Florida and Caribbean Comparison

[SeaHound]

I posted this question in Florida section as it was directed towards the Florida diving community. Would like to hear the thoughts of people on this community as well. Thanks ...


Forgive me for asking what might seem a stewpid question but for those of you who have been diving in Florida and further south towards Bahamas / Caribbean, how does Florida diving compare to these other tourist destinations? From what I know Florida Keys will offer some of the best dives in the world. With the diva capital of the world located in Florida - your own back yard, exactly what makes divers flock to these places? Better underwater visibility? More abundant marine life? Personal desire to get out of the country? Booze? Aggressive advertising but tour operators?

I want to know that for someone who has not fully explored Florida diving, would a trip to these "exotic" dive destinations offer something new and remarkable?

[Damselfish]

"Florida Keys will offer some of the best dives in the world"? - heck no.

Florida offers lots of nice diving and if I lived in FL I'd certainly be taking advantage of it. But when I'm traveling to dive it's unlikely to be to Florida again. Maybe if I wanted a relatively quick cheap in-country trip, or wanted to dive some specific wreck there or something, but I haven't. I'd rather be diving many places in the Caribbean, or even better many places in the Pacific or other remote places if they weren't so far away for me. Most places I dive in the Caribbean or elsewhere will have warmer water much of the year, better viz, more variety of critters, more interesting underwater topography, and/or more convenient diving. And most of these places appeal to me more as travel destinations than Florida, exactly because they are foreign countries where things are different than home. And since I'm already traveling it doesn't take much longer to get to many places in the Caribbean anyway.

By what criteria would Florida be "dive capital of the world?" Maybe measured in number of local divers, amount of diving and ops around the state, dive shops per mile, or something like that. But that's all simply because it's good enough diving that happens to be easily accessible to many people, not because the diving itself is the worlds best.

[H2Andy]

well, Florida does not compare with the Caribbean in sheer color and animal life

about as close as it comes is along the southernmost east coast, starting north of Key West and then edging north to Palm Beach and up to Jupiter

there are some very nice coral formations, and lots of fish-life ... nothing to make fun of

but if you can go to the Caribbean, you're talking about a whole new level of corals and fish

[robint]

like damselfish said......... heck no. I would rate Fla diving at the bottom of my list of places I have been diving over the past 10 years. That doesn't mean that it isn't okay destination, especially for a newbie diver. It just means there are soooooo many places with great diving, fantastic diving, mind-blowing diving.... and Florida isn't one of them.