Conditions in Key Largo

[chris z]

DH & I just got back from a trip to the Keys.

We were on the Spiegel Grove the morning on 3/30 and the conditions were near perfect.

By 3/31 - winds were starting to pick up the boat bounced around but not too bad - did two shallow reef dives.

4/1 - was like an April fools joke. The ride out was a little rough; the first dive wasn't too bad. But the second was pretty rough; almost everyone was back on the boat after about a half hour.

 

[Buoyant1]

Well Ben I can tell you that we consider several factors before letting divers in the water and safety is always number 1 in our book. Wave height is not really the issue, but the period between is.

As I have always said....."Getting off the boat is not the issue, but getting back on is". When waves start approaching 5' to 6' sustained, then you'll not see us out there for safety sake.

Good Diving,

I can appreciate that!! (But that up to 5' stuff is pretty gnarley!)

 

[seansrs36]

Looks like the weather down here has not been good for diving. Went out yesterday and it was pretty decent in the reefs. Not going out today due to the bad winds. I hope to get some diving in tomorrow but it will be chilly in the am it looks like.

 

[caymaniac]

Just came back from Marathon, did dive one day last week but conditions were so bad, I would wait and see if the wind dies down for two or three days. The visibility was the worst I've ever seen it at about a good 10ft. of visibility. The wind has been blowing for weeks and has the sediment really stirred up.

 

[deeper thoughts]

Thursday we were at Hens and Chickens Islamorada which is an inshore reef and had 40 feet viz.
Sunday we went to Molasses which is an outer reef in Key Largo and had 30-40 feet viz and zero seas

 

[Chris Sawallich]

Has anything improved in the Keys?? Well be down a week from Sunday, and booked on the Spiegel for Monday and Tuesday..... Hoping for the best

 

[kidsdream]

It has been a windy winter/ early spring (although is was perfect today) so you just pays your money and takes your chances.

Has anything improved in the Keys?? Well be down a week from Sunday, and booked on the Spiegel for Monday and Tuesday..... Hoping for the best

 

[deeper thoughts]

It has been a windy winter/ early spring (although is was perfect today) so you just pays your money and takes your chances.

Where did you go and how was the viz? It has been green lately

 

[lmorin]

We were in Key Largo Apr. 5-8. Had so-so, excellent, poor and forget it days of diving. On the last day, we declined to go out. Wind was out of the northwest at 25-30 mph. We've been out in big wave surface action with moderate vis below, but didn't want a second trip with crummy vis. That evening, we met a sailing charter captain who told us that the average wind speed in the Keys for the whole year had been 3 knots greater than average. That's a pretty hefty deviation from the usual.

 

[Jupiter31]

As a South FL resident, I'm fortunate that I can "pick and choose" when I dive; if today, or this week, has poor conditions, there is always tomorrow - not so if you are visiting.

I've frequently posted (because this question gets asked a lot) that you stand a fair chance of poor - or lets say less than ideal - conditions in S FL basically from November through April, often (but not always) because of cold fronts that come down from the north and result in windy conditions and high seas. Couple this with surge that really effects the mostly shallow sites in the Keys, and your viz really suffers.

All that said, this year has been windier than most I remember.

I realize many northerners want to take a vacation during the winter months but if you want a better chance of good conditions look to come down May - October.

Otherwise, its truly a matter of "you pay your money and take your chances".