Would like to dive in south Florida in March-Any suggestions?

[bilsant]

I think if you check with the LDS near the springs you have in mind, you can find folks that can tell you where you will need either certification or accompaniment by a local divemaster and where you have no overhead environment.

As long as you stay safe, I recommend trying every new experience you can. Again, you can catch a manatee snorkel while you're up in that part of the state and swing by Venice Beach for a shark tooth dive. If you make it up to the panhandle, there's always the Oriskany.

There aren't many places in Florida that you can land without finding an interesting dive within an hour or so's drive.

 

[amajamar]

BTW, is there any decent diving on the West side of Florida? My in-laws will be spending a few months there, (Sarasota vicinity) and we were going to use their place as a home base to head out to these other destinations, however I never asked about that area.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

In March, the gulf is still a bit on the chilly side for us Florida folks, but there is Venice Beach and the shark tooth diving. Jamie who runs Aristakat Charters is awesome.
Also, like Deepstops mentioned, the weather can be very unpredictable that time of year. Make alternate plans for those days.

 

[amajamar]

In March, the gulf is still a bit on the chilly side for us Florida folks, but there is Venice Beach and the shark tooth diving. Jamie who runs Aristakat Charters is awesome.
Also, like Deepstops mentioned, the weather can be very unpredictable that time of year. Make alternate plans for those days.

So, that's it on the west side? Still sounds cool, though! If we come down this winter, we will be diving the north, south, east, and west!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I'm sure there are other places, but I am not familiar with them, and only have dived Venice.

 

[deepstops]

So, that's it on the west side? Still sounds cool, though! If we come down this winter, we will be diving the north, south, east, and west!

The bottom contour is far more gentle in the Gulf. Wrecks in 100' of water are 30+ miles offshore there while you could kayak dive those depths here on the east coast (until you get north past Jupiter). Plus the Gulf will most likely be 58-65 degrees in March.

 

[danvolker]

We are considering staying in the US for vacation this winter and coming down to Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area for a week or so. Does anyone have any suggestions or good resources to plan a trip like this, such as dive ops and reasonable accomodations? Are there any travel agents that you know of that put together any packages? We may also want to take a couple of days and hit the Keys as well.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

My suggestion would be diving in Palm Beach....the reefs are dramatically more colorful and far more full of life than the reefs in Lauderdale, Miami or the keys.
The first step to your getting the perfect dive trip in Palm Beach, is your going through what you would like most on this dive trip.....

• What type of creatures would you most like to see, or is your interest just everything in mass quantities? Be aware, that there are specific environments in Palm Beach that will favor certain types of life to be found on a trip, over other environments in PB.
• On your perfect zen type dive, are you swimming fast, swimming slow, just drifting with the current, stopping to watch or photograph life for extended periods..?
• Do you prefer seeing BIG marine life, or small marine life?
• Do you want a dive boat taking you out that caters to a hardy group of experts, or the opposite extreme of catering to new divers by giving everyone a huge amount of assistance and hand holding throughout the trip? Or somewhere in the middle?
• Do you want a hotel that is 5 stars on the beach, or one that is inland a few miles, near plenty of nice restaurants, but consideraly less expensive than the beach resorts?

There are many more questions to be asked to achoieve the perfect trip, is a start.

DanV

 

[chs8084]

How is the weather and conditions in Boynton Beach that time of year-- I was thinking of visiting relatives then and getting 2 days of diving in?

 

[danvolker]

How is the weather and conditions in Boynton Beach that time of year-- I was thinking of visiting relatives then and getting 2 days of diving in?

Winter temperatures can range from 80's to 60's...the weather can't be fortold exactly for the time you would be here...The water never gets all that cold though...many people will dive for an hour right now with no wetsuit..just lycra or less.....by February those same divers would want a 3 mil suit....someone like my wife will be in 7 mils when it hits 76 degrees in jan or feb.......which is why this year Sandra will be in a drysuit soon

Wave conditions are usually OK in winter...the hardest time to dive is september to just past Thanksgiving, as this is when we have lots of big wind days and storms....

Regards,
DanV