Where to go diving?

[TeqP]

A couple of my friends and I are planning to go to S. Florida for some diving during the Labor Day weekend. Which do the 'locals' recommend Ft. Lauderdale or the Keys and why?
Also, what kind of conditions are we to expect during that time of the year, i.e. water temp, viz?

Thanks for the help.

Phil

 

[CBulla]

Lauderdale.. 1) The boats don't set time limits, you manage your own gas - 2) The reefs are in much better shape.

 

[KBeck]

Ok, I'll go first. You won't have a shortage of answers from the Peanut Gallery; but don't hesitate to also look at old threads; lots of great input of similar questions.

Where? Depends. Of course.
--Keys--Shallower, if your group is less experienced. Plenty of ops to choose from. Not so much night life. Some deeper wrecks available.

--Ft. Lauderdale--drift diving from boats; wrecks and reefs available, both shallow and deep. Shore diving is plentiful. Night life/outside activities of any sort.


Holiday weekends are ALWAYS nutty-busy, so be prepared to have very full boats.

Early September will be warmest, barring strange weather patterns.....water temps in mid-80's range. Viz? Well, assuming the recent spate of hurricanes is over, anything from 30-ft or so to over 100 ft.
Excepting hurricanes, September will still be stormy season--expect good mornings, getting exceedingly hot (uper/mid 90's) til @ 2-3, then intense thunderstorms for the mid-afternoon. I generally stick with AM dives for this reason.

Enjoy the trip; let us know when you're in town; we almost always have a Conch-Dive going somewhere! :dazzler1:

 

[Marvel]

:lol3: What Krista said.... ALL of it!

 

[TeqP]

Thank you for the replies. A buddy from work said Ft. Lauderdale was a better choice as well, but it has been about 10 years since he dove there.

Holiday weekends are ALWAYS nutty-busy, so be prepared to have very full boats.

Do you think we need to make reservations far (2-3 months) in advance?

Enjoy the trip; let us know when you're in town; we almost always have a Conch-Dive going somewhere!

We plan to be there Sept 1 and fly back on Sept 5. It would be nice to meet some locals to get some tips on divesites.

Thanks again.
Phil

 

[CBulla]

Do you think we need to make reservations far (2-3 months) in advance?

We plan to be there Sept 1 and fly back on Sept 5. It would be nice to meet some locals to get some tips on dive sites.

A few days to a week should be sufficient. Be wary of the weather, i.e. the weather channel should be checked out often.

Don't forget that Lauderdale is one perpetual shore dive site as well. Being off season you can get a room on the beach at reasonable rates and attempt to get narc'd in 14-20' of water until you run out of air.. then swim in and get refilled, and go back for more... its all about 100 yards off shore

 

[TeqP]

Being off season you can get a room on the beach at reasonable rates and attempt to get narc'd in 14-20' of water until you run out of air.. then swim in and get refilled, and go back for more... its all about 100 yards off shore

That sounds like it will be a great time as long as the weather holds up. Do you think all our diving should be from the shore or are there spots that are only accessible by boat?

Thanks again.
Phil

 

[cmcarver]

If shallow reefs are fine then shore diving would work great. If you want to see some wrecks/deeper dives I would go with the boats. I plan on being in Delray Beach mid July and plan to dive both boats and shore. My questions is: Is delray too far north to be able to shore dive anywhere with out super long surface swims?

 

[TeqP]

Well, we booked are flights for Ft. Lauderdale. :dazzler1:
Can anyone recommend a reasonable hotel that is near/on the beach? Also, can you recommend a dive shop (hopefully close to the hotel and beach) to rent the tanks? We're looking for a dive shop close to the beach, so we can swap tanks for the shore dives.

Thanks again,
Phil