FT. Lauderdale to Key Largo in February

[morg59]

I am considering a mostly diving trip for February. I can fly into Fort Lauderdale and will have 6 days to do some diving. It will be me and my wife going and we are both recently certified (August) with 17 dives experience under our belts.

I do not know the area at all and are wondering where to go and what charters to use. Is the diving around Ft Lauderdale good or is it worth it to drive down to Key Largo or somewhere in between? We have 3mil wetsuits, will that be warm enough for that time of year?

I would like to dive at least 4 days of 2 tank dives if possible.

Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations.

 

[They call me Tater]

I'm no expert but we flew into FLL and drove down to KL a couple weeks ago for a few days and had a great time despite rain every day. You would enjoy it. As new divers you may want a guide. Rainbow worked out well for me.
Enjoy.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Flying into FLL or Miami and driving down to Key Largo is something my wife and I have done a number of times. There is, of course, good diving in South Florida--shore diving at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea gets mentioned often--but we just like the "Keys lifestyle." For us, a dive vacation down there is as much about just being in the Keys as the diving. Miami is not our kind of place.

As for dive operators, if you search this forum, you'll find many posts asking for recommendations, and the same names seem to be mentioned over and over. That doesn't mean there aren't other great dive operators--just that SB, like any other forum, tends to skew towards certain operators as a result of people like you patronizing the places that others have mentioned on SB and then posting on SB about their good experiences, in turn encouraging still other people to patronize them. (I have latched onto just such an operator--Conch Republic--in recent years and am happy with them.) There are very few posts in which someone reports a poor experience with a Keys dive operator. There is too much competition for a poor operator to survive long. The only real consideration is whether you prefer a smaller "6-pack" boat or a larger boat, as some operators offer only one or the other. There is something to be said for a larger boat when the weather gets sporty, as they say.

For a February trip, I would use a 5 mm rather than a 3 mm, but I get cold easily, especially if doing multiple dives and sitting on a boat out in the wind for the surface interval. In the height of summer, when everyone is wearing a shorty or rash guard, I'm wearing a 3 mm.

 

[morg59]

Lorenzoid,
Thank you for the info. Do you usually rent a car and make the drive down to the keys or is there another form of transportation that you use to get you out to there? I am trying to plan this all out and book it as a December holiday gift for my wife.

 

[drrich2]

If you head to Key Largo, check out my trip report from diving with Rainbow Reef Dive Center 2013. Their location moved a bit, I'm told. The no-added charge guide service is a selling point.

Richard.

 

[sportxlh]

Both are great places to dive. If I were only making one trip to Florida and was a new diver, I'd give the nod to the Keys, but if you stay in the Pompano/Ft Lauderdale area, you can make some really nice dives too. For a brand new diver, I'd agree with drrich: Rainbow Reef is a pretty good idea since they put dive guides in the water. I've never used a dive guide in the Keys, even when diving with RR, but some folks really like that since the guide can point out interesting stuff you might miss on your own. If you go with another dive operation, you might want to think about hiring your own guide for a couple of dives until you feel better about your skill level. However, if you decide to skip having a guide, its not a big deal on the shallow sites since you can always surface to check on the boat location if you think you've become lost.

If you decide you don't like RR for whatever reason, I've had great experiences with Silent World and Conch Republic: good customer service and they are great with experienced divers. Either has good guides for hire.

In Pompano/Ft Lauderdale I like South Florida Dive HQ, Pompano Dive Center and Scubatyme. SFDHQ makes daily trips to the shallow reef line which is an awesome dive if marine conditions are flat. It sucks if the conditions are rough and you end up with significant surge.

If you're flexible about your hotel situation, you can wait until you arrive and check out which location looks like it will have better marine conditions. While SE Florida and the Keys tend to have similar conditions, sometimes it can vary significantly and one will be superior while the other might be washed out completely.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Lorenzoid,
Thank you for the info. Do you usually rent a car and make the drive down to the keys or is there another form of transportation that you use to get you out to there? I am trying to plan this all out and book it as a December holiday gift for my wife.

Rent a car. You will need it not only for the trip between FLL and Key Largo but to get around Key Largo once you're there. You will probably have to drive from wherever you are staying to the dive shop or dock, and then you will have to drive somewhere for lunch, dinner, etc.

 

[morg59]

Thank you for the info but I got a great deal on a flight to cancun so I have decided to go there.