Hey guys,
We have a small group planning a trip to Florida in the end of march to do some shore diving. The thought is to check out the Ft. Lauderdale area, and also Blue heron Bridge. The locations aren't set in stone, just what I have found searching for dive spots. I was looking for some insight on what the water temp will be, and what shore dives are better than others. Also would you think a 3mm or 5mm suit would be more appropriate?
Thanks, Rob
Rob,
Please visit
www.sfdj.com . The purpose of this magazine style website, is to show exactly what the diving looks like, in each of the MANY different environments that make up Palm Beach diving. There is also a new Dive Resort direction which has just occurred in Palm Beach county, with 3 hotels taking place in this....the first to be ready with this is the Hilton on singer Island. The others will be the Marriott Oceanfront on Delray beach, and the Jupiter Beach Resort.
Each hotel will have special deals for groups ( meaning at least 5 rooms per night), and each hotel will have special much lower rates for individuals( non-group) . Also will be the ability to NOT bother with a rental car, as the hotel has shuttle busses you can use to get to the dive boats, and breakfasts and dinners that are being structured better for divers.
As I said, the Hilton on singer Island is ready first with this, so a diver ( as an individual) can get a room rate of around $165 per night ( just say you came in from the sfdj.com to get this rate) at a hotel that sells rooms for over $300 per night...and they have the shuttle bus already operational for dive boats, and the breakfast and dinner options are being tweaked this week for a large DIR Diving and GUE group that is on Palm Beach this week....The group rate was $120 per night ( more than 3 weekdays, along with weekend). You would need to book about 2 months out to get such a rate. While none of the top hotels in S fl "need" divers in high season ( now), in summer they are hurting for business, and divers are coming here in greatest numbers then...so the big 3 dive Resort situation has occurred, where these top hotels are working with us even in the winter high season, for the benefits we will bring to them in the summer months.
Anyway, as you look thropugh the Zone Articles in
www.sfdj.com you should be able to find the "type" of dive your are dreaming of having, and the zone articles will provide you with all the information you will need to get a boat in Palm Beach, to take you to the type of dive you really want. Beyond the photos, there are also some good HD videos to show the long distance structure of the reefs, an aspect difficult to get accross with just photos.
If you go through the articles, and still have many questions, I would like very much to hear your questions, and to do my best to answer them for you.