Planning a Florida Dive Trip

[PhatD1ver]

So, I only have so many days of vacation in the US, but we want to plan a quick trip to FL to dive with my adult kids. Which means leaving SLC on a Wed night and being in Miami the next morning.

I am a master scuba dive & divemaster, tec40, with 250 dives.

I have my wife with about 120 dives in the last three years,( AOW, Nitrox)

My son1 about 45 dives in two years, most recently about 25 dives last six months (AOW)

Daughter 1 - OW 22 dives (last 18 months ago)

Daughter 2 - OW 7 dives (last two years ago)

Son 2 - new OW with 8 dives (did DSD and two dives after without cert)

That being the case, we would plan two days where we at least boat dive morning 2 tank dive, then a decent location to shore dive another couple dives for the heartier divers (could be all six of us, could be just two).

A thought since we are planning on flying to Miami (ticket cost), is to do one day north of Miami near Deerfield/Pompano Beach (I've seen a dive site map that describes some good sites fit our groups skills and still is interesting for the boys who love wrecks).

The other day we go south and split up with one group doing a deeper wreck dive, and the rest doing shallower reef dives.

Then maybe an afternoon boat dive to reefs.

Anyway, looking for suggestions, should we just go south and dive there, would we need a guide for the shore diving off a place like Deerfield?

Any help welcome, my kids love to dive, but trips basically are on my budget.

Thanks,

 

[sportxlh]

The beach diving in Dania Beach or Lauderdale by the Sea is better. If I were making a trip to south Florida and wanted to include true beach diving, I'd stay in LBTS or Pompano and dive off boats in Pompano. You can actually beach dive Pompano though the first reef line is a pretty long swim. Gold Coast Scuba has a meetup.com group that does a lot of shore diving. You can try to hook up with them or hire a guide if you want to from Gold Coast or Force-E (I don't think you really need one). Its a short drive to Key Largo from LBTS (1.5 hours)

Alternately, if you want to do a specialized and highly interesting macro beach dive in West Palm Beach at Blue Heron Bridge, I'd stay in WPB or Jupiter and boat dive in WPB/Jupiter and beach dive the bridge. Its a 2-3 hour drive to Key Largo.

Dive shops in Pompano I've had good experiences with: Scubatyme, Pompano Dive Center and South Florida Dive HQ. If you don't like any of those, call Force-E or Gold Coast and they'll find another boat that will fit your needs

Dive shops in WPB/Jupiter that I've had good experiences with: Jupiter Dive Center (my favorite), Sandy's Sunday, Narcosis, Scubatyme, Scuba Works big Newton. I hear that Little Deeper is still good even though it was recently sold. Other shops that many SB'er like: Stuart Scuba, Captain Sl8er. You can also call the Force-E in WPB and they can arrange a boat if you don't like any of these.

In the upper Keys, I usually dive with Conch Republic but also go out with Rainbow Reef at least once a year. Had a nice experience with Islamorada Dive Center last fall too.

 

[Mouth Breather]

What sportxlh said. I'll add Parrot Island to the list of charters in the area that are very good.
Links: PDC, Parrot Island.

I'll put more emphasis on the Lauderdale by the sea beach dive also. You can park on Datura Ave next to the "windjammer" hotel and be at the #1 beach dive in South Florida. Very close, very pretty reef.

In Miami there is Deco Divers link. I've only been to the Neptune site and the army tanks. Very cool sites!

Enjoy!

 

[Key Largo Dive Center]

We can't help not putting a plug in for Key Largo.
Key Largo is a very short distance from MIA airport, we are the closest island in the Florida Keys chain.
If you have any questions about dives on our many reefs and wrecks please don't hesitate to reply.

Captain Larry
www.KeyLargoDiveCenter.com

 

[boulderjohn]

The limited schedule for Parrot Island would be a problem for you.

In post #2 sprtxlh gave a very good description of that area. Of the ones he mentioned, Pompano Dive Center and South Florida Diving Headquarters both have good schedules online that will tell you what their dive plans are. They have a different philosophy, so it takes a little getting used to. If PDC does not have anyone scheduled to dive on a particular day, no site is mentioned. If you schedule a dive, you get to name the destination. If they get a total of 4 interested divers, the trip is a go. SFDH, in contrast, lists site they hope people will want to visit and posts that site. They will then list how many openings they have. Both operations can be changed. this past year I arrived at the SFDH boat planning to do the wreck dive they had scheduled, but a group of lobster hunters showed up and said they wanted to do a reef instead. There were not enough wreck divers to do the wreck trip separately, so that was that. I left. A few days later I did PDC for a scheduled wreck and a reef dive, and I had appropriate nitrox in my tanks. They decided to do two deeper wrecks instead, and my tank for the reef was no longer appropriate, and it took some scrambling to replace it.

I have almost never seen ScubaTyme with a working schedule, and they haven't answered the phone on the times I've called. Consequently, I have never dived with them, and I am not sure how you can get on the boat, let alone know when and where it is going out. People do get on the boat somehow, though, so there must be a secret system.

 

[PatW]

You could go to Key Largo and dive with Quiessence. They run 6 packs and do 2 dive trips. There are plenty of shallow dives at Key Largo with good fish populations. The hard and soft corals are in good shape. The dive operator knows many lesser dived sites and does a really good job. Also, your crew would take over the boat. Your crew could do the Benwood which is a shallow wreck, lots of fish and well encrusted. I don't think that you could do the Spiegel Grove or the Duane. They are deep wrecks and are not beginner dives.

Pompano has good diving. No hard corals but there are soft corals. I have dived with Fl Dive HQ. it is a good operation but it is a bit of a cattle boat situation. The Sea Emperor is a good wreck. It is a deep dive, 100 plus feet to the sand. It is a barge that can be penetrated. It has big concrete culverts next to it. All sorts of fish hang around the culverts. Last time I was there, there was a pair of resident Goliath groupers and a really big green moray.

 

[boulderjohn]

he Sea Emperor is a good wreck. It is a deep dive, 100 plus feet to the sand.

You are confusing this wreck with another in terms of depth. It is definitely not a deep wreck. You will have trouble getting to 70 feet in the sand around the Sea Emperor. The rest of the description is accurate.

 

[PhatD1ver]

hahaha, this is going to be a blast, and let me thank everyone for all your help and suggestions.

We are set.

Flights - check
Rental car - check
AirBnb for 6 - check (really hard to book six in a hotel for $100 a night)
Refresher location confirmed - check
Dive Op - check (RR in Key Largo, the OWs will all do AOW, and me and my AOW/Deep will be able to have a little more fun on the wreck dives.

Now all we have to figure out is where to eat!!! We are going to be hungry after a full day on the 3rd.

Morning of the 4th, anyone know a good fast breakfast location that will still "get us to the dock on time"? (sounds like a My Fair Lady tune right?) We'd probably use it every day unless there are multiple choices.

Thanks again, I get a little OCD for planning trips. I like it all locked down months in advance. I can't control hurricane season, but we will take what mother nature gives us.

(Note that three years ago I planned a trip to Saipan for me and my wife... we landed literally and hour or so after a typhoon passed, there was still a warning in effect, and high sea warnings the entire next day, we were there five days and the night before departure a second typhoon rolled in, we left just a head of landfall... life is like that sometimes you know. Not a perfect trip, but memorable, and that's what diving with my family is all about, creating memories.)

 

[reefman]

Doc's Diner just down the street from RR for breakfast. Food comes out fast and furious. Plentiful portions, good value and tasty,,,,,


Doc's Diner – Key Largo – Florida Keys



Reefman
Key largo

 

[sportxlh]

Hobo's or Fish House for dinner