SE FL Kayak Diving

[FishDiver]

Hi all, I live in Northern California and I'm considering retiring to SE FL. I have loads of experience with ocean kayaking and diving but not as a combined activity. I enjoy boat diving but I love the flexibility of beach diving.

How many sites can be accessed by kayaks that can't be dived from shore? Are there many sites that both kayakers and boaters dive, or does the kayak allow divers to reach sites that are not visited by either shore or boat divers?

I already own a copy of "Diving Guide to Underwater Florida".

 

[Shcubasteve]

Hi,

If you are considering moving to the Treasure Coast (Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River Counties), here is a list of local shore diving sites put together by Deep Six Dive Centers

http://www.deepsixintl.com/PDF/BeachDiveGuide.pdf

I work for Deep Six in Jensen and have been snorkling and shore diving the area for 10 years now. If you have any questions about local conditions or dive sites, feel free to PM pr call the shop at the number listed below. All sites listed are perfect for kayak diving and fishing.

As a general rule, shore diving on the treasure coast gets spectacular during the summer months when the winds are light and the seas are flat. Also, as you head north, the reefs become further offshore. For example, the reef at bathtub and House of Refuge are <50 yards from shore- Pepper park and RioMar reef in Vero are 200-300 yards out.

All dive sites near shore maybe accessed by boat, but some areas like Walton rocks or RioMar reef are about the midpoint between inlets meaning that boaters would have to drive 15+ miles to get there... foe this reason some areas are less travled then others

Steve Wood
Deep Six JEnsen
772-692-2747

 

[DebbyDiver]

There is a beach in Fort Lauderdale north of Sunrise Blvd. that we call Kayuba Beach. Have you heard of my kayak dive club, Kayuba? When you get here you definitely want to look us up! Also you can kayak dive off one end of Dania Beach and also off one of Hollywood's beaches.

Yes we dive places where others don't. From Kayuba Beach, paddling south we have a vast area that is not beach dived because divers can't park there, and boaters don't usually run that far. Maybe a mile or so to paddle depending on where you parked to start with. An older friend has been excavating a wreck off there for literally decades. Not a treasure wreck but he has really enjoyed learning the history of it.

Also there are many great places to simply recreationally paddle down here, and many kayak meetup groups. I've frequently thrown the yak on the car to paddle the Keys, Naples, Fort Pierce, etc.

Welcome to Sunny SoFla!