recommendations-Florida City

[anton]

Hi all,
I would like to intrude on your board for a quick few questions. I normally lurk elsewhere on this site but I will be coming home for 2 weeks this month and will find myself in Florida City for a couple days... I would like to get at least 1 dive in while I am there and was wondering if anyone has recommendations for a LDS that is in the area. I should have some time 17-18 July to break away-The wife is happy to stay on shore and look around/relax (VERY UNDERSTANDING with my diving!)

Is diving good during July in this area or are there things I should watch out for/avoid? I am a California native and presently live in Qatar (water is a comfortable 80.6 degrees right now, air is 110!!) so I have zero exp. diving on the east-coast. Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Anton in Qatar

 

[KeyLargoBrent]

half an hour down the road (U.S. 1) from Florida City. Enjoy!

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Air will be cooler, water will be warmer. Key Largo offers some of the best diving on the East Coast and is, as Brent said, just a half-hour away. You'll need a car to get there.

The vast majority of diving is off of boats. The two operators I tend to recommend are Island Ventures and Silent World. Brent also posts here regularly, but I haven't had the pleasure of diving with him yet.

Reefs are in the 25-60 fsw depth range, with the majority below 50 fsw. There are numerous wrecks, ranging in depths from 30 fsw to 135 or so. Depending on your experience, you might want to try the Spiegel Grove, which is a huge ship sunk (LST Dock - 510' long, on its starboard side at 135 fsw, with the port rail in the 60 ft range) as an artificial reef or the Duane (a cutter upright at 125 fsw)

If your wife likes to snorkel, there's always Molasses Reef or the Christ statue, both of which are easy snorkel trips. There's also some pretty good beach snorkeling at John Pennekamp park.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell. Here's a few links to dive resources for the area. Be sure to post your dates in the Private Trips area, and you just might find some of us on the boat with you.

Welcome!
-Grier

http://www.conchdivers.com/keys/keysdivesites.htm
http://www.pennekamp.com/dive/
http://www.spiegelgrove.com/

 

[GrierHPharmD]

I always forget something.

1) You're not intruding at all. This is why we're here.

2) You might want to scroll through the Private Trips threads. There are lots of good posts about Key Largo. I might suggest starting with the one about the May 1 trip several of us took.

Best wishes and safe ascents,
Grier

 

[anton]

Thanks!
I was not quite sure of the geography in the area and the proximity of Key Largo to where I will be staying...
I read some of the stuff in the private trips area and will now go back and re-read concentrating on Key Largo... (I just did not want to spend the whole day gone diving... wife is understanding but not quite that understanding-She is putting up with me doing 2 dives Fri., 2 Sat (our weekend here) and then 1-2 during the week after work or night-diving.

Thanks again.
anton

I always forget something.

1) You're not intruding at all. This is why we're here.

2) You might want to scroll through the Private Trips threads. There are lots of good posts about Key Largo. I might suggest starting with the one about the May 1 trip several of us took.

Best wishes and safe ascents,
Grier

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Well, you're not too far from Miami (a little less than an hour's drive from Key Largo). When my wife's not diving, we dive/snorkel in the daytime, then hit South Beach at night. There's great nightlife there - lots of live music, high-end restaurants, etc. Us locals usually frequent a pedestrian mall called Lincoln Road. Collins Avenue (Hwy A1A) to the south is more touristy. Both can be fun, depending on the mood.

South Beach is fun during the day, also...

 

[tvictory]

On weekends you can dive from Biscayne National Park visitor's center at Convoy Point in Homestead. This is closer to Florida City than either Miami or Key Largo. The diving is similar to Key Largo (in fact sometimes it is northernmost Key Largo). On Sunday mornings they do a drift dive on what the call "the wall". I don't know if the dive shop there has a website of its own, but you can get info here:

www.vacationidea.com/destinations/scuba_diving_vacation_biscayne_florida.html

 

[Scubaguy62]

I always forget something.

Yeah, yeah, you just wanted another post