Possibly moving to Florida

[raxafarian]

I'm thinking of grabbing a job in Florida with my current company.

Openings are in:
Miami area
West Palm area
Tampa
Orlando


I'm leaning towards either Miami or west palm.... closer to diving... at least the diving that I'm aware of.


I'll take any and all info about any of these places.

Pros?

Cons?

Good towns to house/condo hunt in each area?


thanks
Ken

 

[shellbird]

Rax, you can't leave!!!!!!! Who else will let me bum tanks!!!

 

[raxafarian]

nothing is definite.... just some openings that they are asking for applications for.

I'll sell ya my AL tanks cheap!

Then I'll be the one borrowing.... hey, wreckwriter... where are the keys to your gavin

 

[shellbird]

We'll talk later... I know you might have a bc too...

 

[Bob3]

West Palm would seem to give a decent location, close to Fort Lauderdale & still close enough to da Keys to make that a viable weekend option.
Miami is a tad too urban for my tastes, tho your mileage may vary.
I was stationed in Orlando back when they had a big Navy base there, we'd have our pick of which coast to drive to when the wind was blowing.
Tampa is pretty big, spread way out, but great spearfishing in the Middle Grounds.

 

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

West Palm would get my vote as well.

You're close enough to the reefs and wrecks down the Broward County coastline (plus the smaller ones off southern Palm County), and a short drive to the Keys.

From what I've been *read* here, the west coast fo Florida doesn't have the coastal reef system that so many on the east coast here like to experience, and water temps are generally cooler. But then again after skimming a book called Helldivers recently at B&N, spearfishing at crazy depths around the legs of oil rigs sounds like fun.

Orlando has the Mouse and company if that's an attraction. And it's just over an hour to either coast. Plus you're closer to springs and caves there. Summers are tougher than the coasts as there's no ocean breezes to help cool.

My favorite time of year is November/Decmeber and February/March. Decent weather with cooler nights. It can darnright cold (all things being relative) in January - it was in the low 30's a number of days. Summers are brutally hot and humid, but water temps are in the 80's.

Palm County has cheaper housing prices than Miami-Dade and Broward. The futher north you go, the less urbanized it is and there's more open land.

Insurance costs are brutal - homeowners and auto. I couldn't believe how much, and I don't live in a high risk hurricane area.

My opinions only, based on living here for three years now after moving down from Chicago. But I did extensive job related travel around Florida over the years before relocating here.

Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions.

Marc

 

[seadog]

I can tell you 4 things:

housing is HIGH

traffic is HORRIFIC

weather is excelent (mostly)

and the DIVING IS GREAT!!

You have WPB, Boyton, Lauderdale, and the Keys in easy driving range, plus the springs.

 

[lowpasslew]

I live in the Orlando area because of business, but would suggest West Palm Beach. Miami is more Hispanic than I like. If you can speak Spanish, it's OK.

The only way to stand the summer heat is to have a boat on the water. Far out in the ocean.

 

[Walter]

Good info from the others.

A few points, there's great diving on both coasts, but they differ vastly.

The Gulf (west) is anywhere from 10 - 20 degrees F colder in the winter, yet it is actually warmer in the summer. I've actually ended dives (with no exposure suit) because I was overheated.

Natural and Artificial Reefs on the east coast. Artificial reefs, small hard ledges, and drowned springs on the west coast. Short boat rides (usually within a couple miles) long boat rides on the west coast (typically 20 - 30 miles - although there is diving closer in and farther out).

East coast tends to have better viz, although I've seen viz in the Gulf that rivals anything on the east coast.

Some areas on the east coast have excellent beach diving. There are few beach dives on the west coast.

 

[Padipro]

I live in Ft. Lauderdale and it's still a bit to urban. WPB would be my choise, if I had one. If it wern't for the drive to work everyday I'd live there my self. Diving in this part of Florida is great and there seems to be a dive shop on nearly every corner. The water is nice all year around, it's still in the low 70's and in the summer it can get into the low 80's. You'll never need a dry suit down here.

Come on down if you can, you'll love it.

Scott