing the area, I thought I might find a friendly forum to start my investigation in.

So here I am.

I you had only 3 to 4 days to do some diving in Florida, where would you go? I'm open to any suggestions. I intend to head down to the Keys, but even with that, any recommendations on specific Keys, boats, sites etc?

Also, what is the diving like along the Sarasota coast?

I hope somebody will have the time/energy to answer this, I really do appreciate it.
Thanks!

 

[H2Andy]

i dont know much about left coast diving, but i would suggest heading east.

you can do a nice three-day dive trip, with some boat and shore dives
in Jupiter, West Palm, and Ft. Lauderdale, and then make the less than
2-hour drive to Key Largo and get a few boat dives in there.

 

[diver3523]

Lucky You!! Some great diving down there. I would certainly recommend travelling to the Southeast - Lantana/West Palm area. Starfish Charters is a great boat out of that area.

In the Keys, you should check out the Key Largo/Islamorada area. We dove Abyss Divers down there last spring - they were a good op.

Good luck finding a shop. You will have fun, for sure!

Hi all,

Well, I just learned I get to take a trip to Florida this spring. Having travelled extensively around the "right" coast, I was excited to learn this trip is real. So, my next thought was where to go following a few days of business in Sarasota. Not knowing the area, I thought I might find a friendly forum to start my investigation in.

So here I am.

I you had only 3 to 4 days to do some diving in Florida, where would you go? I'm open to any suggestions. I intend to head down to the Keys, but even with that, any recommendations on specific Keys, boats, sites etc?

Also, what is the diving like along the Sarasota coast?

I hope somebody will have the time/energy to answer this, I really do appreciate it.
Thanks!

 

[WPBdiver]

I have never dove specifically off of Sarasota, but I have in both Tampa and Naples. Unfortunately, on the Gulf coast, you have to go miles off shore just to get 30 feet of water and 30 feet of viz. I have plenty of friends who live on the Gulf, but drive over to Palm Beach on the weekends to get their diving in.

I highly recommend the diving off of Palm Beach. I am probably a little biased though since I live 15 minutes from the marina, which can be as close as 15 minutes to the first dive site. I really think that Palm Beach is the best kept secret in diving. Check out www.oceanquestscuba.com for a great charter operation. All dives off PB are drift dives with minimal navigation since the steady north current takes you right along the north-south oriented reefs. They also always have in water dive guide/DM's with each dive. The viz is usually good since PB is so close to the Gulf Stream. We have had a few Whale and Whale Shark sitings lately. In the winter months we see some unique animals, again due to our close proximity to the Gulf Stream.

Definitely don't miss the upper Keys though. I have had the best luck with Silent World dive charters. Key West is an awsome place to visit, but the diving is not nearly as good as in the Key Largo area. My two favorite wrecks are the Speigle Grove and the Eagle.

Fort Lauderdale is known for it's wrecks, but I have not been diving there much so don't have a charter recommendation.

I hope that helps. Enjoy your dives.

 

[amyandbrodie]

hey, thanks for the info.
seeing as Florida is a new game for me, this will all be exciting.
Since it sounds likethe Gulf coast is not so great (I got that impression, am I off base?),
and the limited time we have,
and the fact that this will be the first chance to dive in a while with my wife since we have a three year old
and since we will have others who will babysit..........
I want to get the most bang for the buck time-wise.

So it looks like we'll likely motor on down to the Keys before doing any diving....
SO, with that in mind... any more of the specifics for that area? Am going to do more research, but I do appreciate the input so far!

THANKS AGAIN!

 

[del_mo]

Just a bit south of Sarasota is Venice. There you can do a pretty cool fossil shark tooth dive....of the megalodon shark variety.

http://floridawestscuba.com/

 

[stu_in_fl]

So it looks like we'll likely motor on down to the Keys before doing any diving....
SO, with that in mind... any more of the specifics for that area?
THANKS AGAIN!

Keys (100 miles or so from Key Largo to Key West, so quite a lot to choose from) - so it depends what you're after really and also your experience level...if you like wrecks and are reasonably advanced, Key Largo (100 miles from Key West) has the Speigel Grove, Duane, Bibb and there is the Eagle just up the road ..... for shallower reef type of things Mollassas Reef is great and is a state park (so protected with loats of corals and fish)....depending if you are more wreck or reef orientated, give the operators a call, find out what they are doing and let them know your experience level and desires. Blue Water divers (BlueWaterDivers.net), Ocean Divers, Scuba Doo, DiveIn all get good reviews. Also a bit up the road you have Conch Replublic, Divers City and Tavenier Dive Center (all good choices if you want to dive the Eagle)

..further up the road (50 miles from Key West) is Marathon - wreck is the Thunderbolt and the Reef is Sombrero Reef which is also nice (but really I would take Key Largo over Marathon unless you are going further towards Key West) [don't really know any operators here]

....then Key West - not so good for diving, but a great place to stay if you want bars etc. and entertainment at sunset
- good to stay at Key West and dive at Looe Key which is 20 miles from Key West - the wreck there is the Adolphus Busch and the reef (a marine park ) is Looe Key - very nice reef - if your going there send a PM to buiscuit7 on this board (wreckreation charters) - i would avoid looe key dive resort unless you have snorkellers with you.

 

[H2Andy]

Since it sounds likethe Gulf coast is not so great (I got that impression, am I off base?)

ah..... no....

go east, young diver

 

[odiecho]

I second the recommendation for Silent World if diving in the Key Largo area. Top notch operation.

 

[Walter]

Depends on your experience level. In many ways, diving in the Gulf is superior top diving off the east coast, but it's to everyone'staste. If you want to see big fish, dive the Gulf.