Road Trip

[Bladebreaker65]

Road trip starting August 8th
day 1
drive from Houston to aprox Destin area
day 2
drive to Bradenton
day 3
morning dive the sugar barge chk out Venice beach for sharks teeth and then drive down to Key West
day 4
explore Key West
day 5
play and make way up to Key Largo fit a dive in somewhere any Suggestions ?
day 6
shore dives Dania beach, Vista park, Lauderdale by the sea
day 7
shore dive Pompano beach, Turtle beach, Blue Heron (trolls lookout)
day 8
drive back to Pensacola
Day 9
headed home
depending on wind and weather gods may exchange some shore dive for boat dives trying to keep things liquid
any suggestions or things to know. Dive shop recommendations
maybe a night dive going on somewhere
Too ambitious

 

[drrich2]

For Key Largo, consider Rainbow Reef Dive Center; when I was there, 2 2-tank trips/day, so maybe you could get in 4 dives that day.

in the Blue Heron Bridge region, you're close to Jupiter & West Palm Beach; boat diving, but reputable. Jupiter tends to be deep, not as good viz., but known for big animals. I liked it. Not sure if you're nitrox certified & comfortable with deep mild drift diving.

Richard.

 

[chrism16]

My suggestion would be to drive straight to key west and start diving there. Venice beach diving for shark teeth is fun but thats all there really is there and viz is hit or miss. The real diving is on the FL east coast down through the Keys and you can spend weeks diving there and still not put a dent in whats out there. Whatever your certification there is some excellent wrecks and reefs with a huge variety of life. But if I were you I would try and get to the keys as fast as possible to maximize your time on the Atlantic side of FL because the diving doesnt get any better then that on the eastern seaboard. Have fun...

 

[SinkFloridaSink]

Road trip starting August 8th
day 1
drive from Houston to aprox Destin area
day 2
drive to Bradenton
day 3
morning dive the sugar barge chk out Venice beach for sharks teeth and then drive down to Key West
day 4
explore Key West
day 5
play and make way up to Key Largo fit a dive in somewhere any Suggestions ?
day 6
shore dives Dania beach, Vista park, Lauderdale by the sea
day 7
shore dive Pompano beach, Turtle beach, Blue Heron (trolls lookout)
day 8
drive back to Pensacola
Day 9
headed home
depending on wind and weather gods may exchange some shore dive for boat dives trying to keep things liquid
any suggestions or things to know. Dive shop recommendations
maybe a night dive going on somewhere
Too ambitious

To be honest with you, I'd skip Vista Park. Lately, Lauderdale-By-The-Sea hasn't been that great.
The Dania Beach Erojacks and the Dania Beach Seatech Ledges are always a good time. I did the Seatech Ledges on Tuesday night.

 

[Bladebreaker65]

My suggestion would be to drive straight to key west and start diving there. Venice beach diving for shark teeth is fun but thats all there really is there and viz is hit or miss. The real diving is on the FL east coast down through the Keys and you can spend weeks diving there and still not put a dent in whats out there. Whatever your certification there is some excellent wrecks and reefs with a huge variety of life. But if I were you I would try and get to the keys as fast as possible to maximize your time on the Atlantic side of FL because the diving doesnt get any better then that on the eastern seaboard. Have fun...

Thanks this is just to break the drive up had not planned spending more than the morning there. Plus my better half thinks it would be neat.

also any suggestions on replacing the vista park dive and ft l by the sea dive

 

[scubadada]

Any boat dives, consider Boynton Beach and/or Jupiter. PM me for any details

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

My two cents - BHB must be on your list - first or last go dive there - night dive is preferable... Just came back and it was Outstanding...

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

shore dives Dania beach, Vista park, Lauderdale by the sea
day 7
shore dive Pompano beach, Turtle beach, Blue Heron (trolls lookout)
day 8
drive back to Pensacola

Though it's possible, you are gonna be mighty tired doing three beach dives a day. Even if the dive is only an hour long, it's the walk from the car to water carrying gear, then post dive making the treck again. Not bad at the bridge, but some places are pretty far. also, you will be subject to parking issues by mid morning. Sometimes you get lucky, but don't count on it. Pompano Beach a few weeks ago was a huge disappointment. It used to be gorgeous. Also, there is very limited parking. Turtle beach, never done it, but I hear the haul with gear from car to beach is pretty long- and thus the reason I haven't dived it... can't find a sucker, erh, buddy willing to do the trek with me.
if I did the dates right, you are planning being at the bridge on Aug. 14. High tide is 8:49am. It's best to dive BHB on a high tide.

 

[Bladebreaker65]

Though it's possible, you are gonna be mighty tired doing three beach dives a day. Even if the dive is only an hour long, it's the walk from the car to water carrying gear, then post dive making the treck again. Not bad at the bridge, but some places are pretty far. also, you will be subject to parking issues by mid morning. Sometimes you get lucky, but don't count on it. Pompano Beach a few weeks ago was a huge disappointment. It used to be gorgeous. Also, there is very limited parking. Turtle beach, never done it, but I hear the haul with gear from car to beach is pretty long- and thus the reason I haven't dived it... can't find a sucker, erh, buddy willing to do the trek with me.
if I did the dates right, you are planning being at the bridge on Aug. 14. High tide is 8:49am. It's best to dive BHB on a high tide.

Thanks
this is just the info we are looking for wife is really sold on turtle anyone use a wagon to get your gear closer? I know BHB is tide dependent what about the others is an incoming tide on the beach ok or does a tide cause a strong side current to the beach? All suggestions welcome .

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Tides are not an issue for beach diving. You could go a little further south, south of Deerfield beach pier and see turtles there. Easy entry, parking can be an issue on the weekends. Shallow, not a lot of reef or structure. It really changes from storm to storm, so you might find it good for shelling one day, and a storm later it sucks. however, whenever I've dived there, there were turtles. Coming in August is the height of nesting season too, so you have that in your favor too. If the wife really wants to see turtles, usually a boat dive is the better option.
As far as using a wagon.. when you get it to the beach you either have to secure it or take it back to the car. So far, I've always found just walking (take your time, it's HOT here in S. FL in August!) with your gear is the easiest solution.