Dive trip advice please

Hey guys,

We have a small group planning a trip to Florida in the end of march to do some shore diving. The thought is to check out the Ft. Lauderdale area, and also Blue heron Bridge. The locations aren't set in stone, just what I have found searching for dive spots. I was looking for some insight on what the water temp will be, and what shore dives are better than others. Also would you think a 3mm or 5mm suit would be more appropriate?

Thanks, Rob

Any insight? Really looking for thoughts on which wetsuit would be appropriate, dive sites would be a bonus.

Check out the heading LAUDERDALE BY THE SEA SHORE DIVES. I just brought it up for your ref.

Unless your group includes some true beginners, I would advise you look into 2 places I think have some of the best sites in FL - Jupiter and Boynton Beach.

The diving in Boynton includes some of the best reefs in FL; Jupiter has the most consistant large animal encounters anywhere, plus my favorite site in FL: "Tunnels" - but note the 1st part of the 1st sentence in this post.

Blue Heron Bridge is also superb for easy, shallow, macro diving; but you can only dive it about an hour before high tide, which can limit when to go.

There are three of us, and all have advanced open water cards. We have 30, 65, and 80 dives. Also we've done shore diving before. Thanks, I'll check out Jupiter and Boyton.

The macro shots are the reason for heading to Blue Heron Bridge. Two of the three will be taking photo's. Seeing the pictures online, I'm really excited to check it out.

We have done a good bit of diving in the Keys in Pennekamp, and also the Speigel Grove, but that has always been in August. With it being further south and so much later in the year I'm not sure what to expect for water temperature. What wetsuits would you recommend?

adrenalinejunkie:

Hey guys,

We have a small group planning a trip to Florida in the end of march to do some shore diving. The thought is to check out the Ft. Lauderdale area, and also Blue heron Bridge. The locations aren't set in stone, just what I have found searching for dive spots. I was looking for some insight on what the water temp will be, and what shore dives are better than others. Also would you think a 3mm or 5mm suit would be more appropriate?

Thanks, Rob

Click to expand...

Rob,
Please visit www.sfdj.com . The purpose of this magazine style website, is to show exactly what the diving looks like, in each of the MANY different environments that make up Palm Beach diving. There is also a new Dive Resort direction which has just occurred in Palm Beach county, with 3 hotels taking place in this....the first to be ready with this is the Hilton on singer Island. The others will be the Marriott Oceanfront on Delray beach, and the Jupiter Beach Resort.
Each hotel will have special deals for groups ( meaning at least 5 rooms per night), and each hotel will have special much lower rates for individuals( non-group) . Also will be the ability to NOT bother with a rental car, as the hotel has shuttle busses you can use to get to the dive boats, and breakfasts and dinners that are being structured better for divers.
As I said, the Hilton on singer Island is ready first with this, so a diver ( as an individual) can get a room rate of around $165 per night ( just say you came in from the sfdj.com to get this rate) at a hotel that sells rooms for over $300 per night...and they have the shuttle bus already operational for dive boats, and the breakfast and dinner options are being tweaked this week for a large DIR Diving and GUE group that is on Palm Beach this week....The group rate was $120 per night ( more than 3 weekdays, along with weekend). You would need to book about 2 months out to get such a rate. While none of the top hotels in S fl "need" divers in high season ( now), in summer they are hurting for business, and divers are coming here in greatest numbers then...so the big 3 dive Resort situation has occurred, where these top hotels are working with us even in the winter high season, for the benefits we will bring to them in the summer months.

Anyway, as you look thropugh the Zone Articles in www.sfdj.com you should be able to find the "type" of dive your are dreaming of having, and the zone articles will provide you with all the information you will need to get a boat in Palm Beach, to take you to the type of dive you really want. Beyond the photos, there are also some good HD videos to show the long distance structure of the reefs, an aspect difficult to get accross with just photos.
If you go through the articles, and still have many questions, I would like very much to hear your questions, and to do my best to answer them for you.

adrenalinejunkie:

There are three of us, and all have advanced open water cards. We have 30, 65, and 80 dives. Also we've done shore diving before. Thanks, I'll check out Jupiter and Boyton.

The macro shots are the reason for heading to Blue Heron Bridge. Two of the three will be taking photo's. Seeing the pictures online, I'm really excited to check it out.

We have done a good bit of diving in the Keys in Pennekamp, and also the Speigel Grove, but that has always been in August. With it being further south and so much later in the year I'm not sure what to expect for water temperature. What wetsuits would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Actually, from the Keys to northern Palm Beach county, there is not much water temp variation - in late March, you can expect water temps in the 72 - 75 range - for me that means a 5m - 7m - be aware that we can also get cold fronts, which really mess up the diving w/ strong winds and rough seas - why the BHB is a great option!

гegulatoг;5738263:

Not much in the way of good shore diving in Florida unless you want to see a bunch of dead reefs and play the game of "find the fish".

If you're going to the trouble of booking tickets, taking time off of work, and committing some time to getting away, then go to Curacao or Bonaire, the shore diving capitols of the world!

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Gotta agree, at least to an extent, if you are planning on doing mostly shore dives - Broward county (Dania and Lauderdale by the Sea) have some very good shore sites - but Bonaire its not - poor shore diving (zero, actually if you want to see something) in Monroe, Dade and Palm Beach counties (w/ the exception of BHB).

Search "Gold Coast Divers" for more shore diving info, or PM my friend "Debbydiver" - a frequent poster, excellent diver, and a great resource for shore diving in S. FL (nice person too!) and also look at the loooong thread on "The continuing saga of the Blue Heron Bridge" in this forum.

Thanks again, regulator assumed we're flying, but we're driving. Bonaire is in a totally different price bracket.