Question for Fort Lauderdale Divers

[cwhite6]

I will be visiting Fort Lauderdale from May 11th to the 15th and I would like to go diving. I have taken a few charters before in Destin, Fl and Los Angeles, CA. I would like a recommendation for a good shop in Fort Lauderdale. I will be staying at the Hyatt on Pier 66. I am looking for relaxing diving. I dive a harness and wing setup because I like, but I am not a technical diver. Looking for a three tank trip if possible on Monday, May 12th. Thanks!

---------- Post added April 8th, 2014 at 07:24 AM ----------

Nothing?

 

[ft.lauderdale diver]

I will be visiting Fort Lauderdale from May 11th to the 15th and I would like to go diving. I have taken a few charters before in Destin, Fl and Los Angeles, CA. I would like a recommendation for a good shop in Fort Lauderdale. I will be staying at the Hyatt on Pier 66. I am looking for relaxing diving. I dive a harness and wing setup because I like, but I am not a technical diver. Looking for a three tank trip if possible on Monday, May 12th. Thanks!

---------- Post added April 8th, 2014 at 07:24 AM ----------

Nothing?

Hard to answer with the info you provided.. relaxing diving/Backplate/wing not a technical diver/3 tank. not much to go on. What is your definition of relaxing?

Do you want wrecks/reefs, depth? Have you done any research? Google Ft. Lauderdale dive charters and you will have more information than you know what to do with....

 

[LowVizWiz]

I will be visiting Fort Lauderdale from May 11th to the 15th and I would like to go diving. I have taken a few charters before in Destin, Fl and Los Angeles, CA. I would like a recommendation for a good shop in Fort Lauderdale. I will be staying at the Hyatt on Pier 66. I am looking for relaxing diving. I dive a harness and wing setup because I like, but I am not a technical diver. Looking for a three tank trip if possible on Monday, May 12th. Thanks!

---------- Post added April 8th, 2014 at 07:24 AM ----------

Nothing?

The American Dream is docked at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina right by where you are staying.
They used to be at the Pier 66 Marina, but they moved to the other side of the bridge.

Also, a stone throw east at the Bahia Mar resort is Sea Experience which is a full service dive shop with their own boats.

Both of these ops generally do a 70' wreck followed by a shallow reef. During the week they may hit a deeper wreck then a shallow reef.
They will have two daily trips scheduled as the water warms up a bit and the WWWs come out to play more often.

If you want a three tank trip you probably need to talk to Kevin from Underwater Explorers in Boynton who's a board member an runs a six pack.
It's a lot harder to find a bigger boat doing a 3-tank trip specially during the week when people are working.

 

[cwhite6]

Hard to answer with the info you provided.. relaxing diving/Backplate/wing not a technical diver/3 tank. not much to go on. What is your definition of relaxing?

Do you want wrecks/reefs, depth? Have you done any research? Google Ft. Lauderdale dive charters and you will have more information than you know what to do with....

I have looked into the area. I googled it like you suggest and I found a ton of places. I am looking for personal recommendations. I asked the same thing when I went to LA and the local knowledge on here pointed me in the right direction. I only threw the wing part in there as extra. By relaxing I mean not having to get a cab for an hour to a dive shop. Also, on a decent boat with clean facilities. I am not looking for anything that stretches rec boundaries or has hard current or other difficult diving traits. Something easy where the dive is relatively easy and relaxing. I am just looking for recommendations of local dive charters that have a good recommendation and that some of yall have been on. Not a huge fan of boats holding 30 divers either.

---------- Post added April 9th, 2014 at 08:57 AM ----------

The American Dream is docked at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina right by where you are staying.
They used to be at the Pier 66 Marina, but they moved to the other side of the bridge.

Also, a stone throw east at the Bahia Mar resort is Sea Experience which is a full service dive shop with their own boats.

Both of these ops generally do a 70' wreck followed by a shallow reef. During the week they may hit a deeper wreck then a shallow reef.
They will have two daily trips scheduled as the water warms up a bit and the WWWs come out to play more often.

If you want a three tank trip you probably need to talk to Kevin from Underwater Explorers in Boynton who's a board member an runs a six pack.
It's a lot harder to find a bigger boat doing a 3-tank trip specially during the week when people are working.

Thanks. I will look both of them up. I have considered just taking a morning and afternoon charter, but it would depend on the dive profiles. I see some even have night dives, that would be cool.

 

[iluvtheocean]

but those boats are where you can find the most interesting characters on board

South Florida Diving Headquarters is just a short trip north up to Pompano. I forget who operates out of marina off Atlantic. SFDH tends to be larger boats but they are a good outfit. They have a lot of nice dives scheduled for the times you're in the area. The wreck trek is fun. I think the last time i was out on them was when ScubaNation was filming that day. we all had a good/interesting time that day, although today was wondering if the rope breaking loose off the wreck was an accident/wave issue or was done for filming purposes and we weren't told about it to get our honest reactions

 

[cb5150]

I've used Sea Experience in the past and had a great time.

 

[LowVizWiz]

If you dive during the week you'd be hard pressed to find 30 people on a boat. That's the beauty of diving during the week in larger boats.
Both of the ops I mentioned will run trips with as few as 4 divers.

 

[Pavao]

I've used Sea Experience in the past and had a great time.

Yeah, Sea Experience is great, you basically described them when you wrote what you're looking for.

If you dive during the week you'd be hard pressed to find 30 people on a boat. That's the beauty of diving during the week in larger boats.
Both of the ops I mentioned will run trips with as few as 4 divers.

Correct, it's unlikely you will see full boats during the week

 

[cwhite6]

Thanks so much guys!! I will be booking one of them next week when I get back to work. I appreciate the help!!!

 

[cwhite6]

I booked a two tank trip for Monday. It is a wreck in 70' of water and a shallow reef dive. It should be nice and relaxing. Thanks for the advice guys!