First dive trip to Florida, where to go for 10 days?

Might be able to spend a little over a week this Thanksgiving diving in Florida, but not sure where to go. We would prefer to spend the entire 10 days at one resort/hotel. Probably would also do our rescue diver certification there if we could find a great instructor who we could learn from and really get something from the course.

In reading I saw something about the best diving is south of west palm beach, I know best is subjective. I originally thought we would end up in the keys, but not sure where to start. Like fish life, like to do some under water photography, comfortable with drift diving and deeper dives, not really too excited by wrecks, but could do a couple during the time there, but wouldn't want to spend 10 days diving wrecks, just not our thing. Also interested in a really nice place to stay like a 4-5 star resort wouldn't be too bad.

Well Id stay at the Ritz! it fits your stars ***** and try the lobster cocktail it's MMMMMMM Good!
Luxury Palm Beach Resort & Hotel: The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach Luxury Hotel
Dive Boynton Beach yes is southern Palm Beach and a real short hop down A-1a to the boats,There a few boats out of Lantana up the Street but my choice would be Kev's boat UWE out of Boynton Beach,
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The reefs will fill your needs, the wrecks have some great marine life, as you will find out with the Goliaths.
That said a course on vacation is like work but your call,next Id never ever get tired of diving Boynton's reefs due to the cast of characters change daily and second you miss so much! You should one day get up early and head down to the Keys as in Key Largo to see the patch reefs less the drift and of some of the wrecks.
as its not a bad drive early in the morning we leave from Boynton at 5:30 and have plenty of time to grab a quick meal and coffee on the road.
We have spent lots of Thanksgivings diving Florida from Spring country thru the Keys and always have had great times,
Good luck and I am sure more will chime in with their 2 cents.

mfinley919:

Might be able to spend a little over a week this Thanksgiving diving in Florida, but not sure where to go. We would prefer to spend the entire 10 days at one resort/hotel. Probably would also do our rescue diver certification there if we could find a great instructor who we could learn from and really get something from the course.

In reading I saw something about the best diving is south of west palm beach, I know best is subjective. I originally thought we would end up in the keys, but not sure where to start. Like fish life, like to do some under water photography, comfortable with drift diving and deeper dives, not really too excited by wrecks, but could do a couple during the time there, but wouldn't want to spend 10 days diving wrecks, just not our thing. Also interested in a really nice place to stay like a 4-5 star resort wouldn't be too bad.

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More and more divers from all over the world are agreeing that Palm Beach diving is the top choice for this hemisphere. There is an incredible combination of "way more" large marine life, spectacular coral reefs, good visibility year round, and massive concentrations of some of the life that most divers really want to see--No Resort destination has as many Sea turtles as Palm Beach, or as many goliath groupers. This is a place where you can get lost inside a huge swarm of baitfish, like being swallowed up by a giant amoeba, or you can see "real sharks" ( as opposed to nurse sharks) or sometimes bottle nose dolphin, spotted dolphin, manta rays, even sailfish.

Palm Beach has Singer Island, an ultimate location for the perfect Dive Resort...Like the Hilton on singer Island. You are a mile from the dive boats, you can have the hotel shuttle take you to them if you don't want a rental car, and the World Famous Blue Heron Bridge Marine Park is virtually in your back yard.....This is a place inside the marine estuary, where divers come from all over the world to see frogfish, sea horses, nudibranchs, octopus, squid, mantis shrimp, and dozens of other life divers previously had to travel to Indonesia to find...Palm Beach is a "considerably better deal"

I have created an enormous reference for divers ( www.sfdj.com ) interested in diving palm Beach..the dive sites ( what they look like and what the experiences are like), the boats, the Resorts, and All the Things to Do when you are NOT diving...though there are so many things to do when not diving, that I need to create a big section just for this
Here is what the Hilton Dive Resort on Singer Island looks like from the air...and also a shot of the nature preserve on Singer Island..this is not the urban blight or suburban sprawl that some people think of when "Florida" is mentioned....this is a true "exotic getaway", but one that is only about 15 minutes from spectacular City entertainment zones Like Clematis Street !

I'm with Dan on this one. You'll be pretty much centrally located between Boynton and Jupiter. Jupiter is about 15 minutes North of Singer Island. Thanksgiving we'll be heading into Jupiter's Lemon Shark season.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/365341-lemon-sharks-jupiter-house.html

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Scubaboarders have had their turkey fry at the Blue Heron Bridge for the past few years. Mostly Florida divers, but we have had visitors from as far away as New York attend. Keep your eyes on the Conch forums and the troll thread.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/386645-blue-heron-bridge-trolls.html

I live in Ft. Lauderdale, equal distance to either West Palm or to Key Largo.

My wife and I regularly dive the West Palm areas. It is a great combination of mid-level reefs (40-45 feet), deeper reefs (70 feet down to the deep ledges "hole in the wall" at 130), and wrecks. The variety of fish life is amazing and there are lots of larger fish to see (sharks, goliath groupers). It is all drift diving. The ops are expert at dropping you where you will drift into the wreck or along the reed, and they are used to picking up divers doing their ascent and safety stops while drifting. It is a great set-up. We are big fans of the area.

Dan Volker's website (see his post above) is a really great resource, with links to the major dive boats, shops and hotels. He also has a great article on the Blue Heron Bridge, where my wife and I are regulars (10-20 dives per year). It is macro photo heaven, full of oddball creatures. It is a shallow dive (15' max) but you want scuba to see the small critters and stay on the bottom.

That being said, I would not, if I were you, miss the chance to dive the reefs in the upper Florida Keys (Pennekamp and Key Largo). They are shallow (25- to 40', but the beauty, color and structure of the coral is the best you will find anywhere in Florida. The shallow depths make the colors truly spectacular. This is a "don't miss." There are also a couple of famous wrecks if you are interested. The Keys reefs are ideal for underwater photography as there is lots of light and conditions are usually benign. The drift dives of Palm Beach sometimes have brisk currents making photos more of a challenge, but never leave your camera behind there, either.

I would consider dividing your time (10 days?) 7 days in West Palm/Jupiter/Boynton and 3 days Key Largo. If you are not diving each of the 10 days then divide your diving days in the same proportion. It is possible to drive from West Palm to Key Largo for day trips, but it is a long drive (2-3 hours each way depending on traffic). The Hilton on Singer Island would give you the resort base you want for the West Palm part of the trip, and the Hilton Key Largo has been build in the midst of a gorgeous native Florida forest, faces Florida Bay for awesome sunsets, and would be a "don't miss" hotel for your Keys diving. Getting reservations over Thanksgiving weekend, however, might be hard so try to do the Keys diving during the week (there will be far fewer divers as well).

As for operators, here are ones we can recommend from our experience. This is not a knock on any of the others.

Key Largo: Quiesence Diving. They run 3 boats that are 32 feet long and limited to 6 divers. Their level of service is unsurpassed. We have been going with them many years. Their staff and captains have been with them forever. You may get lots of other recommendations but no one I know will ever knock Quiesence or say that it is not one of the very top operations anywhere in the Keys. If you are into deep or tech diving, I have heard great things about Silent World, but have not dived with them, yet.

Boynton Beach (south Palm Beach area): Underwater Explorers. Kevin also operates a 6-pack boat. He loves diving and is often the divemaster in the water.

Rivera Beach/Singer Island (north Palm Beach): Jim Abernethy Scuba Adventures. One of his boats is larger (18 divers) but is exceptionally well run with superb service. He also has a live-aboard boat limited to 10 divers called the Shear Water which they sometimes use for local trips. Call ahead to check. Jim is not only fun, but an exceptional diver and a legend in shark conservation and photography. It is worth a visit to his shop just to see the art gallery. They are especially expert at serving underwater photographers with tables and rinse/dunk tanks on board.

Jupiter: Scuba Works (their boat is the Blue Tang) limits their trips to 8-10 divers, which gives plenty of space. Their crew is really nice. They also get out early, and often hit the current "hot" spot before other operators. We did an all-day trip (4 tanks) with them a week ago and had a fantastic trip.

Jupiter: Jupiter Dive Center. They run two boats of up to 18 divers. Their boats are exceptionally well laid out so all the divers can get around pretty easily. They are also tech-diving experts if you are able. Their 3-tank trips usually hit a wreck and a couple of reefs.

If you haven't dove Florida before, I would forget the idea of the course. I don't like training when I travel. Do the course before you come down.

Hope you have a great trip!!

Thanks everyone for the info! You gave me a great start to begin my research.

What is the diving style in Palm Beach and the Keys? Do the dive masters lead the dive, stay on the boat? Except for Bonaire most of my diving has been the type where the DM goes with you and pretty much sets the pace and the dive.

Is it usual to dive with the hotels dive op or is this not the usual style?

mfinley919:

Thanks everyone for the info! You gave me a great start to begin my research.

What is the diving style in Palm Beach and the Keys? Do the dive masters lead the dive, stay on the boat? Except for Bonaire most of my diving has been the type where the DM goes with you and pretty much sets the pace and the dive.

Is it usual to dive with the hotels dive op or is this not the usual style?

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Palm Beach is very different than the Keys....In Palm Beach, there is normally a group that has a DM guiding, but typically this is only "available" for you, if you prefer going off on your own with a buddy, you will. If you go off on your own, you will either tow a flag, or send up a surface marker bouy before ascent, and the boat will come to you and pick you up. Keys is more anchor diving, not the drifting done in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach has great dives for new divers, but it also has an enormous range of advanced and technical level dives as well.

mfinley919:

Thanks everyone for the info! You gave me a great start to begin my research.

What is the diving style in Palm Beach and the Keys? Do the dive masters lead the dive, stay on the boat? Except for Bonaire most of my diving has been the type where the DM goes with you and pretty much sets the pace and the dive.

Is it usual to dive with the hotels dive op or is this not the usual style?

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, Some opps do some don't,
ASK or they may charge for personal guide.
I would as been said UWE Under Water Explorers Boynton Beach Kev or Will are glad to dive with you,,
As most locals shun DM in water with them kind of the old Macho diver deal!

UWE they love to dive on that boat I don't think in SE Florida you can find a better qualified instructor,DM'S or Divers with respect for the Reef,Eco conscious and caring of its customers than UWE.
This spring we came down (1900 miles) and on arrival were told by the owner we could cancel our trip and expect no charges as winds were up and 6' footers were building! To us Great Lake divers that's a good day diving as they say its calm below.Too many operators would venture out offering a miserable trip to those with out their sea legs and offer no refunds so to that I give a Kudos to Kevin and his crew !
But I am not saying there are other great operations on the East coast each with a personal style like JA's Palm Beach they have a DM in the water with a quacker and keep all divers like ducks in a row, or some hand you a flag and let you go after a good briefing,
Some dive shops have rates with hotels, But the Concierge may have information on charters used in the past , and may tend to be the big name operations and will be crowded boats next to the personal service offered on your smaller boats.
Safe trip

We typically dive with Aldora in Cozumel if that is helpful as a comparison to those in Florida who are aware of Aldora. We aren't interested in being led around by our noses and especially not with a quack happy DM. We can shoot up a SMB on a line without a problem.

I've been checking out the West Palm Beach area and it looks pretty nice!

So how do you dive the Blue Herron Bridge, do you rent tanks and drive over to it and dive it?

mfinley919:

We typically dive with Aldora in Cozumel if that is helpful as a comparison to those in Florida who are aware of Aldora. We aren't interested in being led around by our noses and especially not with a quack happy DM. We can shoot up a SMB on a line without a problem.

I've been checking out the West Palm Beach area and it looks pretty nice!

So how do you dive the Blue Herron Bridge, do you rent tanks and drive over to it and dive it?

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There is a dive shop, Force-E, on the mainland side of the bridge. So yes, you would rent there and drive over to the (Phil Foster) park. Depending upon time of day for high tide and day of the week, it can be crowded. Since you will be on holiday, you can go during the week. Talk to people on the Troll thread. You can usually find somebody who can help you get started if not let you tag along.

As for the guided diving thing. There is only one op I know of which requires divers to stay with the guides. That is The Scuba Club of Palm Beach. West Palm to Jupiter, staying with the guide is optional for the most part. You can check. I dive with Jupiter Dive Center regularly. There is a guide in the water pulling a float, but there is no obligation to stay with him or her. They will point out the good stuff though if you do stay near by.

Boynton protocols can be a little different. The ops usually do not put a DM in the water other then to hook off to a wreck. The op will break the divers into smaller groups and give each group it's own flag. Kevin Metz who used to DM for Splash Down in Boynton and now owns his own six pack willll somtimes get in the water.
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