Must see's near Miami and the Keys?

[grantwiscour]

+1 for Key Largo. I like both the reefs and the wrecks. Since it is a protected area the fish/animal life grows quite large and is enjoyable to watch. The Spiegel Grove is a fun wreck and accessible to AOW. Rainbow Reef has a free guide service for all their dives. Check them out if you go to KL. We have always had good and safe dives with them.

 

[znolan]

What Gravybird said http://www.islandventure.com/ From the MM 104 location they can go North or South. ie: Elbow Reef or Molasses Reef. They run two well maintained Island Hoppers.

 

[Davemohio]

Jumpin in again..me..I like to keep my vacations simple.

I would drive to KL and just dive and have fun.

A DM for the Speigel is money well spent. You will not feel rushed and can go as deep as YOU are comfortable.

I liked the Benwood as well. But..the Speigel is jaw dropping in size.

Just my .02..(again)

Oh..I have not dived North of Miami, so I cannot comment/compare with/on those dives.

Dave.

 

[Cosmographer]

It seems like there are so many choices in the area .. maybe I should move! (though SE Asia isn't bad either, it's not nearly as convenient and accessible). So it still looks like the Keys (Largo) or Boynton Beach.

What if I throw this into the equation: My wife might be pregnant (we find out next week). In that case, I'd want a location where she can do some snorkeling at least, so she doesn't feel too left out, lol. Are both areas good for snorkeling or other non-diving activities?

 

[danvolker]

If your wife is going to want to snorkel, and for her this is a primary, then you need to plan for slightly further north, and Stay on Singer Island at the Hilton Dive Resort ....Shecan then choose either to snorkel in the Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park each day for 2 or 3 hours, or, she can get on the snorkel boat which takes people to the shallow shorkeling reefs close by, exclusively. The Hilton is about 900 yards away from the Bluie Heron Bridge Marine Park, and about a mile from all the boats, including the snorkel boat. A 15 minute drive gets her to the shopping and entertainment district of Clematis Street and City Place, in West Palm...however, on Singer Island, you feel like you are on an exotic tropical get-away, far from traffic and the hustle and bustel of urban blights like Miami or Fort Lauderdale.

If you go with Boynton, which is an awesome destination, you can stay at the Delray Marriott, right at the beach, and at the foot of Atlantic Avenue, which is an awesome entertainment district in it's own right....cafes, restaurants, boutiques, shopping galore. Snorkeling will be more challenging for her to enjoy though--there are some good locations, but not enough people do this for any good service to the best snorkel spots...the best is about a mile south of Delray Beach, called Ghost Tug....a wreck in about 15 feet of water ( comes up to about 8 feet)...it gets buried in huge swarms of baitfish constantly, with spanish mackeral blasting through it....However, I know of no commercial boats that make a habit of taking people there....too far from Boynton Inlet for most diveboats to desire as a surface interval hangout.....Many of the Boynton reefs have a crown that is 40 feet deep, so Freedivers can easily enjoy them, but this may be too ambitious for a snorkeler.

I do think you should weigh your wife's enjoyment on the trip equally with your own.

 

[LynnB]

I vote for Key Largo whether she is pregnant or not. She could hang by the pool if you wanted to dive the Spiegel or the Duane... I like both but the Duane is my favorite for deep wreck.
Or you could do the reefs and she could snorkel.
We love the keys...
I have also dove around Palm Beach a few times. It is nice but drift is not really my favorite diving.
I am sure wherever you go you will have fun..
Good luck!

 

[Cosmographer]

Thanks for all of the advice thus far. It's been very helpful.

I do think you should weigh your wife's enjoyment on the trip equally with your own.

Maybe this works for you, but for me, not so much. If I didn't put her enjoyment at a higher priority level than my own, my new hobby will quickly become my old hobby, lol.

 

[Bratface]

There are lots of good suggestions about dive sites. I would highly recommend the History of Diving Museum located at mile marker 83 in Islamorada and the Turtle Hospital located at mile marker 48 in Marathon. Both are in the Florida Keys and both have websites. The drive on Highway 1 is nice too.

 

[Saxatilis]

The keys? Two words:

SPIEGEL GROVE

 

[Reck Diver]

If you go with Boynton, which is an awesome destination, you can stay at the Delray Marriott, right at the beach, and at the foot of Atlantic Avenue, which is an awesome entertainment district in it's own right....cafes, restaurants, boutiques, shopping galore. Snorkeling will be more challenging for her to enjoy though--there are some good locations, but not enough people do this for any good service to the best snorkel spots...the best is about a mile south of Delray Beach, called Ghost Tug....a wreck in about 15 feet of water ( comes up to about 8 feet)...it gets buried in huge swarms of baitfish constantly, with spanish mackeral blasting through it....However, I know of no commercial boats that make a habit of taking people there....too far from Boynton Inlet for most diveboats to desire as a surface interval hangout....

The Tug is a few miles further south and sits deeper. Perhaps you are thinking of the Delray Wreck, just east of Linton Blvd. It's not a bad beach dive, but not much on it right now. The spanish mackeral run never really materialized south of the Palm Beach inlet this winter. Bait is currently scarce too. The local bait fisherman are going down to Port Everglades and Miami for threadfins. Look for bait on to show up on the beach in May.

You can get the numbers from the Dixie Diver website. They provide GPS numbers for numerous wrecks and reefs.
Here's the link, just click on the dive sites to access.

Dixie Divers