Tight schedule at the Keys on mid Jan, what to do and what not

[Divefin]

Hi, sort of a newbie question here but after spending hours of checking old topics it would seem that I'd most likely get my answers a lot easier by asking.

I and my gf, both AWD with ~30 dives, will be sailing in the KWRW in mid Jan and we are arriving to Miami/US couple days early to do some sightseeing below the surface before spending most of the holiday on the surface of the water. I actually did my AWD@ Key Largo with Horizon divers (Spiegel Grove etc.) so generally speaking I'm not a complete newbie for Keys diving but as this is the first time I'll visit the place during winter, I guess old experiences from summer doesn't apply. I.e. is the visibility typically better or worse during the winter etc.

Thus to be short, 2-3 days of time, what to do and how about the typical diving weather and locations, i.e., is is better to go straight to KW and dive there or make one or two dives at say Key Largo. Or how about Tampa or the Florida west coast, in case the weather at the Keys sucks big time. Are all the dive sites on the south side of the Keys, or is there anything to the north, in case weather is prohibiting the diving on the Atlantic side.
I reckon there are no shore dives in the area, hence boat schedules should be used as bible, and as we have only our computers and basic gear with us, rental gear is a must and the variation on prices seem to be quite high, but what would be the cause for that (quality of rental gear? I hope not).

 

[Garrobo]

First off, West Coast Florida diving sucks big time. Forget it. You won't find any better diving than the Southeast coast of Florida from about mid-state down to Islamorada. I prefer Key Largo myself. The coldest water I have ever dove in was in February off of Islamorada a few years ago. The surface water temp was about 70 and the bottom temp was 63 degrees. Visibility is almost always good down there though I have had one time that we had to call the dives because of it. Not much you can do about the wind and heavy seas. No problem with a 3mm shorty as the bottom time only lasts about a half hour with an AL80 which is what the shops provide down there. The coldest air temp was the same day at 57 degrees in the morning. With a stiff wind you'd need some protection and/or peel off your wetsuit and stay in the sun. Being a Finland dude you shouldn't have any problem with that unless you stay inside all the time at home.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

No problem with a 3mm shorty as the bottom time only lasts about a half hour with an AL80 which is what the shops provide down there.

I would freeze in the Keys in winter in a 3mm shorty. I usually wear a 3mm full on the "edge" seasons, and then a 5mm full (with hooded vest if it's below 70º) in winter. Obviously everyone is different but I'm not sure I would say that a 3mm shorty would be no problem across the board (i.e. for everyone).

My usual dive buddy is one of those people who rarely gets cold; he wears a 3mm full in the Keys in winter, and he added a hood when it was below 70º last year (one day the water was 65º, which is cold for "warm water" diving).

Also, although I've only dived with seven different operators in the Keys (which is far from all of them!), I have always had the option of a one-hour dive (or maybe, say, 50 minutes if I'm slow getting in). It seems that most of the other divers on the boats I've been on can make an AL80 last close to an hour as well (although I'm sure there are exceptions; I don't think 30 minute dives due to lack of air are the rule). That would be different on a very deep reef or wreck, but I'm speaking of the typical 40' or less Keys reef dive. (Granted, 5-10 minutes of that may be ascent/safety stop; but that's almost like part of the "bottom time" when the reef is at 25-30' because you are still pretty much right there. I often just make the last 10 minutes or so of my dive at a 15' depth and just consider it dual-purpose.)

I'm not a life-long Keys expert, but from the times I have been there in winter (and in general from sailing in the Caribbean in winter), a weather-worry is typically if/when a Norther comes through. Then you will get wind/waves and the diving may be cancelled. But there's no way to know about that very far in advance, other than to know it will happen some number of times over a Keys winter. That is one problem with a short dive trip. With a longer trip you can figure you'll do other things on the bad days and then dive on the good ones (presuming there are any bad ones).

I'm not sure what the KWRW is (?) (Must be Key West something though.) I have found that when in the Keys - especially if you are all the way west - if the weather is bad and you are on a short trip, there really isn't time to get anywhere else that the same weather would not affect. That said, if it's an option for you geographically, there are springs in NW Florida, and they are not really weather-dependent like the ocean is.

 

[Divefin]

Hi, thanks for the info. To clarify, KWRW=Key West Race week as in sailing, beer drinking etc. Which however is scheduled in such a way that it is impossible to attend both the morning dives and afternoon dives even though the schedule in general isn't that tight.

63 sounds like the warmer temperatures one typically faces back here, 70 was the maximum surface temp for me this summer. But thenagain, we typically dive with either dry suits or 7mm+5mm hooded suits. But the real question is does the dive shops in general have sufficiently thick wetsuits (I guess 5mm suit +hood would suffice). I agree that making a 100'' dive with just 3mm shortie in ~60F water is bit mental to be frank.

Good to know that there really are no options outside Keys, spring diving could be cool but I guess not something that should be done without training? So ,lets hope for the best and in case the worst happens, its most likely still better than the Finnish summer