How to spend ~5 days best around the keys?

[ickebins]

Hi,

We just booked our vacation in Fl. The plan is to have the wife's and kids in Orlando's theme parks and my buddy and I driving to the keys for some diving time. We probably will have 5 days and I was thinking how to spend them the best. Should we stay 5 days in Key Largo or split the days if it's worth doing?

We are AOWD + Nitrox certified and like some shallow cruisin' as well as some wrecks and are keeping fingers crossed for sharks....

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

Cheers from Germany

 

[mikeb21072]

My opinion would be to spend the entire time in Key Largo, or take one day to hit the deep wrecks in Key West. I take 5-6 trips to Florida each year to dive, and I stay at KL the entire time. I like Rainbow Reef as a dive op, but all of them cater to what you want. Most of the op's will run deep and shallow dives each day, and if you stay in KL, you can also hit the dive op's in Islamorada to extend your range of dive sites.
Molasses Reef is great for shallow cruising, and I think the coral and fish population is in a lot better shape than what I have seen in the Cayman's. You should also see several nurse and reef sharks cruising on the sites in Molasses. As for the wrecks, you could spend the entire week diving just the Spiegel Grove, the Duane, or the Bib.
whatever you decide, you really can't go wrong with the diving.

 

[muzikbiz22]

If it were me, (and I've done this before), 1 to 2 days in Jupiter/Palm Beach, 1 to 2 days in Lauderdale and 2 to 3 days in Key Largo. Makes for a fun little road trip, and lots of fun, different diving.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

If you have not been here, and like variety, I would recommend 2 days in Palm Beach and 3 in Key Largo.

Palm Beach:
Day 1: Blue Heron Bridge macro dive at high tide. If the tide is early morning or late afternoon you can also get in a boat charter for drift diving on the reefs
Day 2: Castor Wreck (out of Boynton inlet) this is a 110' dive and the wreck is the best in Palm Beach County; reef drift for a second dive.

Then drive to Key Largo. I would skip Fort Lauderdale with such a short time frame.

Key Largo/Islamorada

3 days split between reefs, wrecks, night dives. It is pretty easy to get 4 dives per day in.

You can do a day trip down to Key West, but that will cut in to your diving time.

 

[Lorenzoid]

No Key West? The diving there isn't as good as the upper keys, but if my buddy and I were able to get away from the wives and kids for a few days, it would be hard to resist. If you've never done the drive out to Key West, it's definitely an experience. ROAD TRIP!

If you're only interested in diving, ignore this comment!

 

[sportxlh]

The above are all good suggestions. I live in the Jupiter area and dive often with Jupiter Dive Center. If you like drift diving and want a near guaranty of seeing sharks, turtles, goliath grouper (e.g. big marine life) it would be worth a day stop before you go to the Keys.

I try to make a few trips to the keys for 3 or 4 day weekends each year: I've found the diving is best in Key Largo and Islamorada but the Vandenberg in Key West is worth diving too. For night life or partying Key West can't be beat but I generally prefer a quieter setting: there are many laid back restaurants and bars on the water in Key Largo and Islamorada. I like Key West but one evening is about all I can take on Duvall Street.

I only have a handful of dives off Marathon but if I only had a few days, I'd skip it and focus on the upper Keys and maybe a day in Key West.

As an FYI, I like Conch Republic in Islamorada.

 

[ickebins]

Thanks for all of your suggestions as I really appreciate it! I did travel a lot throughout the states and lived in Cali for two years. I did see Florida already a couple of times but never dove before. This trip is basically diving while kids/wife's are at the theme parks and meet them after for some family time in the Everglades, Keys (dolphin swim), sunset key west etc. and finally return from Mia to Germany. So if you have further suggestions keep them coming.... 😃

 

[CajunDiva]

Cheers from Germany

Welcome back to the U.S. ickebins! My mom was born in Germany-guess that makes me HALF German I hope you have a really great time in one of my favorite places in the world - Key Largo

 

[k8chen]

I just returned from a 5 day dive trip in the Keys. I heartily recommend Islamorada Dive Center! They are very professional, friendly and accommodating to their divers. These are guided dives( unusual in the Keys). The Eagle is a must see wreck at about 105 feet. There are also plenty of shallow dive sites. We even saw a hammerhead this time, which I understand is pretty rare here!

 

[iluvtheocean]

Don't forget it's a good couple of hours drive down from Key Largo to Key West --- Key west has some great dives which i still need to get to myself -- so far every time i've been down so far it's been hard to get off Duval St which is a no-no before diving .

That being said there is a ton of Deep and shallow diving between Jupiter and Key Largo as well as night life for a guys only weekend. :angel:

Sharks would be best up in Jupiter and West Palm.