Certainly shore diving is less costly than chartering a boat, but it's a trade off. First, you need seas that are flat or nearly so, otherwise the surf can be a challenge entering/exiting. Second thing is some of them can be a LONG swim out. Third thing is be prepared to have a lot of sand to rinse from your gear. Aside from that, there are a few in the area you asked about, here's a list and the distance to the reefs:
Commercial St (Lauderdale By The Sea) - 100-400ft
Nolan's Ledge (Pompano Beach)- 600 yards
Pompano Dropoff - 350 yards
Vista Park (N Ft. Lauderdale) 75-500 yards
Park Reef (Ft. Lauderdale) 500-600 yards
Dania Erojack Reef (Dania Beach) 425 yards
SeaTech Ledge/Dania Beach - 400-450 yards
Greene Street Ledges (Hollywood Beach) 500-600 yards
Hollywood North Beach Park 175-210 yards
Of these, I have dived Commercial, SeaTech. They are nice dives, and the swim isn't too bad, as long as you take your time and go straight out w/o meandering. You MUST have calm seas. I've attempted then aborted shore dives down here when the surf is 2-4 ft, and it wasn't fun at all. The info I posted here is taken from a book, BEACH DIVING AND SNORKELING LOCATIONS, HOLLYWOOD TO JUPITER. Most dive shops around here carry it. If you want to go further north, there is the Breakers and Phil Foster Park, and some others. PF Park is an intracoastal site, so you don't have the surf to worry about, but you have to dive it at high tide.
