Recommendations in the keys, please.

I've heard a lot of good things about diving in the keys, but I don't know anything about them, or the differences from one to another. There's a sticky that lists operators and accommodations, but no reviews or the kinds of diving.

I've never been to the keys.

Here's what I'm looking for:

I'd probably stay around ten days. That seems usually to be a good length of time for me. I'd like a nice place to stay and a reputable, reliable dive operator. I like easy diving, nothing deep. I have no hard and fast depth limits but I'd prefer to say above 80 fsw, and 60-ish is ideal. I don't like strong currents. I don't do shore diving because of my back, so it has to be boat diving. Two dives a day is okay, three is ideal. I'm usually too tired after three to be interested in a fourth. I don't do night dives. (Yes, I know some people love them, but I don't, and I'm an early-to-bed kind of guy.) I'll dive to a wreck (no penetration) if it's on the program, but what I really love are corals and pretty fishes. Big pelagics are a big plus. I love wall diving. But other kinds of coral formations are good too.

I'm also a wimp about water temperature. I get cold easily. I'd prefer 80 degrees F. and above, so in addition to place recommendations, I'd like seasonal recommendations: How early in spring and how late in fall is the water likely to be in the 80's? And since I get seasick, short boat rides are better than long ones, and I avoid places where rough seas are a high probability.

I have no idea if I am describing conditions that do not exist in the keys, so feel free to tell me so.

Thanks.

The Keys has everything you described, and more to boot. I would plan my visit between late May and early November for water temps above 80. The Keys diving is extrremely diverse, from the stark beauty of the Dry Tortugas which is most easily reachable by liveaboard to the easy day boat diving of Key Largo. You shouldn't forget to include at least an afternoon and evening to do the "Duval Crawl" in Key West.

There are many excellent and reputable dive shops up and down the Keys (the bad ones don't last too long). Dive shops of Note include Conch Republic, Silent World, Horizon Divers, Fla. Keys Dive Center, Rainbow Reef, Key Largo Dive Center, Quiescence, Dive Key West, and Captain's Corner. Liveaboards include the R/V Kate, Ultimate Getaway, and Spree. For full disclosure, I own the Spree.

To ease your travel woes, you can ship your gear ahead of you and it will be here and ready for you when you get here. If you are a Photographer or use a rebreather, most of us operators are rebreather friendly and understand camera peeps. If I were planning 10 days in the Keys, I'd take the opportunity to dive the whole range of the keys to get a taste.

Oh, that seasickness thing? Transderm Scop is magic. It's what us boat captains use.

Thanks Capt Frank for the props.
Daniel, Welcome to the Keys!
FL Keys is often discussed here on SB, so I recommend searching for more information on the ops mentioned above that you are interested in. You will find oft praised shops as well as info on dive sites, dive conditions, dive training, accommodations, eateries, etc. Feel free to call up and chat with the ops to get a feel for if they are a good match for what you expect. Each op has it's own personality and specialties. Whomever you dive with (I have friends at many and we all want you to have a fun safe dive vacation), please do stop by and say hi :wavey:

Yep Capt. Frank nailed it and Elena seconded it. Not much else I can add other than having 10 days down here, you'll get a great variety of diving in, even if we have a few, "Sporty Days" with higher than normal seas. Not too many big pelagics in out area, but we do have more reef fish to look at.

As Elena says a lot of us are friends in the dive shops and we want you to have a good time. Please do call or stop by. Oh and you can check some of our past dive conditions to get a better idea. We record them on our dive calendar. Check out the link. Dive Calendar / Conditions.

If we can answer anymore questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good Diving,

Daniel, from what it sounds, you have not made plans yet and can come any time. In my view, the very best time to dive the keys is September and October. The air temp is still very warm (85 to 90) and the water is very warm as well (mid 80s). It is usually flat calm, rough days are very rare that time of year, so vis is usually excellent and can regularly top 100'. Summer rush is over and there are far fewer divers and so less crowded boats. If you want the very best chance to get in 3 dives every one of your 10 days, this time of year is absolutely your best bet (August can also be just as good, if a little more crowded).

The Key Largo/Islamorada area will satisfy your desires for beatiful coral reefs and colorful fish by the thousands. You might also see some larger fish on these reefs as well. It is also the easy boat day diving you are interested in. Shallow reefs are from 40' to 15' because they have a spur-and-groove structure. A "deeper" reef is considered 60' to 80'. The only deeper diving is on the wrecks which can range from 80 to 120' depending. That time of year is also a good bet for moderate currents, even on the wrecks.

I know that Conch Republic sometimes does a drift dive on a 60' reef. That is a real treat--no current to deal with, no need to navigate, just drift, see, and enjoy and when you surface the boat is there to get you. For more northerly reefs in Pennekamp Park, I have always used Quiesence, which runs small 6 pack boats with absolutely top service. These two I have personal experience with, but Capt Wookie's list above is about as good a list as you can get for shops to contact.

You won't find wall diving in the upper Keys, but the deeper reefs are on the edge of the Gulf Stream. This being said, 10 days is a long time, and as beautiful as the Keys are you might find the dives a little repetitive by the end.

If big marine life is something really important to you, and you have 10 or so days to spend, I would suggest that you spend three days diving in West Palm Beach. The diving there is all drift diving operated by real pro operators at that sort of diving. This takes current out of the equation because you just ride along. The reefs are typically 50-60', deeper than the Keys, with truly excellent and beautiful deeper reefs in 80 to 90 feet. Go the same time of year, it is the best for diving anywhere on the east coast. The WPB reefs are in excellent health and offer large schooling fish such as spadefish that you don't see regularly in the Keys. Vis is usually excellent, 60' typical and 100 not uncommon.


In WPB, you have more large marine life than in the Keys. Sightings of multiple sea turtles on a single dive are very common in the summer. The wrecks contain good populations of Goliath groupers that range from 200 pounds up to 800 pound bruisers. You might see 10 or more on a single wreck. Shark sightings are more common than in the Keys, usually caribbean reef sharks but the occasional bull or hammerhead as well. It is not unheard of to see large gamefish such as snook and amberjack out on the reefs or wrecks, along with eagle rays and huge southern stingrays. There have even been extreme rarities such as whale sharks and sunfish, but you can't count on that.

WPB also has what is undoubtedly the best macro/critter dive in the entire state at the Blue Heron Bridge, where rarities that I went to Indonesia to see show up every day. You drive to a public park and walk a short way down a sandy beach to protected water. You can doff and don your gear in the water (my wife has back problems and does it this way). It is 15' max and you can go an hour and a half on a single tank. You can find out more about BHB by going to the BHB trolls thread in this forum.

With the amount of time you have, I think a trip divided between WPB and the Keys will give you the very best of what Florida diving has to offer. It is only a half day's travel from Palm Beach to Key Largo, so you would not be sacrificing anything. You could do a 3 tanker in West Palm and be in Key Largo that evening, ready to dive the next day without missing a beat.

I live in Ft. Lauderdale and regularly dive both WPB and Key Largo, and love them both.

By the way, conditions in the Keys this time of year are so benign that you might want to take a walk on the wild side and try a night dive. The shallow reefs at night are something to see, truly.




Best of all, for accommodations and meals, you will have off-season rates, some of the lowest of the year (that is not necessarily true before Labor Day, though).

I'm not a "local," but all my diving so far has been in the Keys, so I'll pipe in.

If you like shallowish reef dives, warm water, and looking at pretty fish and coral, I think you'll love it. The vast majority of the reef dives I've done in the Keys have been in 20'-35' water, and that's without "trying" to have shallow dives. I have not been to every reef, but in my experience even the 50-60' ones have been the exception rather than the rule, so I would think it would be easy to stay shallow if that's what you want (I like shallow too because it's sunny and sparkly )

All the diving I know of in the Keys is boat diving - there aren't any reefs accessible to shore diving.

Most of the wrecks are closer to 100', but there there are one (or some?) shallower ones. But it's not like you're going to go out on a wreck dive without realizing it; you would have to specifically plan it. Reef dives are "the usual."

I'm a fairly chilly person, and I dive there in summer with no exposure protection at all (just a skin for sun/scrape/etc. protection). That's been in June, July, August, and September. I haven't dived there in October, but by later in November/early December I was in a 3mm full suit. In later December, January, and February I wore a 5mm full suit and sometimes a hood. I haven't dived there March-May.

It is really nice in summer. Warm water (I'm talking 85º from the surface right down to 100'), often-calm water.... it's fantastic. Winter is not quite as warm (above or below), and I don't think the weather is as predictably nice, but on the other hand there are a lot of migrating birds, which is nice if you like that sort of thing. And it still beats anywhere else in the continental US at that time, weather-wise, if you are looking for "tropical."

I have experienced current there (most of the significant current on wrecks, which are further out). On the reefs, off the top of my head, I would say 25% of dives no current, 60% very slight current, 14% moderate current, and 1% stronger current. <-- Be curious how locals' knowledge compares, since they have experienced a lot more Keys dives than I have.

Blue Sparkle

PS: I alluded to this above, by my experience has been that the water temperature is basically the same from surface to bottom (give or take a few degrees). So if you see a surface water temp report, that is probably what you'll get. Somehow that surprised me. Just.... to go down 100' and STILL have it be over 80º?! Not that I'm complaining, mind you!

With a nod to previous posts, and having been out with ALL of the mentioned day boats sans K.L. Dive Center; Recommendation: Big and medium sized boats - Conch Republic Divers, Big boats - Ocean Divers, Small (6-pack) boats - HMS Minnow & Quiescence, Medium (34') boat - Scuba Do. MOST of the reef dives are in the 20-40' range. Some, especially drift, can get to 80'+. Wrecks, except Benwood, 75'-140'. Benwood is 40' MAX and has abundant fish and stuff. Snapper Ledge is 20-25' and must be seen. Consistent pelagics are relatively rare in the Keys. (Comments die-hards?) No shore diving. Currents can occur on deep wrecks or shallow reefs; ya just never know - I've seen Molasses boats looking like "Band of Brothers" Gooney Birds dropping troopers at 190 KIAS on D-Day! Some shops post schedules (and adhere to them). Other boats, e.g., HMS Minnow, will go where the first divers to sign want. And they won't screw you over if a larger group waves a couple of bucks in their face. Some of the drift dives approach "wall diving" but don't think you'll see Cayman type sheers. YMMV.

Wow. That's great information. Key Largo and WPB sound like the ticket.

Though I've never dived in Florida (except freediving classes in Ft. Lauderdale) my experience of the Caribbean is rough seas in winter, along with less than ideal weather (much warmer than home, but not the tropical hot I was expecting). And I spend my summers hiking in the mountains of British Columbia (mid-July to end of August -- my very favorite place to do my very favorite activity) so that leaves spring and fall for a Florida trip.

In the 30 feet and shallower range, I think I'd rather be freediving, and not have to deal with all the scuba gear. My idea of shallow is 40 feet, and 60 feet is ideal. I'll go to 80 - 90 feet if there's good stuff there, but that's pushing my comfort level. (I don't know a lot of people who love both scuba and freediving, but I am one. As a novice, 40 feet is easy for me, and 60 is reachable. I've been to 90, but only in class or competition setting, on a line, with safety divers operating, and only one or two target dives in a day with 45 minutes of preparation for the dive. But recreational freediving in the 20 - 30 foot range is easy and fun.)

So from the above I understand that September would be my best bet. But for added information, what's it like in June? I was in Little Cayman in June and it was very nice, even a bit too hot on shore. April-May-June is a good time for me to plan a trip, but at present I have no clear thoughts on where.

Oh, regarding big pelagics, they are always fun to see, but not a requirement. I would plan a trip just for pelagics, but I think the good places for them always involve long boat trips in open ocean, subject to severe seas. I once read an article about a trip somewhere to see hammerheads, which I'd absolutely love to see, but it involved 2 or 3 days at sea in very rough conditions. That's out for me, even taking scopolamine.

June is also very nice. A bit more chance of some windy days, but still warm with air temps in the 80s to low 90s and water temps in the 80s.

You can certainly enjoy the shallow reefs in Key Largo freediving. I love freediving as well (not quite at your level but 25' is no problem). However, I would recommend that you mix a good bit of scuba in as well. You really can appreciate the small macro life, look under ledges, observe cleaning stations, watch larger life such as moray eels, and just hang out with the reef life. Just no substitute for a continuous hour or so underwater. You usually get at least a 1/2 to 1 hour surface interval between dives on the shallow reefs. You can do your freediving during the surface interval because the time to move between spots is usually very short. Some ops will discourage freediving unless you have a buddy so be sure to check and let them know your plans.

The diving in WPB, with more chance of big marine life like turtles/goliaths/sharks, is literally 15 to 30 minutes MAX from the inlet. The rides are actually shorter than the rides out to the Keys reefs. In June or September the seas are rarely rough. There are no "long open ocean" issues that you need to worry about. The WPB diving is just as benign as the Keys, only it is deeper because there are no shallow reefs.

1st of all, kudos to the previous posters for providing solid and accurate advice and opinions on dive trip planning to south florida. scubaboards "florida conch divers forum" @ it's best! june is in my view, arguably the best month for diving in the keys. september is also nice, however, it's historically the most active month for tropical systems in the carribean basin, US east and gulf coasts(late aug and early oct also have the same wx issue). may, july and early aug would be my 2nd choices. april is a transition month and often breezy offshore,,,,,,


reefman
key largo