winter diving in Miami

[Icarusflies]

Hello All;

I got certified this july and I have benn divng every week end since then (22 dive so far), I love it, mostly the sight of a shark. Something is to see a shark on tv and another completly different experience is to see this magnificent animal swimming.

Anyway this is my question since I am new and winter is getting closer I was wondering what to expect in the Miami area (is where I am). I heard that the seas are rought but is it still divable or you need to be a Rambo diver? I dive with my father who is a 63 years old avid diver in good shape. Are the seas so chalenging at winter time that they can be a concern? I express these concerns because of the contradictory stories about winter diving that I have heard forn dive operators and fellow south florida divers.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

You can definitely dive the Miami area year-round. The winter weather is just unpredictable and you have to keep an eye on the weather channel and marine forecasts. The seas can get rough around the time of a passing cold front. However, between fronts you can have flat calm seas. Also wind direction is as important as strengh. If the cold front is producing strong northwesterly winds the seas close to shore may be almost flat. IMHO, I would rather be diving, say, West Palm, the day of a 25 knot northwesterly than going out after a week or 10 days of steady 10-15 knot easterly winds which can make for some really rough seas!

The water temps will drop into the low 70s so you'll need more neoprene than in July. The warm water wussie "natives" (like me) are diving 5mm suits in January/February -- with the occasional 7mm and hood!

 

[deepstops]

While there are definitely fewer dive days available in the winter, I think the weather is actually very predictable. Our typical wind direction is the SE tradewind. As each front approaches the state, the wind will clock around from SE to S, then SW, then W, then NW, then N, and finally NE once the frontal line has passed.
You'll have a nice "window" of westerly winds for every front. That window is usually about 36 hours long so you need to have charter ops that are willing to work in the window.
In addition to this, I'm a six-pack fan but I'll switch to big boats for the winter like American Dream in Ft Lauderdale and RJ Ventures on South Beach.

 

[Icarusflies]

Thank you guys for the info