Diving the Florida Keyes

TerryTat · Dec 9, 2005

I'll be in South Florida in January from the 21-25... I have business there on the 26th...
Is there a liveaboard for the keyes... with those dates??? Or can anyone help me out with places to dive. I'll be there alone...
Any input would be much appreciated. I have never dove there....

Walter · Dec 10, 2005

First, drop the "e" when writing about the Keys. Next, tell us what type of diving you'd like to do and what experience you have.

dkktsunami · Dec 10, 2005

TerryTat:
I'll be in South Florida in January from the 21-25... I have business there on the 26th...
Is there a liveaboard for the keyes... with those dates??? Or can anyone help me out with places to dive. I'll be there alone...
Any input would be much appreciated. I have never dove there....

A great dive service in the middle keys is Tilden's - two locations, one at Hawk's Cay, the other in Marathon. Good sites are Sombrero reef and the Thunderbolt, 120' wreck. Hawk's is a very good resort but can be a bit pricey.

TerryTat · Dec 10, 2005

Thanks for the advice to drop the "e" in Keyes.... uh oh did it again...
I have 90 dives... I have my open water,, and advanced through PADI
been to 130 feet... but of course there's no need for that except for wrecks...
dove lava tubes in hawaii.... I do a lot of kelp diving.. and am comfortable in wicked surge.. good ol California... all in all a decent diver..
I would love to grab a liveaoard... but not sure if it would fit with my schedule..

mike_s · Dec 10, 2005

There are only a couple of liveaboards that do the key(e)s areas...

Both really dive the Dry Tortugas more than anything. The Ultimate
Getaway out of Ft Myers and the Playmate out of Key West.

StSomewhere · Dec 10, 2005

The main point of liveaboards like the Playmate is that they can get spearfishermen far enough away from the protected areas surrounding the Keys so they can do their thing. If the boats aren't already chartered, any space they have available will be all spearfishing all the time. NTTIAWWT, just so you know.

Just a thought, there are some relatively (for the Keys) inexpensive hotels that the dive ops in Key Largo will be able to hook you up in a package deal. Its not a liveaboard, but there should be enough diving variety (reefs, wrecks) from around Key Largo to keep you happy for the better part of a week. Just don't prepay for very many dives, as dive trips can get blown out this time of year if the winds kick up.

Walter · Dec 10, 2005

I don't know of any live aboards running along the Keys. If you want shallow reefs, check out Mollasses (also accessible from Tavernier) & French Reefs off Key Largo as well as Davis and the Horseshoe on Conch off Tavernier. Conch Wall is my favorite deep reef, although deep Molasses is also excellent. It's hard to find operators willing to take you to the deep areas of Molassas. For wrecks, my favorite is the Eagle off Islamorada (you can get there from either Islamorada or Tavernier), but the Duane, Bibb (also accessible from Tavernier) & the Spiegel Grove off Key Largo are also excellent as is the Thunderbolt off Marathon.

morayp · Dec 10, 2005

I dove the Keys a few years ago. Had a great time. Just rented a car and drove south from Ft lauderdale. No plans, not too much information. Kelly's on the bay in Key Largo was good. Upper Keys Dive Center in Taverier should be avoided. Subtropic in Key West was good-two divers with a boat to ourselves. Undersea at Big Pine Key was good.
I don't think you can go too wrong in the Keys. Just remember to live in 3/4 time.

AXL72 · Dec 12, 2005

I am interested in the dry tortugas diving on the liveaboard. How are the dives in the dry tortugas?

I have only camped the dry tortugas twice, but this was primitive camping, ie no compresssors, no fresh water - except the water you bring out there, I had no boat, and there are no showers or washing machines - unless you hook up with one of the single park rangers (and yes this has happened to much of the scolding and dismay of the married senior park rangers who I think were just jealous of the hook ups).

Anyway, any descriptions about the liveaboard diving in the dry tortugas would be mush appreciated

mike_s · Dec 12, 2005

AXL72:
Anyway, any descriptions about the liveaboard diving in the dry tortugas would be mush appreciated

The diving there is great. It's far enough away to keep out the
daily boat trips from key west, so pretty much the only way you
can dive it is on a private charter destined for there or by private boat.

Two boats reugularly make the trip there. The Playmate out of Key West
and the Ultmate Getaway out of Ft Myers. Both will do independent bookings,
but ensure that they have enough people so that the boat will actually
leave the dock (and not cancel the trip due to minimum people), I'd suggest
booking through a dive shop that has chartered the boat.

Several of us are going in May on the Ultimate Getaway on a trip chartered
by our shop for example.

BTW.. don't expect these liveaboards to be "plush" with washers/dryers, etc.
They are all pretty much shared bunk rooms.

Diving the Florida Keyes

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