I just booked the airfare for 7/11 to 7/14 for a Key Largo trip.

[Harro10]

I heard back from a lot of nice people at the Key Largo dive shops.
I found a boat with a 1:00pm departure that was willing to delay that a bit. I will call them from the car on the way down to the Keys to update them on our arrival time.
Thanks for the tips everyone and I will check out roomsaver.com
I will not fracture the speed limit on the drive down.

Now to find a car rental out of FLL. I have used Priceline in the past with pretty good results so I will give that a try.

 

[LynnB]

I heard back from a lot of nice people at the Key Largo dive shops.
I found a boat with a 1:00pm departure that was willing to delay that a bit. I will call them from the car on the way down to the Keys to update them on our arrival time.
Thanks for the tips everyone and I will check out roomsaver.com
I will not fracture the speed limit on the drive down.

Now to find a car rental out of FLL. I have used Priceline in the past with pretty good results so I will give that a try.

Don't know who you are planning on diving with but we are leaving Sat and diving with KLSS....they are going to delay our afternoon dive one day so the guys can go deep sea fishing in the morning and then get to dive boat... Very Nice...

 

[Harro10]

I did contact them and they could not have been any nicer or obliging. Their afternoon boat leaves at 12:30 pm but since there are no divers scheduled as of yet they were willing to hold it until 1:00 pm. That was still cutting it a little too close.

 

[brucetrinity]

Also be aware that the Florida Turnpike (toll) thru Dade County (the Miami area) does NOT accept cash or credit cards .... they require an electronic pass. Alternatively, they photograph the license plate of the car for billing and add an administrative charge. I don't know how that works so check ahead of time with your car rental company. If you can't use the Florida Turnpike you most likely will use U.S. Route 1 which is stop and go with a ton of traffic lights and construction areas. Route 1 will add about 30 minutes to your travel time.

 

[deepstops]

I had an employee in town driving a rental from National Car Rental last week.
The way NCR works it is within seven days of you returning your car, they submit a second bill to your credit card for the actual toll amount plus $2/day up to six days ($12/max) for everyday you used the toll roads.

 

[Thalassamania]

If you can get down to Marathon conveniently a dive on the Thunderbolt is well worth the trip.

 

[Harro10]

The diving is booked so I will have to miss the Thunderbolt on this trip.

Thanks, I saw that about the tolls. I wound up booking at Dollar Car Rental before I remembered about the tolls. That deal at National sound good. At Dollar they rent you a rental car version of a sun pass for 6.99 a day. If you do not rent it and go through a toll they charge you a $25.00 administration fee to bill you.

 

[RobinG]

heydn62

Can you elaborate? Do you find the walk-up method of finding good rates better than booking a hotel package with a dive shop? Does roomsaver.com just give you the walk-up rates and you take it from there? We're planning a last-minute trip down (a bit of an oxymoron there...)

Thanks

 

[Lee Taylor]

My only concern with flying and diving with little lag time in between, is getting bent. I don't have much experience with it so I cant elaborate. Maybe others can share some knowledge.

If you want to reduce hassle you can ship your gear and luggage US postal service and they will hold it at the destination post office for pick-up.

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Okay I looked it up. Looks like I have it backwards. Its flying shortly after diving is where caution is necessary

 

[jar546]

I typically arrive at the Miami airport by 10:30 and by the time I get my baggage, rent a car and drive, I am unable to get to a boat in the Key Largo area on time for a 1pm sail time. Tried this twice and could not do it. Hope this helps, plus you probably want to eat in between too.

Since you are landing at an airport farther away, I don't see it happening in the Key Largo, Tavernier area.