Palm Beach vs. Ft. Lauderdale: where should we dive?

[cal776]

My wife and I are headed to South Florida for Easter weekend and can dive either in Palm Beach or Ft. Lauderdale. Please help us decide where and with whom to dive!

From what I have read on this board, Rodale's, and elsewhere it seems that Palm Beach is for drift diving and has better coral and marine life whereas Ft. Lauderdale is full of good wrecks. Is this a fair statement?

Other factors to consider . . . We will be driving up from Miami (this favors Ft. Lauderdale, which is a little bit closer). We have done drift diving before in Cozumel and loved it. On the other hand, we have never dove a wreck, so perhaps that would be a nice new experience.

Finally, we would appreciate a referral to a good dive operator. By good, I mean a quality operation with good divemasters, a tolerant attitude, and preferably a smaller boat.

By the way, based on good word of mouth here, I called Jim Abernathy's Scuba Adventures to see about a three tank tip. The rest of you may be interested to know that last week, two of Abernathy's boats, including the one six person boat, were sunk in a forklift accident. As a result, they only have one large boat left and are no longer running three tank dives.

 

[gfisher4792]

By the way, based on good word of mouth here, I called Jim Abernathy's Scuba Adventures to see about a three tank tip. The rest of you may be interested to know that last week, two of Abernathy's boats, including the one six person boat, were sunk in a forklift accident. As a result, they only have one large boat left and are no longer running three tank dives.

Yeah, that was a sad story. Hopefully their insurance can cover both boats.

On a lighter note, I went with Pura Vida Divers in WPB, and they were great! Even though it was rougher water than they usually have (4-6' seas), it was a blast! We only did reefs, but if I remember correctly, there are wrecks around the area, but, as you said, more in Ft. Lauderdale. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either locale. BTW, the drive between WPB and Ft. Lauderdale is only about an hour. You can even hit Boynton Beach in between, which arguably has even better reefs than WPB. Good luck!

 

[garyfotodiver]

Finally, we would appreciate a referral to a good dive operator. By good, I mean a quality operation with good divemasters, a tolerant attitude, and preferably a smaller boat.

On Friday, 9 April, I am diving a wreck called the United Carribbean (at least that is the plan) from a boat called the Diversity. The captain is a great guy, very knowlegable about the wrecks and reefs in the Boca Raton area.

He told me this wreck is a good one as it will be my daughter's second wreck. The wreck sits upright in about 65fsw and the wheelhouse is open.

Good luck with your trip!

 

[Scubaguy62]

The reefs in Ft. Laud are nicer as the system approaches the northern end of the county (Fort Laud. and further north, up to and including deerfield beach). Of course, the wrecks in Broward are awsome, and there is a variety of wrecks starting in 30' up to and including tech dives like the Hydro Atlantic (in 165 fsw). My favorites, The Sea Emperor (70' fsw - good place to see big animals, especially a 4' resident stingray, "Ray"), the Ancient Mariner, The Jay Scutti, The Tracy, and Tenneco Towers (the shallow ones - about 112' to the sand).

As far as boats is concerned, Parrot Island Scuba operates two boats, Fathoms O' Fun, and Fishfood, which is the smaller boat. Although quite big, it usually doesn't go out with a lot of divers, the Pro Diver II is a good choice. IMHO, avoid Lady Go Diver as their boat is usually crowded.

Check out www.fillexpress.com You can click on dive boats, reefs & wrecks, and on dive shops for more info.

Diving in WPB will be mostly limited to drift diving the reefs, where in Broward you'll have more options.

Good Luck!

Semper Safe,

Rick

 

[Aucilla]

I am going to Boca in late June on business and would love to set up a dive for my 21-year-old son and I. We are both newbies and neither of us have SCUBA gear. Is anybody able to update this thread? It is already great! This is a fine board!!


Thanks

 

[KBeck]

Aucilla--
One of my favorite areas to dive is the Boca area...the reefs are great and it's a little less crowded than the West Palm boats.
I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations as well, but the gentleman I most often dive with is Tony on a boat called the Diversity...
The Diversity

The Phone number is not on the Website: (561) 368-9952.

He's a great guy and it's definitely not a cattle boat. Double check about gear rental.

 

[Tom Winters]

I have no problems with any of the boats or operations listed here - they're all good. I live close to the county line between Palm and Broward counties, so I can go up or down the coast pretty easily depending on what I'm looking for. Broward has a really aggressive artifical reef program, which is great beacuse the reefs just don't compare to Palm Beach reefs. The Gulf Stream comes much closer in Palm than Broward. There's not that much wreck diving in Palm Beach. Without all the wrecks in Broward, I probably would not dive much there at all - there is a lot more boat traffic and divers on the reefs in Broward - hard to find lobsters sometimes during the season. For night dives, I usually go with Parrot Island during the middle of the week.

 

[Scubakevdm]

I agree that the reefs in Palm Beach County are the best. Something worth noting is the way operations dive is different. Generally in WPB, large groups are led by a DM. In Boynton, groups or pairs, actually even solo divers take their own flag and dive their own profile. Some people like one way, some like the other. Its kinda nice that they're both there, you get to pick.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Let me chime in on The Diversity. I dove the United Carribbean with them a month or so ago and had a great time. It's a very pleasant wreck dive on a largely intact boat. Good dive operation.

In WPB, Narcosis is a good boat. Another, Koller's Reef, used to do 3 tank drifts, but decided to call it quits a month or so ago.

You really can't go wrong between these two areas. Lauderdale by the Sea and points south have nice beach diving too, which is a nice, inexpensive way to get in a few additional dives. Check out the threads about Commercial Pier or Datura/Hibiscus streets. The surface swims are short, and the reef is pretty healthy. Be sure to use a flag, though, if you decide to go, as there is heavy boat traffic.

If you check the Private Trips threads here, you might be able to dive with some of us...

Take care,
Grier