Shore Diving Nearest Orlando?

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I wouldn’t buy a house just to dive the Blue Heron Bridge. It’s not all that.

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is where the shore dive action is...

 

[In2theabyss]

Hopefully, I'll be joining you all in Florida in a few months

It is hot as #$%# so you can store the cold weather gear....and the nice thing of diving is getting wet to escape the humidity lol

 

[delacrue96]

if there are any maps of dive sites in Florida - please point me in that direction. I figured there be some maps for sale on Amazon, but those look limited to the Keys.

This site has great info for the SFL area: Sink, Florida, Sink! - South Florida Scuba Diving |

 

[In2theabyss]

This site has great info for the SFL area: Sink, Florida, Sink! - South Florida Scuba Diving |

Never knew this one existed...very nice!

 

[delacrue96]

I'd recommend Lauderdale By The Sea, an easy shore dive. Check out sea conditions on a local beach cam for Anglin Fishing Pier nearby, Windjammer Resort & Beach Club

 

[jeditdog]

This site has great info for the SFL area: Sink, Florida, Sink! - South Florida Scuba Diving |

This is great!

I also found it helpful to go on YouTube and search each city name combined with scuba or snorkel or diving and found a lot of videos Of what others were seeing in those areas.

Only problem was I spent way to much time (hours and hours) watching others dive instead of diving myself.

 

[sportxlh]

Scuba Shore Diving Site Listing for: Florida, USA East

Some of the posts are a little dated, but the info in generally pretty good

 

[Jah3986]

I live on the east coast in Palm Bay but just took a new job in Kissimmee so may be moving out that way in the not too distant future. Boat dives are definitely the way to go when you have the time and money to head down south.

My wife and I will do beach dives from Pepper Park in Fort Pierce (about 1.5 - 2 hours from Kissimmee) when we want a quick and easy way to get some bottom time. The diving there is pretty enjoyable when the weather is good. Takes a bit of watching the weather but if we get a few days of offshore wind and the seas are calm the water really clears up. There are other sites around the Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce area but we haven't made it to any of them yet.

You also may want to check out all of the springs around the Central Florida area.

This book has bee pretty helpful https://www.amazon.com/Diving-Guide-Underwater-Florida-11th/dp/1878348396

Would be happy to go diving when you get down here if you need a buddy!

 

[GR8FUL]

Hopefully, I'll be joining you all in Florida in a few months

Geez, moving from the Rockies to Orlando is going to be major culture shock!

Are you moving to the Kissimmee/Orlando area by choice or relocating for a job? While clearly it's farther away from all east coast dive sites, I MUCH prefer St. Pete to Orlando. As others have already mentioned, traffic is a killer in Kissimmee area (all of Orlando really) though admittedly the St. Pete->Tampa commute isn't so great either.

 

[jeditdog]

It’s my choice.

I travel M-Th every week and finally decided I’d rather come home to the ocean.... and my wife is sick of hearing me say that if I was single I would be living in Florida

Main requirements are for it to be a good experience for the kids and within an hour of a good airport (airport with lots of flight options)

I think Orlando and Tampa areas would both meet this requirement so have been exploring both.

Collecting info now and will visit a few weekends in Sept to decide which areas we like.