Want to WOW my 10 year old (certified) diver - Ft. Lauderdale - Mid Feb

[bobtu]

Good evening all. My newly certified 10 year old son (10 dives all Table Rock Lake, MO), Father and I (along with the non diving wives/daughter) will be heading to the Ft. Lauderdale area for 5 days in mid February.

We've never dove the area and am looking for suggestions on the best shallow dives to WOW my son... wrecks, big fish, lots of fish, etc.

Doing research here I figured we'd shore dive the LDBS pier area but any other suggestions as to best sites (top 5 - shallow) / dive shops to use (understanding I will have a 10 year old) would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance.

Josh

 

[Steve_C]

If you are in Ft. Lauderdale you are 1 hr 15 min of easy driving to Key Largo. Lots of great shallow reef diving in the 20-30 ft range. Short boat ride to reef. There are a lot of good ops. Ocean Divers has nice big stable boat. Boats out of the Holiday Inn Marina, and there are several, provide tanks and weights. For a 10 year old you might want to see about renting a smaller tank.

 

[ocgrant]

Dania beach shore diving is perfect for you. Public Parking lot is close to water line, swim is short to reef area, lots to see and beach to hang out for wife and daughter. As far as shallow wrecks you are going to have to swim a ways for that one. Plus there is a restaurant on the pier to eat after the dive. All in all a great place to shore dive. Here is a link to my last dive there. Photos - South Florida Beach Divers (Hollywood, FL) - Meetup
and here is the web cam to check conditions City of Dania Beach, Florida - Official Web Site - Live Beach/Pier Cam and Weather

 

[Randy g]

Blue Heron Bridge is a perfect place to WOW your son, imho.


Cool critters, shallow long dives make it a great experience for newbie's as well as experienced divers.

 

[sportxlh]

bobtu: Dania, LBTS and Blue Heron Bridge are all good suggestions. If you go with Dania or LBTS, just make sure marine conditions are such that all of you can easily make the swim. Winter can have rough marine conditions.

Aside from those shore dives, I'd suggest the shallow reef in Pompano: it can be beach dived, but is a long swim. A better option for new divers is to go with a dive boat like South Florida Dive HQ.

Scuba Dive and Snorkel Sunny South Florida, with South Florida Diving Headquarters

They regulary go to a location called the Nursery which I think is a beautiful site: it is one of my favorites, especially along the eastern edge of it. They also go to the shallow Coppenhagen wreck: which is broken up over the reef. Also beautiful. Both areas can be snorkeled.

If you don't like SFDHQ, here are a couple other options I used....

Pompano Dive Center
Scubatyme Charters: Pompano Beach Scuba Diving Experts. Wrecks, Reefs, Spearfishing & More!

Given that you might be consumed with watching out for your young son during his first ocean dives: you might want to hire a guide so you don't have to worry about finding the reefs and finding the interesting things to see. You can leave that to the guide while you watch over your son. You can hire a guide on South Florida Dive HQ's boat. For the shore dives, you might want to call Gold Coast Scuba. BTW, Gold Coast also has an active meetup.com group so you might also be able to hook up with other divers if you plan to shore dive.
Gold Coast Scuba - Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida
Gold Coast Scuba Divers (954) 616-5909 (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Meetup

Again, watch the marine conditions carefully, the last experience you want to give a new 10 year old diver is the scare of being barely able to make it back to shore on a rough day or getting hit in the lip or nose by a rocking boat ladder.

Here's some other general info.

Florida's Best Shore Dive - Go Dive Florida
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/290550-lauderdale-sea-beach-dive.html
Blue Heron Bridge
Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Dania Beach of Florida, USA East
Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Lauderdale by the Sea of Florida, USA East
Scuba Shore Diving Site Page for: Blue Heron Bridge of Florida, USA East
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/386645-blue-heron-bridge-trolls-576.html

 

[iluvtheocean]

plenty of shallow reef & wrecks in ft lauderdale like sport said. +1 for gold coast & LBTS -- very friendly & knowledgeable -- PM Scuba_Jenny if you're interested in a local guide for the shore dives or local boat dives.

 

[scubabudie]

Lbts is a great place. We have stayed at southern seas resort and dove out our back door.. If you are looking for a place to stay also try the windjammer. That side of the pier is a nicer area to dive. Good luck and enjoy


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

If you are interested in guide services, I would love to see if I can help you out.

---------- Post added February 1st, 2014 at 10:52 PM ----------

Also, since your son was certified in a lake, he will be pretty blown away anywhere down here. All the color, all the fish, the corals, the sand, the.. everything!!! Hope ya'll have a great time and can bring home some awesome memories no matter where you choose to dive.

 

[SandyBramm]

Hello! Please take a minute to look at our website Ocean Quest Scuba We are located in West Palm Beach, about 50 minutes north, but we specialize in kids! Our kids program is our priority, and we certify kids from all over the world literally every year. Thank you.

Sandra Brammeier
Owner Ocean Quest Scuba Charters

 

[bobtu]

So... Trip Report.

Day one. I contacted Scuba_Jenny to show my son and I a shore dive at LBTS. Very cool shore dive. Easy to get out to. The second reef is a 2 minute swim past the first and is worth going to. HUGE shout out to Scuba_Jenny. I am very happy I hired her. She was very professional, knowledgeable and excellent with my son. I can't speak highly enough about her. I would not have been near as comfortable with my son had she not been there.

Day two. We did a two tank dive with Pompano Dive Center. We dove nursery reef and the Copenhagen. Two nice dives. The dive center was great and so was the reef.

Day three (site seeing with the non divers)

Day four. Drove down to Key Largo and did a two tank dive with Rainbow Reef dive center on Molasses Reef. I liked these guys cause they put a guide in the water with us. As newer divers I liked that. Owen was awesome. We saw tons of wildlife here. AWESOME Dives.


Overall I would definitely say that Key Largo is the way to go. Better Viz, Better wildlife, LESS SURGE.