Florida Diving West Palm or Crystal River

[jlbartley]

I'm going to be in Florida between May 20-27 and looking to get in some diving. We're going to be staying in West Palm but were looking to travel over towards Crystal River to snorkel with the Manatees. I'm looking for some advice. I've never been diving in either location. We are definatley going to dive in West Palm but I'm wondering, If you were going would you stay in Crystal River for a few days and do some diving there along with doing some diving near West Palm?

If anyone has any advice for who to book with for snorkeling with the manatees that would be appreciated.

 

[SSharkk]

If you are going to snorkel with the manatees at Crystal River use Native Vacations Crystal River Manatee Tours, Native Vacations, Manatee Snorkel Tours, Swim with Manatees, Manatee Dive, Crystal River Boat Tours or
Bird's Manatee Tours Florida Manatee Swims Swimming With Manatee Florida

DO NOT USE American Pro Diving Center. There is plenty on Scuba Board about their treatment of manatees and I have seen it myself. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...582-manatee-abuse-harassment-caught-tape.html

As for West Palm Beach, Sandy's Sunday would be my choice OceanQuest Scuba or you can drive up the road a few miles and go with Jupiter Dive Center Jupiter Dive Center, Scuba diving lessons at a PADI 5 Star facility, daily scuba diving trips in Jupiter, Florida. Or you could do all four.

Good luck on your adventure,

Jeff

 

[Dive-aholic]

You may be a little late for snorkeling with the manatees. They are usually already heading out to the gulf this time of year. Best time to get them is between late October and early May.

 

[SSharkk]

There is a resident population of moms and calves that stick around through at least July. Call Traci at Native Vacations. She will let you know the cuurent situation or call Bird's. The water however won't be clear.

 

[Manuel Sam]

By coincidence, I did both West Palm and Crystal River for a day each in early March after my shark trip got cancelled.

I've since learned that there's a dive in West Palm at a bridge or called "The Bridge" where you can see all kinds of neat macro stuff like baby frogfish, batfish and the Atlantic version of the mimic octopus.

From West Palm to Crystal River, it was about 4 hrs each way from West Palm - you may choose to overnight, thereby splitting the driving into two days.

At least for me, one day in Crystal River was plenty unless you were to try to snorkel at some of the other manatee areas in the general vicinity. That's because even though there are several springs to snorkel in at Crystal River, the only one that we found worth doing was The Three Sisters - everything else was pea soup.

We did not sign up with any outfit, we just went and rented a boat and followed the map provided.

 

[jlbartley]

Thanks for all of your posts. I'll check on the bridge, it sounds really cool! One question though, is there any diving worth doing near crystal river?

 

[pickens_46929]

Thanks for all of your posts. I'll check on the bridge, it sounds really cool! One question though, is there any diving worth doing near crystal river?

Couple places near Palm Beach to go out with...

Scuba Works in Jupiter Scuba Works - Scuba-Works.com 561-575-3483 ask for Randy Jordan
Pirate Divers in Boynton Beach http://www.piratedivers.us
561-369-3102 ask for Kevin

In and around Crystal River, you've got tons of stuff to do... King Springs, Manatee Springs State Park, Ginnie Springs, Blue Grotto, Devil's Den, Rainbow River, Paradise Cove, etc.

And *I* would gladly go out with American Pro Diving regardless of things said here. I've been out with them a number of times both in a scuba group and with my kids. They are *good* people and treat you right, keep you safe and also make sure you have fun too.

 

[Manuel Sam]

I wish I could remember the name of the place we rented the boat from - it was in the back of a Best Western Motel. I saw a couple people diving at Kings Spring in Crystal River - the viz there couldn't have been more than 3-5 feet. Three Sisters Spring had great viz but it's about 10 ft. deep max - hardly worth scuba diving. Don't know about other places nearby.

 

[Dive-aholic]

Thanks for all of your posts. I'll check on the bridge, it sounds really cool! One question though, is there any diving worth doing near crystal river?

Rainbow River