Moving to Ft. Lauderdale

I'm moving to Plantation Florida on Janurary 15 and I have few questions about diving florida?

What is the typcal wet suit worn? 3mill?
Any charters and or Dive shops that you suggest?
Anyone looking for a dive buddy and/or willing to show me around?

I have three months of freedom from a job/school so I'm looking to keep my feet wet. I'm getting into photography and love to take pics with my new canon camera, so if youd like to go please let me know. I have done 15 tropical dives in Belize averaging about 60-70 ft deep and the blue hole at 135ft. I also have about 100 freshwater dives inder my belt ranging from 20-140 ft. Again, anyone with advice on charters or dive shops, or would just like to talk about diving let me know. Thanks.

-=ben

Ben.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses on all of your questions...

I'll tell you that I wear a 7mm in the winter. I would at least recommend a 5 if you plan on staying down for an hour. Being warm helps minimize air consumption.

Charters and/or shops... there's oh SO many to choose from. There's also great beach diving too. Personally, we drive up to Boynton Beach, and dive with Splashdown divers quite often. It's about 35-40 minutes North of plantation, but well worth the trip.

I'm sure that if you post something in the Trips & Marketplace section - at least SOMEONE will want to dive with you.

Thanks for your quick reply, I appreciate your info on what gear to use, and who to dive with.

-=ben

Ben,
Welcome to South Florida. Since you're coming down here from colder waters, you'll probably be comfortable with a lighter weight tropical wetsuit. After you've lived here for several years, diving year-round, you'll find that your blood thins out and you get colder. Over the years, I've gone from wearing only an exposure suit in the winters, to a full titanium lined wetsuit. Some folks here even dive in drysuits in the winter. We're a bunch of (warm) weenies!

As far as dive operations, Howard was correct. There are scores to choose from, as well as worthwhile beach diving. I personally prefer the reefs in the Boynton Beach area and dive with Splashdown Divers. Check out their website for all sorts of good information. If you're playing with a camera, you won't be disappointed. The website shows examples of the critters and corals you'll see there.

Hope to meet you on the boat someday.

Hey Ben,

Like Howard said there's a lot of great beach diving all along the coast. I usually go diving off of a street just south of commercial blvd. It's a short swim out to the first reef of three. The depth is no more than about 25 feet. This allows for a great bottom time on one tank.

From what I've heard from both Howard and many others, Splashdown seems to be a top notch operation. I'm actually joining Howard tomorrow up at Splashdown. An other boat which seems to be very good and much closer is American Dream. I believe their just by 17th street causeway and the Intracoastal.

As far as exposure it usually a very personal thing. Most people seem to wear a 3mm in the warmer months, and I've actually been comfortable in 76-77 degrees F in my 3mm shorty. However, I am going to start using a hooded vest and perhaps switch to a 3mm full. It's probably going to take some trial an error. I for one don't want to have much more exposure than I really need. Reason being, I dont want to have to wear an excess amount of weight to take me down. It's just a pain on the surface and a drag in the water. This leads to higher air consumption and usually worse trim. But on the flip side like Howard said, you don't want to be cold because that will also lead to poor air consumption.

I'm usually always looking for a buddy to go diving off the beach so whenever you feel like diving let me know.

Andrew

joystershell:

We're a bunch of (warm) weenies!

Click to expand...

It is true we cry about being cold way too much. However, ever bring one of them northerners down here in August or September? All they do is complain about the heat and refuse to venture outside during the day. I took a buddy of mine from Chicago fishing this September; we were catching snook, big snook, pretty much at will. After an hour he siad he was "gonna die" and we had to go in.

Weenie works both ways.

Welcome to Florida. You will love it here.

i think that a 5mm wetsuit its fine for this time of the year, especially if you do repetitive dives

Ben,

Welcome to South Florida. You'll find there's lots of operations in the Ft. Laud area that are well worth the $$, and do not cost a lot of $$. There's also lots of shore diving action.

I dive a 3mm full suit with 3mm booties year round, and in the winter, I might use a 2mm vest and a beanie hood. If it the water temp gets much below 72, I might throw my 3mm shorty on top of my 3mm full suit. I find this combo easier to get into than some 5mm suits, and definitely easier than getting into a 7mm suit.

I dive my 3mm year round so I won't have to fiddle much with my lead by switching to a 1mm, but a 1mm in the summer is not unusual.

For the most part, it's the SI where you would end up getting cold faster than the dive itself, if you're well protected, so it's a good thing to carry your parka for the SI.

Take care and happy conchering...I mean So. Fla. diving...

Wow,

Thanks for all the replys, sounds like maybe my 3mil full suit will work fine. I'm used to carying tons of weight and look forward to getting out and spending some time triming with what I need.

Do florida divers wear gloves? or is it considered a cardinal sin like in belieze? Sounds like I'm going to need to buy some different gear for your climate. I might need a hood for the 3 mil and some light gloves.

Thanks again for your help everyone. I will be looking your names up here in a month or so to take your offer on showing me the ropes down there and getting the fins wet.

-=ben

What is a "wetsuit"??