Snorkeling in Florida

Love_to_dive · Sep 25, 2011

Hi guys. How r you? Got a question for you. Thank you in advance for your help. I am plaining a trip to Florida early October. I would like to do some snorkeling off the beach. Where would you recommend us to go? It sounds a little greedy,a but it would be ideal if I can find a resort which is located on the beach with a nice beach where I can snorkel off the beach and hopefully will see some undersea lifes, ship wreck or corals...lol please suggest a location, eg key largo, key siesta or ft lauderdale....and any suggest for a resort or hotels?lthank you. Please don't call me greedy ....lol.

fdarden · Sep 25, 2011

I would suggest Boca Raton, at Red Reef Park for starters. The reef runs all the way into the beach here. It costs 20 bucks to park there but it is almost worth it.

danvolker · Sep 25, 2011

Love_to_dive:
Hi guys. How r you? Got a question for you. Thank you in advance for your help. I am plaining a trip to Florida early October. I would like to do some snorkeling off the beach. Where would you recommend us to go? It sounds a little greedy,a but it would be ideal if I can find a resort which is located on the beach with a nice beach where I can snorkel off the beach and hopefully will see some undersea lifes, ship wreck or corals...lol please suggest a location, eg key largo, key siesta or ft lauderdale....and any suggest for a resort or hotels?lthank you. Please don't call me greedy ....lol.

Niether Siesta Key or Key Largo has any decent snorkeling.

My suggestion in in Palm Beach, on Singer Island....If you book at the Hilton, and say you are a scuba diver, they have a special low rate for divers, and from there you will have several snorkel options....

immediately off the front of the beach, is a reef that many people snorkel on...not fantastic by our standards as divers, but much better than 99% of the coast....
South down the beach about 400 yards in front of the condo known as the Tiara, is a large mitigation reef, in about 12 to 15 feet of water, that is considered pretty good by most snorkelers, and it is getting better every month.
South about 1/2 to the end of the beach, a the pumphouse---you can get the conceirge of the Hilton to have the hotel drop you there and pick you up 2 hours later.....this is some of the BEST snorkeling you can possibly imagine, beginning at the south end of the beach by the pumphouse, and then if you go out beyond the end of the rocks, and come in through the inlet along the jetty, this is a great place to snorkel...you MUST tow a dive flag, if you decide to snorkel along the jetty though..
- One of Florida's best shore dives...the Jetty at the Palm Beach inlet..The Pumphouse... - YouTube a video of the pumphous and jetty diving, shot on a day with the vis about as bad as it can ever get...on a good day, it is often 70 to 100 feet.... But this is a High Tide dive...meaning you have 30 minutes before slack high tide, and the hour of slack hige tide, and as a snorkeler, you get out of the water before the tide starts ripping out
And there is the World Famous Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park, about 900 yards sound of the Hilton, on the intracoastal side of the Island...it is tide dependent also, but here many people will begin up to 2 hours before high tide, and stay in to up to an hour after peak hight tide....you can get free tide tables ( look up Port of palm beach) on line...example here Tides.INFO: Ocean and river tide predictions for Port of West Palm Beach, Florida

Visit www.sfdj.com for a huge resource on the BHB marine park, as well as all palm beach diving, and the Dive Resorts of the area.

Love_to_dive · Sep 26, 2011

Thank you guys for your suggestions. I will definitely look into it.

. Anymore ideas? Let me know.

Love_to_dive · Sep 26, 2011

Thank danvolker. I checked out the Hilton, the days I was looking was sold out. I see on google map there r 2 marriots beside the Hilton. (oceana and the spa resort) the are just right beside the Hilton and are also beach front hotels. Are they equally good in terms of snorkeling off the beach? Tks..

danvolker · Sep 26, 2011

Both would be good, but both will be higher expense than the Hilton....The Mariott Resort and Spa is a 5 Star, so you can't expect a great rate there....If either of the two Marriott time shares on the Island have rooms available to use like hotel ropoms ( I believe they do this also), they may be a good value, and the one at the far south end of Singer Island is right next tot he Pumphose dive and jetty area( this is called the Marriott Vacation Club) so it would be awsome for you, if they will work something out.

Love_to_dive · Sep 26, 2011

fdarden: thank you too. Does Boca Raton, at Red Reef Park has a hotel on the beach? I really dont have any idea about the area? LOL

Love_to_dive · Sep 26, 2011

Danvolker:

Thanks for your quick response. Your info is really helpful. I am just wondering if the Marriott vacation club close to pumphouse dive Marriott is "Vacation Club Ocean Pointe"? Honestly, i dont know the area at all and i try to look for the Pumphose dive and jetty area by google map and could not find it.

Finally, comparing the mariott vacation club and mariott spa, which one offers easier access to beach diving? Can i just walk down the beach from either hotel and dive right there and still see something (fish or reef)? What about sand as well as water quality? Which has a better beach and sand and clearer water? I hope you dont find my questions too much of a bother. I have never been to the place and am a little nervous about which hotel to book. Thank you very much again for your help.

By the way, love the link you posted.

Love_to_dive · Sep 26, 2011

danvolker:

Sorry i meant snorkel, not dive....lol

Dave C · Sep 26, 2011

Although I haven't actuallly been there (my FL snorkeling is in the Panhandle), I always see Lauderdale-by-the-Sea mentioned as the best spot in FL for off-the-beach snorkeling and shallow scuba. If you go to the Florida subforum on ScubaBoard, you will find lots of info about this place. I have seen many underwater photos from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and when conditions are good, it looks to be a great spot. Here's a set of snorkeling photos from a guy I know on flickr (photo site):
Lauderdale by the Sea - a set on Flickr

Snorkeling in Florida

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