Should I move to Florida?
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Jupiter31
Contributor
Different as night and day even in different time zones climate, even the accent is different; Ft Lauderdale is NY; Pennsacola is the old south
Some may disagree, but the best diving in FL is found in the southeast, from Jupiter (super place, btw) through the Keys.
If you have a job that is "transportable" FL is great - the economy is geared to consumer spending and real estate, and is hurting now.
Goannaman
Registered
I've lived in Florida all my life.
I hate the obnoxious heat and humidity, but I love the diving. I live in the Orlando area. It takes me about 2.5 hours to get to Boynton Beach, about an hour and a half to cave country.
At the end of the day, I may complain about the summer weather, but I can dive year round in warm water. Plus there is no state income tax. Score!
I hate the obnoxious heat and humidity, but I love the diving. I live in the Orlando area. It takes me about 2.5 hours to get to Boynton Beach, about an hour and a half to cave country.
At the end of the day, I may complain about the summer weather, but I can dive year round in warm water. Plus there is no state income tax. Score!
Jupiter31
Contributor
True - no place is perfect
Ana
.
I don't know about Pensacola, but between Panama City and Ft. Lauderdale there is no comparison at all. It was mentioned different time zones, you could just as well say different galaxies because I think it goes farther than different area codes (or planets)
Seriously the panhandle is nothing like the the rest of Florida. Is more than being north or south because Jacksonville is as far north as many towns in the panhandle and the difference is obvious. I call it the I-95 vs I-10 world, and yes... Jacksonville technically has I-10 I know.
Diving of Panama City is good. The potential for bringing dinner on every dive is very high, not very colorful but it has its own type of magic. Seems to me it takes a lot longer to get to dive sites but once you're there, most likely no one will come by to bother you. It does get too cold for my taste but I'm spoiled so the boat is permanently in Pompano Beach even if I don't bring dinner home on every dive, there is a wonderful selection of food markets in SE Florida that you don't get in the Panhandle.
On a general note, if humidity is a detriment, Florida may not be a good choice.
glendivesalot
Guest
I moved to Ft. Lauderdale from Kansas City in 1978 just so I could live in warm weather and dive. I dive anywhere from Palm Beach down to the Keys. I have it all here: drift dives, wreck dives, night dives, shallow and deep reefs, etc. I've done hundreds of dives in South Florida and never get tired of it. Plus, it is a short plane hop to the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Cozumel, Turks and Caicos, etc.
stinkynewf
Contributor
The vis. is always better on the other side of the reef.
I only spend a Sunday there as I had gone there to dive. The place appeared dead. Restaurant choices were very limited. Early morning I went to McDonalds, opposite the movie theater and asked for an oatmeal. The lady gave me a surprised look. "This is McDonalds. We dont serve oatmeal!" I told her "In Washington DC McDonalds has oatmeal." She just shrugged. Then I went to the movie theater and even though it was a Sunday there were no lines in front of the ticket counter. I was thinking where the hell are all the sunday movie-goers? I asked the girl at the ticket counter if this place was open. She said yes. Then I thought if my wife and I would be sitting and watching a movie all by ourselves since there was no one around. That seemed to be the case so we decided to go elsewhere. But there was no elsewhere to go to. There was a beach so my wife said she would lay on the sand until I did my dive. I had to kill a few hours till the dive and those turned out to be long hours.
The dive was excellent though. One of the best dives I have ever done.
Over all the place liked excitement! When I go to Orlando everyone is in a festive mood. That was not the case in Jupiter.
RichBolduc
Registered
I moved down here from MA in 2005.... Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I ever made... Granted it got me out of the party 6 nights a week routine. But job wise I've had no problems finding work and I also started working for myself as a consultant on the side.
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