Looking For a Place To Dive

[Scuba Do]

I am AOW (for whatever that is worth) and have 34 dives (so I am still a noob, but feel comfortable diving deep, wrecks). My two sons are OW and have 9 and 12 dives each. The one with 12 has only been in a quarry and the other has been in shallow ocean (50 feet max) on only two dives. I am looking for a place to take them diving other than the quarry as they have tired of it. Would Florida Keys or Cayman be OK, or too advanced? Looking for a place fairly easy to get to from East Coast of U.S. (and not too expensive)
thanks

 

[k ellis]

Grand Cayman is awesome! If you can get to it I strongly recommend it! If not try Key Largo. It was an interesting place to go but dont expect much in the way of land activities there. Key Largo was nothing to brag about for a summer vacation.

 

[CrackedConch]

Cayman IS great, but it can be more expensive and there are a few extra steps involved in getting in and out of the country... If money is no object, then rock on down to Cayman.

There is great variety and number of dive sites appropriate for your experience level in the Florida Keys that will keep you interested for a long time. The good thing is that you can easily grow your experience as you progress to deeper and different sites (wrecks, reefs, marine life encounters, etc.)

To each their own, but I have to disagree with k ellis. The Keys are a great family vacation spot. The place is mostly local flavor, which to me is the best part--I don't care for tourist spots with an Applebee's on every corner. Topside there are plenty of great activities like Theater of the Sea, History of Diving Museum, Islamorada fishing, Mangrove/Flats Kayaking, John Pennekamp State Park, etc, etc. not to mention all the standard beach activities like parasailing, jet ski rentals, great seafood, public beaches and more. Keep in mind, this is all middle and upper Keys--the lower Keys and Key West list would take pages...

But as far as DIVING goes:

Try Conch Republic Divers in Tavernier, FL--they are by far my favorite dive operator. Molasses Reef alone is about 20 acres so you can dive it for a week and just about see it all. French Reef is pretty large as well and progresses from 30 feet to about 70 feet on the southern edge. Everybody needs to see the Christ Statue at least once.

There are wrecks like the Benwood, that go from about 25 feet below the surface down to about 90 feet so you can dive as deep as you are comfortable with.

There are a ton of deeper wrecks in the Keys for when you are ready for more advanced dives.

Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Center does a Creature Feature dive (I think on Fridays and Sundays). The Divemaster interacts with a huge green moray eel, holds a bait fish in his teeth and lets a barracuda pick it off, and you get to touch/interact with nurse sharks. When the interaction is over, you get to do a wreck dive in 35 feet of water (City of Washington and Civil War wreck).

Get the Lonely Planet book: Diving and Snorkeling the Florida Keys for a good idea of what's there. The spots I mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.

No, I don't work for the Keys Chamber of Commerce or anything, but I have been diving and vacationing there for years. PM me if I can be of help in planning your trip. After all, "It's the Caribbean you can drive to"

 

[Garrobo]

You are a short flight from Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach Airport. Check on the Internet for operators around either place. There is a bunch of them. Around West Palm Beach you will find drift diving. From Lauderdale Airport you can rent a car cheaply and buzz on down to the Keys, a two hour drive. (I recommend Payless car rentals from personal experience. Start pricing the car about a week before your flight.) Check out the operators on Key Largo. Several of them provide a DM at no extra charge. I like Amoray and Rainbow Reef on Largo and Key Dives on Islamorada. Other operators I have dived with are Sea Dwellers and Horizon on Largo and Conch Republic and Florida Keys Dives at Tavernier, all are decent operations. They all charge about $70 for a two-dive trip if I remember correctly.The times I went out with Florida Keys Dives and Conch Republic it was all wreck dives. I suspect that they go out to the reefs also.

 

[Caguama]

If you can get to Key West there are several good dive charters there. I dove with Captain's Corner Charters this past May. Their reef trips are very nice, relaxing dives. I'm sure your sons would enjoy them. They are well within open water limits. Key West has plenty of shore activities as well. Hope you check it out.

 

[TomBomb]

You cant go wrong with the keys its as simple as that. I was their on Monday two weeks ago and did a 2 day 2 tank dive. I dove some of the popular wrecks down their like spiegel grove and the bibb. but anothe place I would reccommend without even thinking twice about it is the Pompano Florida, Fort Lauderdale, Florida area. I dive their almost everyweeked and do a 2 tank dive and then shoot back home like an hour and a half back to the gulf where I live. The 2 tank trip without the tanks cost 55 a person so its pretty reasonably priced. I would reccomend the pompano area because they have consistently never let me down with the quality of wrecks or reefs of your choice. The Main Wrecks their are the Captain Dan which is like max of 110 to the floor. One of my favorite wrecks that your kids might be a fan of is the anchient mariner. It is a wreck that maxes out at like 85 feet to the sand. Before they sunk it they cut giant holes in the front and back so it is a very basic swim thourgh. I dove it for my advanced open water and it might be one of my favorites.

Hope You Have A Good Dive Where ever you choose.

 

[xjkip]

Key Largo is great

Also try some of the shallower dives out of Va Beach

The tower and tug would be 2 great dives to gain experience in Mid Atlantic ocean conditions.

 

[Splash-X]

You are a short flight from Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach Airport. Check on the Internet for operators around either place. There is a bunch of them. Around West Palm Beach you will find drift diving.

It would be my opinion that the drift diving done in the Palm Beach area may be a bit to extreme for your children. Ocean diving is different that Quarry diving and add to that the boat and the drift diving and the divers could easily become overwhelmed.


The Keys, regardless of which one, will all have great diving. A lot, if not most, of the diving in the Keys is shallow, around 30ft, with tons of things to see and enjoy. A short drive down to Key West will provide some great entertainment.


I have also been to Cayman and it's great there too. My personal opinion would be to give the Keys a try and move up from there.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Much of the Keys is 25-35 feet deep and absolutely beautiful. Flat surface. Very aqua clear water. White sand, purple and yellow fan growth. Blue, green, and red fish. Diamond rays with 12 foot wing spans. Big bang for the buck.

 

[Scuba Do]

Thanks for all of the replies. They have all been very helpful. I want to grow my sons' interest in diving without overwhelming them or putting them in situations for which they are not ready.