South Florida Beach Diving Locations and Places of Interest

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ermaclob

Contributor
Messages
523
Reaction score
92
Location
Miami Dade County, Florida
# of dives
200 - 499
ok so i wanna try and fine more things to see underwater that can be readily accessed from shore. i know that there is all ready a few places listed in the thread Florida Dive Spots http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/60333-florida-dive-spots.html

but alot are only boat dives and i know there has to be more then that.

so i would like for you guys to share any particular places or things (large Rocks, Jacks, geographical feature, boats. etc) that u have found underwater and share there locations. however minor they are. as long as they can be reached from shore withing ~ 2 miles.

to make a contribution. i will post up all the places i know from diving. starting from north to south.

-Most north spot i know of is BHB. only been here once so dont know much about the stuff in that area. (this is a little to north for me)
bhb_zpse1c1265a.jpg


i have nothing for the pompano area :\

-Lauderdale by the Sea / commercial blvd area. u can pretty much fall on any of the reefs line in the general area by swimming east. then follow the reef north or south. close to the pier is the closes reef as well as there are some canons i think south of the peir and also a weather device marked by some buoys. i have been told by onther scuba board member that if you swim far enough ~ 1.5 miles you can get to the sea ledge that goes from ~ 40-80 some feet i think*

more info on that in this thread. post # 15
lbts_zps56e24671.jpg


-Daina Beach area. the main thing to sea here are the Erosion Jacks that run perpendicular with the shore. they host lots of ocean life. a freind of mine even recorded a manta ray swimming through there. At the end of the jacks comes the first reef ledge with significant amounts of coral growth. Anything before that line i call rubble reef; small patches or just rocks with some stuff growing on them. in the picture that would be the orange arrow areas . After the first reef line there is alot more bottom structure. if you look on the picture u can see how the floor of the ocean is more distinguished tho there is still patches of small stuff.
daina_zps3967fa24.jpg


south of Dania peir just of the beach u can find the perry street rock pile. a small area of very LARGE rocks some the size of small cars. and farther out the same reef line as north.
perrystreet_zps1cb6745c.jpg


-Hollywood beach area.
i have not gone here yet. tho i think some one had told me there is something called the yellow brick road here. if any one knows please do tell

UPDATE:3/3/13

just found this
04.gif


pretty much all you need to find the bricks off of hollywood beach. *i havent gone here yet.*

YellowBrickRoadScubaSiteMap_zpsd9bcab09.jpg



so more or less this

yellowbrickroad_zps5cc40f7a.jpg


-North Miami Area: not much off the beach with out having to swim really far, i havent done so yet. maybe the old pier can be explorered.

i have gone around the area inside Haulover Inlet next to Fiu north campus and Oleta state park. it is mostly all shallow water there with sea grass. the more west you are the more murky the water gets. there are some areas that have drop off that go to ~ 30 feet potential cool stuff to be found down there in the murk i suspect. you can also check out the rocks the run agenst the islands and shore lines to find alot of small fish and some coral and sponge growth. the east side of the middle island has nice things to see and the water can be VERY clear one some days. cudas all over the place in the sea grass as well as other types of fish. !!!lots of BOAT TRAFFIC BRING A FLAG AND MORE!!!!
northmiamibeach_zpsd00fe2c6.jpg


-Miami Beach
the only real thing ive found of interest in Miami Beach is the Jetty at south pointe park. its a great night dive. towards the end to the north there's very small coral and sponge growth on rockyish floor. there is alot of predatory activity at the jetty at night from cudas, snook, snapper, nurse sharks and probably other sharks (have not seen). !!! be carefull not to get to the very end tho. the channel makes a very strong current at the end that will blow you into the ocean or into the channel depending on what time of day it is. it is not possible to fight it.

there is also the Jose Cuarvo bar. some where more north of the jetty but i have not gone to see it. it is a very small thing.

jetty_zps58e95b4b.jpg


-Key Biscayne : the shores of this key are mostly flats with sea grass. not much to see here if you are really not into grass/ sand life. but if you are the whole area east of the key is a preserve dedicated to sea grass. another possible spot would be the Half Moon ship wreck sitting in only 10-15 ft of water. it seems like a far distance but the water level to the wreck is very shallow, more of a walk then a swim on low tide.
distancecopy_zps5523589a.jpg

all the ocean floor is sea grass from what ive seen.
Keybyisk_zpsc2cb5e44.jpg


Dont know if they would make great dive sites to most. but ive been to the houses of Stiltsville and have looked for stuff under them. ive seen ppl come out with decent sized fish to. just something else to see. :p
stilvil_zpscf6b5a11.jpg


Florida Keys: the only place i know is cannon beach inside the sate park in key largo. the water is very murky and i really dont know whats down there. it is just very deep in the middle and ive seen Goliath Grouper there and Cuda's i came here before i was certified. there is a nice little area on the side where they have cannons sunk in the water that has lots of small fish like snapper, parrots, damsels. etc .... but the middle....
cannonbeach_zpsc7baede9.jpg



i haven't really tried to find stuff in the Florida Keys. i always thought to my self that perhaps the bridges may hold lots of things to see as i have cough fish off them and have hooked things like very very big cudas and eagle rays on the few times i have gone. tho i can not say :idk:

Also the keys/ islands that are on the outs side of Biscayne Bay mostly do to not knowing how to get there from land :headscratch:




So thats pretty much it for what i know in terms of dive spots / snorkeling spots from shore.

Feel free to share any locations/ places of interest that you think can be visited by just swimming out to them with in ~ 2 miles.
 

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Pompano has possibly the nicest of all shore dives; the 6th Street Reef. It coral reef. It's inside the drop off. Parking is a bit limited, but there is a fresh water shower.
 
Pompano has possibly the nicest of all shore dives; the 6th Street Reef. It coral reef. It's inside the drop off. Parking is a bit limited, but there is a fresh water shower.

i havent been to pompano mostly because its a bit of a drive, and there is sooo much decent to great beach diving one the way up there i really havent talked my self into going.

do you have any pics of this place maybe a video or something. how far out to get to this drop off?
 
I would add these to the list :
[video=youtube_share;LHEvOKlXfsw]http://youtu.be/LHEvOKlXfsw[/video]
I think this is the best shore dive in South Florida....it has the most marine life and adventure dive potential.





[video=youtube_share;xaidWv0R-bo]http://youtu.be/xaidWv0R-bo[/video]
a tour of diving the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park






And this shows the area that is a beach dive on the Island of Palm Beach, which you can get to off the Public Beach....on this particular day, it might have been more exciting than usualy, due to the thousands of spinner sharks...
[video=youtube_share;-kVVVzztsXA]http://youtu.be/-kVVVzztsXA[/video]
 
is that first video over at this place? whats the best place to park there? as well as the best time to go (tides), also can u explorer the south side or is that illegal cuz its part of the channel? how about the south jetty? id love to check it out when ever i go and dive BHB. since ill be in the area.
pubhuose_zps5cbaa2a1.jpg
 
is that first video over at this place? whats the best place to park there? as well as the best time to go (tides), also can u explorer the south side or is that illegal cuz its part of the channel? how about the south jetty? id love to check it out when ever i go and dive BHB. since ill be in the area.
pubhuose_zps5cbaa2a1.jpg

Yes, that is the place, and that is the pumphouse you see on the North jetty...where you get in or out.

Parking is so far a pain....It may change in the next year...for now, while I have my own method using locals that live right in the immediate area of the close perimeter road where it intersects into the jetty.....for you guys, the best bet is one person must drop everyone off at the southernmost end of that perimeter road that paralells the beach.....If you park there ( Standing) for more than a minute, the local Barney Fife "may" come along and threaten you with a ticket.... One way to prevent this, is to pre-stop first at the parking lot of the Ocean Mall, and have every one gear up maximally --far enough that on stopping at the end of the road, you can get everyone moving away from the car within a minute or so...Then, someone will need to park the car...best case, a non-diver that will hang out at the beach or ocean mall....worst case, someone will need to be hiking from the Ocean Mall parking lot, to the south end of the road...about a half mile...Yikes!! :)

I plan on getting the City of Riviera Beach to desire changing this soon, to coincide with the major new push of the County and of Riviera Beach for Dive Tourism....Something I have been involved in develoiping for the County...see www.sfdj.com as the initial infrastructure..this will be going through explosive additions in the next 3 months.
 
just found this :D

pretty much all you need to find the bricks off of hollywood beach.

YellowBrickRoadScubaSiteMap_zpsd9bcab09.jpg



so more or less this

yellowbrickroad_zps5cc40f7a.jpg



Edit: i will ad this to the opening post
 
I plan on getting the City of Riviera Beach to desire changing this soon, to coincide with the major new push of the County and of Riviera Beach for Dive Tourism....Something I have been involved in develoiping for the County...see www.sfdj.com as the initial infrastructure..this will be going through explosive additions in the next 3 months.

Some how, I can't imagine the Mayor of Riviera Beach, Bishop Thomas Masters giving a hoot about any initiative of Dive Tourism. Right now, he has his hands full with drive by shootings, and getting re-elected. I have to think this is a low priority for the rest of the city council as well.

DV, can you share some information on the "county's new push" in dive tourism?


i havent been to pompano mostly because its a bit of a drive, and there is sooo much decent to great beach diving one the way up there i really havent talked my self into going.

do you have any pics of this place maybe a video or something. how far out to get to this drop off?

Sorry no pix... But just know this is a coral reef, not a willy-nilly pile of rocks scattered along the beach. You can see everything that swims out there. It can be great for Lobsters and Hogfish as will. Tarpon, Snook, Snapper, and Mackeral are not uncommon sights, but I'm not going to tell you will see everything on every dive. Nurse sharks are common, occasionally a reef or Lemon Sharks are around. There are tons of tropicals as well.

You won't see the big schools of Spinner Sharks that are all over the Palm Beach righ enow, but those fish are so skiddish, the Palm Beach divers don't see them in big numbers either.

The reef is not near than inlet so currents and tides are a non-issue. On a calm summer day, it is about a 10 minute swim from the shore. Make sure you have a dive flag. There is limited parking, with a shower to rinse.

Drive by sometime and check it out. It is just about 1 mile south of Atlantic Blvd. I'm thinking a phone call to Force E in Pompano might be worth your while.
 
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Some how, I can't imagine the Mayor of Riviera Beach, Bishop Thomas Masters giving a hoot about any initiative of Dive Tourism. Right now, he has his hands full with drive by shootings, and getting re-elected. I have to think this is a low priority for the rest of the city council as well.

DV, can you share some information on the "county's new push" in dive tourism?


.



Considering you seem to want to disparage Palm Beach diving at every opportunity, I think I will let you find out about it when it becomes nationally obvious.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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