Landlocked Texan ready to drive East!

[Roatan Joe]

The slow season for dive instruction has officially arrived in N. Texas. I'm retired and have lots of time on my hands. At some point during the next month or two I'm going to be ready to hop in the truck and head east for a week or two or three... I want to do some diving, probaby in the Gulf or some of the Florida freshwater locations. I probably don't want to drive to south Florida, so lets keep the recommendations to areas between Texas and Northern Florida. Like I said I'm retired, so I like to eat, sleep and dive as inexpensively as possible. You Florida or Alabama guys please give me ideas of where to go and where to stay? Mom & Pop motels/hostels, nice campground close to dive locations, good restaurants, one place to stay to use as a home base for multiple dive locations, excellent diveshops or charter boats, diveshops that might be willing to let me work for food (diving) etc.. Give me the inside scoop please!

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

Upon reading your post my first thought was that the Florida Springs fit the bill perfectly for you with multiple spots to hit within an hours driving radius. There are plenty of inexpensive accommodations in the area(small hotels roughly 50/night or a room in a "dive house" at 25-35). Great country eats could be had for 10 bucks a meal and below(Springs Diner and Alice's come to mind here...both in and around High Springs, even cheaper if you stay in a dive house with a kitchen/grill and pick up a bag of groceries or two). Nitrox is really inexpensive at around .11 per cf(that's around 8 bucks to fill an AL80 from 500 psi to capacity). While Ginnie can be pricey at 30 bucks entry, some of the other springs run around 4-7 bucks per car. Whenever I head down there my biggest expense is getting there(airfare/rental car or gas in the truck). I've made entire trips with a friend for 4 days of epic diving for under 500 bucks.

 

[jimbeeler]

I'm interested in this thread too, having researched a bit online and discovering I can probably go to Cozumel for as cheap. I'm more looking at a week rather than 2-3 weeks though. I'd love to get back to my old stomping ground in the keys but it would take a couple of days each way to do the trip.

Jim

 

[scubadiver888]

I'm watching this with interest as well. I looked into going to Pensacola, FL for a week and diving with Scuba Shack. I have hotel points and will probably stay at Marriott Residence Inn and make my own food (full kitchen). Dallas to Pensacola is around a 12 hour drive.

 

[jimbeeler]

I'm watching this with interest as well. I looked into going to Pensacola, FL for a week and diving with Scuba Shack. I have hotel points and will probably stay at Marriott Residence Inn and make my own food (full kitchen). Dallas to Pensacola is around a 12 hour drive.

Maybe us DFW guys need to get an expedition going to Fla...

Jim

 

[scubadiver888]

I'm in the middle of selling my house in Canada. I'm done with that November 7th. After that I'm off the last week in November (Thanksgiving/Black Friday). If that date works for anyone, send me a PM and maybe we can do a roadtrip to FL.

 

[jimbeeler]

I'm in the middle of selling my house in Canada. I'm done with that November 7th. After that I'm off the last week in November (Thanksgiving/Black Friday). If that date works for anyone, send me a PM and maybe we can do a roadtrip to FL.

Definitely, not going to work for me... With all of the family get-togethers and my wife thinking that I should attend, anytime around Thanksgiving or Christmas is a definite no-go for me. Something about family get-togethers being more important than diving. Go figure....

I don't know about Joe, he seems to have a more understanding wife than mine is.

Jim

 

[scubadiver888]

Totally understand... Canadian Thanksgiving is tomorrow. November 27th is just a regular weekday in Canada. So all my family will be at work that week.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba 2]

If you guys do decide to put a trip together and make the Florida Springs your choice, the best bet may be to go in together and rent one of the house that dive shops rent down there. When my group gets together and heads down, we rent a house from Wayne at Amigos. Last time I checked he had 2 houses in Ft. White that were just down the street from his dive shop and ran 25 bucks a night per person. The one we stay at has a large carport, deck, grill, and sleeps 5 or 6.

 

[Steve_C]

Personally after driving all that far I would just add 4-5 hours and go dive south florida. Maybe hit the West palm/Jupiter area coming and going to the Keys