Florida Keys in December

My fiftieth birthday is in December, and my wife has suggested that I pick a place for a long weekend trip. Unfortunately my wife doesn't dive, but she does snorkel. I was thinking the Florida Keys would be a good place for me to spend a day diving, then she and I could spend a day snorkeling. We will fly out from Louisiana. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which of the many sites there would be most appropriate for diving and snorkeling?

I've been reading the the typical water temp in December around the keys is in the low 70's. I have a 3/2 wetsuit, a 5 mm hood and neoprene gloves. That should be warm enough, shouldn't it? I tried out that combo in our pool a couple of days ago. It seemed fine in our 70 degree water for 30 minutes.

What dates? Capt. Gary from Conch Republic and I are offering the best wrecks of the keys trip, including lodging and diving. It is pretty advanced diving. See the flyer here: Dive The Wrecks Of The Florida Keys

Live up in Orlando and dove last year in Feb in the Spegial Grove and other areas. You should be just fine in terms of warmth. Took some time out and even did some snorkeling with the 7 year old. Figure out the type of diving you want to do and how often. There are lots of options. (Never dove with Conch Republic, so no opinion of other post)

I use a dry suit in Florida in the winter, especially for repetitive diving or if the weather is going to be bad.

If you are diving just one day, your 3/2 will be adequate but I bet you'll be cold at the end of ths dive.

Dove a 3/2 with no hood or gloves. Water temp around 72 with Conch republic and had a great time. Never got cold either. This was on a couple shallow reefs with 1 hour + for each dive.

I only have 10 dives logged, so I'm not doing advanced dives yet. I'm hoping to dive a shallow reef. I think it would be nice to dive the reef one day, then return to it for snorkeling with my wife the next. If the hotel acomodations are very close to the Marina, even better. Being it's in December, I guess a shorter boat ride would be good, too.

We haven't set the exact dates yet. Probably the week before Christmas, though. I'm having minor surgery at the end of November. My doc, who is also a diver, tells me I should be able to dive after 2 weeks. Otherwise, we would postpone until January.

Scubasailor:

My fiftieth birthday is in December, and my wife has suggested that I pick a place for a long weekend trip. Unfortunately my wife doesn't dive, but she does snorkel. I was thinking the Florida Keys would be a good place for me to spend a day diving, then she and I could spend a day snorkeling. We will fly out from Louisiana. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which of the many sites there would be most appropriate for diving and snorkeling?

I've been reading the the typical water temp in December around the keys is in the low 70's. I have a 3/2 wetsuit, a 5 mm hood and neoprene gloves. That should be warm enough, shouldn't it? I tried out that combo in our pool a couple of days ago. It seemed fine in our 70 degree water for 30 minutes.

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Amoray's on Key Largo is a good dive operation, as well as Horizon Divers. Answer to wet suit question is "just depends". If you are a heavier build and cold tolerant you should do fine. I am slender and older and would freeze my butt off in a 3/2 but I have seen people from the North in just swimming suits in the winter.

Hey Scubasailor,

I've dived many times in Key Largo in December. Water has generally been in the low/mid 70s. I dive a full 5mm with a hood and stay toasty for 4 dives per day. Keep in mind that the SIs can be pretty chilly too. Make sure you can stay warm and dry, a good boat coat comes in handy.

Sounds like the Benwood would be a good wreck for you and there are many good reef dives. I don't know anything about the snorkeling, you might want to contact a few operations and inquire. I would imagine many of the same comments concerning exposure protection in the water and on the boat would be applicable.

Best of luck, good diving, Craig

From my dive log: 12/15/08--Conch Republic/Tavernier---Pillar Reef---26'---air temp 78*---Bottom temp 74*---viz Fair---2mm shorty--- (sme day) Victory Reef---55'---air temp 77*---bottom temp 75*------------------12/16/08---Key Dives, Islamorada-Eagle (ship)---115'---air temp 80*---bottom temp 72*---viz 30-40'---2mm shorty-----------------12/16/08---Hamm Reef, Islamorada-Key Dives--- 33'---air temp 80*---bottom temp 76* ---2mm shorty---------------1/26/09---Key DIves, Islamorada-Eagle---Air Temp 74*---bottom temp 64*---3mm full suit with 2mm rash gaurd--- comfy----------Grumpy Reef, Islamorada-Key Dives---36'---air temp 75*---bottom temp 69*--- three mm full suit/ 2mm rash guard---comfy.------------ On Feb 28, 2008 we did a double dip on the Eagle. We did a one hour SI during which I about froze my a** off. The combination of a low temp of 67* with a stiff wind and no cover on the boat and me with no jacket, surface temp of 76* and a bottom temp of 63* contributed to it. I had to jump in the water a couple times to get warmed up. On reflexion what I should have done is to remove the 3mm wet wetsuit, put it away and put on the dry 2mm full suit and 2mm shorty that I drag around with me. When I got home I bought a light-weight foul weather suit just in case I get into another windy situation like that.

Forgot to mention: A large part of my diving in the last couple of years has been with Key DIves on Islamorada. I like them especially that they put a DM in the water with every group of six divers at no extra charge and I've got a cheap place to stay nearby. Other than that I like Conch Republic and Florida Keys Divers at Tavernier and Horizon at Largo. I stay away from the shops on the Bay side since it takes so long for some of them to get out to the ocean side. There are a few shops on Largo which provide a DM also at no cost. It's not that I can't navigate, since I've made it back to the boat in almost 200 dives, it's just that it makes it that much easier to have a guide. GO BUCKS.