Miami/South East Florida recommendations 24-25 July

[scubado1]

First time post-

I will be in Miami next week and just found out that I'll have Thur and Fri (24-25 July) wide open for diving. I suffer from paralysis by analysis and I'm having trouble deciding where to dive. I'm an intermediate level Advanced Open Water diver with 120ish dives. I love wrecks and marine life (sharks would be awesome) but I'm not certified for penetration. I'll be staying in Miami Beach and I'm trying to decide if I should rent a car and drive down to Key Largo or just stick with the Miami area. Not sure where to start. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Paul

Also, my flight arrives in MIA at 5:30 and I'm wondering if I would have time for a night dive on Wed 23 (hotel is in Miami Beach).

 

[cubbiegirlem]

I have done several dives in Fort Lauderdale. I got certified there and have been back to dive with the same boat. Fort Lauderdale has quite a bit of wreck diving, although it's mostly small marine life and I don't believe I ever saw a shark. My understanding from what I have heard is that diving in FLL is better than Miami but not as good as the keys. But I also hear the keys are kind of a pain to drive to.

If you think about FLL, check out the American Dream II. http://www.scubafortlauderdale.com It's a nice boat and the crew is great. But it's very independent (you don't dive with a DM unless you need a buddy as I did my last visit) so keep that in mind if it's not what you're used to. It's usually a wreck dive followed by a drift dive.



Also, I'm not certified for penetration either, and I still enjoyed diving these wrecks very much.

 

[luscioman]

Paul,
There is a night dive out of Miami Beach next Wed. You have to be at the dock at 6:30pm to go. The dive operation is RJ Diving Ventures - Miami Beach, Florida USA . If you think you might want to go next Wed let me know because I will be going. The dives on Thursday and Friday are usually shallow reefs. If you are looking for a deeper wreck you probably want to rent a car and goto Key Largo and do some of the wrecks there.

 

[emoreira]

Paul,
There is a night dive out of Miami Beach next Wed. You have to be at the dock at 6:30pm to go. The dive operation is RJ Diving Ventures - Miami Beach, Florida USA . If you think you might want to go next Wed let me know because I will be going. The dives on Thursday and Friday are usually shallow reefs. If you are looking for a deeper wreck you probably want to rent a car and goto Key Largo and do some of the wrecks there.

I dived several times in Miami South Beach.
I went with Tarpoon Dive Center (Tarpoon Dive Center - Miami Beach SCUBA Diving). They do not have a ship, so they sail with RJ Diving. At least to what I recall, RJ Diving do not have gear for rent.

 

[lorenacp]

Try these meetup groups because they have dives everyday:
Gold Coast Scuba Divers (954) 616-5909 (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Meetup
South Florida Beach Divers (Hollywood, FL) - Meetup