Fort Lauderdale Diving

[Jandee]

What kind of dive conditions can I expect off of Fort Laudedale in early Nov? Vis?,Water temp? Rough seas? I know this is almost to the end of huricaine season and was hoping for better weather if I go then instead of mid Sept to mid Oct.
I hoping for some good wreck diving. Any ideas on what to expect?
My husband will go any place I suggest as long as we have never been there before. This rules out Key Largo. I want 3 ml water, not my usual midwest drysuit.

 

[MantaRey]

Regardless what the conditions are here it'd be better diving than in wisconsin! :-D

Serisouly though: You can expect pretty good vis, with the cost of choppy seas. Although not big waves or anything, just random choppy seas. Temperature wise I believe would be around mid 70's. To put it in perspective the most wetsuit I'd use on the coldest day is my 3/2mm full.

Plus IMO there is more life around the "winter" months. At least it seems that way. But that can be arguable for some.

And if you're in Ft Liquordale you can take an easy drive up to palm beach and do some drift dives, or boynton to do some very nice reefs, Beach dive Lauderdale dania. All relatively close to each other, plenty of options you won't get bored diving.

 

[OceanObsessed]

Hi Jan,

I think Fort Lauderdale is a great choice but I tend to be biased since it is my home

I would not let hurricane season play a role in your decision unless of course you see one coming In m my opinion hurricane season also happens to be the best time of the year for diving here. We have warm water and calm summer & fall seas except for an occasional hurricane or storm. The water temp will be in the mid to high 70's, we typically still have very good weather in Sept, Oct and Nov. I don't get my wetsuit out until December. In my opinion Octoberish is the best time of the year for diving. The only months that bring alot of wind are Jan, Feb, March & April (April can sometimes be a transition month wind-wise) but even those months offer many good diving days. The vis will vary from say 15 feet to around 100 depending on how close to shore you are. On a calm day I would say the vis is at least 15 feet off the beach unless the previous day was very rough.

This is a great place for wreck diving. Large Ships are very frequently sunk here for creation of artificial reefs. There are several good wrecks right off Lauderdale. I remember reading a statistic somewhere that said Broward County had more wrecks per square foot than anywhere else in the country. Now I can't remember where I read this so I can't vouch for its truthfulness but I will say that there are ALOT of wrecks only a short boat ride away. It may have some truth to it because it gets deep quickly as you head east so the wrecks are densely packed along a thin strip of shallow water within sport & tech diving range.

I would recommend staying close to the beach in Lauderdale by the Sea. If you stay in a hotel along LBTS you can beach dive and/or snorkel with little effort and little expense when you are not on charter boats. In fact, I frequently dive a local wreck launching my kayak right off the beach here. You can walk to local restaurants and bars and the fishing pier near Commercial Blvd. By the way, you are planning your trip during open lobster season and LBTS beach diving is great for lobsters

I rarely go on local charter boats otherwise I would give you a recommendation but I am sure that others here will chime in with some good advice.

Hope this helps

 

[plwtwo]

I recommend it highly....I also recommend www.SOUTHFLORIDADIVING.com They are based in Pompano off Atlantic BLVD...great boats, good people. (Was just diving with them this past weekend...dove with them seven trips in the past year.....)

 

[divekraz]

Great choice to Dive. I use www.ScubaTyme.com They do not have a shop but they are punctual, very helpful and we really didn't have a bad thing to say about them. They give you a dive buoy to tow behind you and let you dive on your own so there isn't a dive master in the water with you and you can roam where you will. We dove with them every day for a week last Christmas and only wore a 3mm shorty for the last 3 days for a bit more comfort. Their boat is docked next to the Sands hotel so you can literally walk out of your room to the boat. We would definately dive with them again. The Sands was 9 story, with balconies, pool, outside bar, restaurant. The rooms were basic, looking a bit worn out when we stayed there but for being on the water with great views, and the special dive price, made it a great deal.