SE Florida for timid beginner, early March

[Schwob]

How lucky do you feel?

Good question...
That's part of the reason I am having a hard time to decide between booking accomodations and waiting until just a few days prior and then be happy with the left-overs (what's not booked out...), but be able to pick Key Largo if weather is great and Pompano / BHB area if not... or figure on something else if it's just horrid...

 

[diversteve]

Hire Jenny as a BHB guide - she knows where to find all the good stuff. Plus she's a DM for some reassurance for the new diver. .Scuba_Jenny or Scuba jenny – Artist | Dive Guide | Photographer

 

[Ghetto Diver]

BHB is a decent dive. A bit overrated IMHO. It is easy though compared to beach diving here.
Having said that, I am there A LOT.
It is a good place to go when it is too rough to go on a boat or you are broke, or don't have time to travel. Conditions are iffy here too, generally if there is poor viz off shore, it is going to blow that same water in an incoming tide.
Boat diving in this area makes nitrox ideal as you are doing double dips in deeper water...also this is drift diving. Your wife may not like it, dunno. Picking a big boat helps when going out in rougher seas, I use Narcosis locally.
I shore dive a lot in Broward, and LBTS is a great dive with nearby parking. There are plenty of other spots, but this one stands out for ease and convenience. Maybe Perry St rock pile to diversify.
Boat diving is great in this area too. Typical trip is an artificial reef (wreck) at about 70', then drift dive on a reef at 30-45.
If you stay in the FLL area and conditions are poor, BHB is doable

 

[Schwob]

Thanks for all your points and relative comparison. Helpful.
Question:

I shore dive a lot in Broward, and LBTS is a great dive with nearby parking.

I am so foreign to the area it took me a while to put LBTS and "Lauderdale by the Sea" (I think ???) together. So, that great shore dive (and nearby parking) there is where?

 

[boulderjohn]

Thanks for all your points and relative comparison. Helpful.
Question:

I am so foreign to the area it took me a while to put LBTS and "Lauderdale by the Sea" (I think ???) together. So, that great shore dive (and nearby parking) there is where?

Off Commercial Boulevard.

If the weather is too rough for the boats, you aren't going to have a lot of fun on the shore dive.

 

[Ghetto Diver]

 

[Schwob]

View attachment 447960

Thanks. Even an idiot like me could make that work... The water will look always this smooth too - right

 

[Ghetto Diver]

You might get lucky.
I think the $10 lot is 12 now...maybe

Perry st is just South of lbts, parking nearby. Do not leave anything visible in your car. I know a few people had theirs broken in to

As I said, there are plenty of shore dive sites, but these are probably the most convinient.
Don't forget you need a flag.

 

[Schwob]

Got it.
About that flag, knew that, but then it get's foggy:

Don't forget you need a flag.

Technically, by the rule book (whose rule book???):
- Is that one per solo diver or one pet buddy pair.... or does a buddy pair have to go out with each person having a flag in tow?
- What if 4 or 6 divers are in a group (how many (interwoven?) flags)?
- Is there a rule about the minimum size of the flag a diver tows (like there is for boats)... minimum height above waterline or such?

 

[Ghetto Diver]

Flag info here...Florida Boating Regulations
Go big or go home. Boaters are ignorant of this for the most part.
I diy'ed mine. It's 42" above waterline. I always use it. I solo a lot so there is that, but will use it in groups as well that already have couple buoys. The more the better, plus if I stay longer etc, I still have one.
You can rent one at Gold Coast Scuba on Commercial in LBTS