Hi Scuba board, new member here, seeking advice where to move for good diving

[travis1988]

HI scuba board, I learned to dive in 2011 while in the air force and stationed in OKC OK, yeah not the best area lol since then I have gone on a few vacation dives and when I moved back to Michigan in 2013 for school I bought all my own gear. I went for aviation in Traverse city which I was excited to learn supposedly had good diving in lake MI. What I did learn was that 3 mill wetsuits and 7 mill gloves and hood are not enough to keep me from turning into a Popsicle even in summer, and that unless you can charter boat for the wrecks, it is pretty boring to dive with nothing but sand and maybe a few fish.

Right now I am planning to move, as I cant find any aviation jobs for my low amount of hours, and the pilot advice is go make friends at the airport fbos and network, since there are not many around here I figure move someplace I want to live and do whatever crappy job I can while I look for a pilot opening.

Since I love diving I was thinking of moving someplace warm where I could do a lot of shore dives and join local dive groups, as once you have gear its cheap to dive from shore, however FL,GA etc are pretty big and I have no idea which parts or towns I should move. I am looking to live in or just outside a decent sized city, Id love a city big enough for some job opportunities,stuff to do, but if possible not as huge and expensive as Miami.

Are there areas that have good shore diving or like preserve that could dive on my days off easily? or is it mostly like in Michigan where if you dive from shore there is nothing but sand and rocks? If I would have to charter a boat and trip for any good diving, would I be better off living in an area like TN with a lower cost of living and a more non diving things to do and just go diving as often as I can on days off and vacations?

 

[Jason]

Florida for access to both diving and aviation.

 

[Trailboss123]

Seattle has outstanding year around cold water shore diving, a very strong dive community to hook up with, a strong aviation presence and no state income taxes. @wetb4igetinthewater and/or @NWGratefulDiver might be nice resources for you, if you decide to consider the great Pacific NW.

 

[diversteve]

Warm water shore diving in the Continental US? That's a very short list: SE Florida.

SE Florida for the shore diving - there's not much of that on the west coast - too flat/sandy. Maybe look for work near some of these areas - Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Florida, USA East

Normal income people live in many of the towns along there, just not on the water. I spent a lot of time there when I was younger - months, sometimes summers. There's a lot of general aviation there, small airfields, FBO's, flight schools etc. Even sky diving schools - they need pilots also.

Ask Scuba_Jenny - she lives in Hollywood, FL and has a pretty normal life - except she also guides dives on weekends. Which is a good way to get paid to dive eventually.

Anything further west - Alabama, Missisippi - visibility is greatly affected by all the silt from the Missippi - also too flat. So is the East coast of Texas around Galveston - not to mention problems like the occasional Hurricane as we're seeing now. I have a friend, avid diver who lives in the Galveston area, he owns a boat to get out to deeper water - the rigs are possible for him but even he won't take it out in rough water.

There's also no shore diving in Georgia, the shops there go to N. Florida for the weekends. Likewise South Carolina, both are too flat/sandy for a long way out. Most of the diving there is around the wrecks since they give the fish a place to school/hide. I asked a DM out of Myrtle Beach what was under us on the hour+ boat ride out to a nearby wreck - "sand and more sand"

California has good shore diving all along the coast but it's almost always 7mil wetsuit/drysuit. Very seldom have I gotten away with a 5mil and that was on a dayboat trip to islands near the Mexico border.

Your best choice except for the affordability factor is Hawaii. I know people who keep gear in their car so they can dive after work b4 they go home. However since they're normal income folks, none of them can see the ocean from where they live inland but all can drive to it under an hour.

 

[KathyV]

Take a look at Homestead, FL. There is a good-sized busy airport there including Skydive Miami, and you won't be very far from Key Largo.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Why limit yourself to the USA? Try countries where aviation related skills are in demand.

 

[Caveeagle]

Shore diving?! We have plenty of that in North FL. ...but that's mostly linked to cavern and cave diving. Water is fresh and a balmy ~72* year round.

But seriously, if I wanted salty shore diving I would be looking at southeast FL and the upper keys.

Jacksonville or Orlando might be your best bets for career aviation, and are reasonable driving distance from lots diving, year round!

 

[travis1988]

Thanks guys, yeah Florida is kinda big so that is why I was asking to try to narrow it down for where to go for easy and good shore diving. Chartering boats and tours costs lots of money so If living in Florida I had to do that anyway I would not be able to dive much and might be better off living someplace else and just do vacation diving.

If I move, I would want to live close enough to the ocean and good diving to go for a drive and be able to spend a day off diving or better yet go to a state dive spot or nature preserve kind thing.I already have all my stuff so I would only need to fill tanks and that is cheap.

I would love to live in Hawaii but I cant afford it, same with Seattle, I never thought of it as a dive spot to be honest, I have a brother out there and visited, the forests were beautiful but cost of living was crazy.

As to living abroad that would be amazing, the problem is that most of the Caribbean requires the European pilot licenses,and the south Asia ones require the Asian ones. Changing licenses is very time consuming and expensive, only worth while if you have thousands of hours and experience flying big jets.I am a new commercial pilot so only have flown small aircraft, and even if I did spend the thousands to convert licenses I still would have a hard time getting hired anyplace.

 

[jblack]

south flooooooorida! ocean, cave the works

 

[KathyV]

See this suggestion for Blue Heron Bridge shore diving in Riviera Beach, FL from @motorref on another thread. I haven't dived BHB but it sounds like a nice option to have and cheap, too!

"...Blue Heron Bridge Scuba - The Best Shore Diving in the Americas - Blue Heron Bridge Scuba...
There are a lot of dive operators in that area, and a lot of different dives to do..."