Newly Certified and looking to dive...

[gambitlizard]

So I just got certified, though my husband has been for 10-plus years. His dives have all been lakes and mine too, at this point. We are looking for blue water and only have 3-4 days we can be gone (he's a student). We live in northwest Louisiana, nearest to Texas. Any suggestions are appreciated. I was looking at Florida or Cozumel, but any place sounds fabulous!
TIA,
kk

 

[Doc]

If you can work around the weather at this time of year, a trip out to Flower Gardens would be a great way to get "your feet wet", and cheaply, too.

 

[Papa_Bear]

They have a 3 or 4 day to the Dry Tortugas! From Miami!

 

[robint]

I think you could get a 3-4 day trip to south florida very easily. South Florida, from West Palm Beach to Ft. Lauderdale is drift diving and also lots of wrecks (many in 60' deep water) that are interesting. Fly into Palm Beach or Ft Lauderdale and rent a car.
Also, the Upper Keys, Key Largo to Marathon, would work well. You would want to fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, rent car and drive down. Keys have many shallow reefs, not drift diving, and some nice wrecks from beginner to adv dives.

Either of those places would be a good place for you to get some experience and your spouse to get in some decent diving, too.

There are lots of dive ops, check out the Florida Forum for more specific info. I also have some photos from diving in SE Fla on my website: http://www.rnrscuba.net/SE_Florida_photos.html
(We used Seahorse Dive which is no longer in business but there are at least a dozen others in Boca Raton/Ft Lauderdale area.)

robin