Shore or other low cost dives in Florida?

We're considering a short jaunt South to Florida this winter. Possibly over the Christmas holidays (school age kids). Ginnie Springs has been suggested (maybe recommended would be the better word) as a dive and a place to camp. Would like to get some salt water dives in and could maybe spring for a charter. But (there's always a but), we've got 4 divers, youngest restricted to 40 feet max, the next up is OW, so 60 feet max. So, deep charters are out for the kids. And financing boat trips for 4 stretches the wallet.
So any suggestions for shore dives would be most welcome. Town/city names that I can look up on Mapquest would be preferred, as I have never been to Florida and do not know my way around at all.
Water temps not likely to be an issue as we all regularly dive with water temps in the low 50's. My last dip had a bottom temp of 47F, getting temps up into the 60's is almost balmy. And as others have mentioned, up here in the frozen North, vis of 30 to 40 feet is considered good. Out of 140 dives, I've racked up more dives with vis of 20 feet or less, than I have vis over 20 feet.

I'd suggest buying a copy of Ned DeLoach's book Underwater Florida. It has information on over 600 dive sites in Florida and is a great resource. The eleventh edition has just hit the stands. You can find it at Amazon and at most dive shops.

One nice feature is that it covers both ocean sites and freshwater rivers and springs. There are also some good descriptions of shore dive sites, including suggestions for parking, etc. You can also try the sticky note on the Conch Divers forum. We have several good sites listed there. A final resource is www.shorediving.com, which has a few good sites listed, along with diver reviews. (I've got one listed there somewhere.)

I might suggest spending a day or two in the north central part of the state, northwest of Gainesville, for some spring diving (Ginnie Springs is very accessible and nice, with good camping facilities.) Then, you might want to take a day to snorkel and dive in Crystal River, where the herds of manatee winter. They're gentle creatures and swimming with them is an experience not to be missed.

Then, you might want to try a visit to the Ft. Lauderdale area on the Southeast coast (~6 hours' drive away), where the beach diving is phenomenal. There are lots of great beaches, but I like the ones between Pompano in the north and Hollywood to the south.

West Palm Beach is a little north of Ft. Lauderdale (~45 minutes), and has some great drift diving. (The Gulf Stream passes within 2 miles of shore there.) The water is warm and clear, and you can have some great wreck dives and large animal encounters there.

Finally, the Keys are a must-see. The Lower Keys are a less crowded, but there's a lot to be said for diving in Key Largo, the northernmost key (~45 minutes south of Miami) where a 20 minute boat ride will take you to some great wrecks and reefs. The Spiegel Grove, a 510 foot ship resting on the sand at 135 fsw, is a wonderful wreck dive.

Hope this helps. Have a wonderful, safe trip,
Grier

Need I say anything else? Grier, you did a great job!
Of course SE Florida/Ft. Lauderdale area is the best for shore diving, acutally just about anywhere in Broward County. And picking up Ned's book should be first on your list...after of course you give us dates of arrival so we can have a party!

On the Keys... while they have awesome diving..Looe Key (see Capt. Jim Wyatt, of the Conch divers) is considered one of the best dive destinations in the US and is shallow enough for the restrictions you mentioned. Key Largo (we have used islandventures before and am quite happy) has French and Molasses Reef which are also very popular dive destinations, and there are some shallow wrecks nearby. However, you will be arriving in tourist season and hotels are at a premium.

As an alternative to GInnie (4 people at $27 = $108!) you might consider one of the state park spring sites.

You will have to arrive early to get in before the daily diver max is reached, but Manatee is either $5 or $10 per diver, so much less. Camping there is also much cheaper.

Thanks Grier for the info on Ned's book in an earlier thread. Amazon.com for $10 to my door. 6 North Dakotans (3 divers) heading to Canaveral on Dec 31st, shore diving south from vero beach and south there Jan 2-5 or so..
If yea from the frozen north hit heaven at the same time, we'd like to have you join us. (We owe Scuba Jenny after dive drinks, and a couple of my kids are old enough to buy now!),,
Hope to see you all in Jan.

Thanks. Was into a local LDS yesterday afternoon and they've loaned my a copy of Ned's book. After starting on it yesterday evening, was planning on finding a copy.
IF (when, because if we don't go this year, I'm sure we will at some point) we make the trip, we'll likely spend one day at Ginnie. Their camping rate looked reasonable (by our local standards), so might stage out of there for a couple of days. It'll also be a fairly short/quick trip as school break is shorter this year due to the timimg of Christmas (on a weekend).
Will certainly let the group know if it's on.

billtodive:

Thanks Grier for the info on Ned's book in an earlier thread. Amazon.com for $10 to my door. 6 North Dakotans (3 divers) heading to Canaveral on Dec 31st, shore diving south from vero beach and south there Jan 2-5 or so..
If yea from the frozen north hit heaven at the same time, we'd like to have you join us. (We owe Scuba Jenny after dive drinks, and a couple of my kids are old enough to buy now!),,
Hope to see you all in Jan.

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There really isn't any shore diving north of Palm Beach, so don't get your hopes up for shore diving in Vero Beach. You're welcome to come to So. Fla. and shore dive all of what your heart desires. Shore diving in So. Fla. is easy, but getting to the shore is a bit complicated (parking and things of the like), so feel free to post when you'll be here, if you will be here, and some of us will be happy to join you. We're always looking for an excuse to get wet here!!!

Not too far through Ned's book, but he pretty much says the same thing. Since I'd aasume the farther South, the warmer (I'm running away from snow after all), I'm not adverse to heading to Southern Florida.
Any tips on accomodations. The lady who loaned me Ned's book did the trip a couple of years ago. They had taken along camping gear, but found a lot of campgrounds very expensive (charged for the site and also per head) and they used coupons and stayed in motels most nights. We don't need luxury sites, just aplace to pitch tent and decent washrooms.

John Pennekamp park down off Key Largo has some shallow <30' reef dives. You could book it as a package and save money. Also, the Quicksilver snorkel catamaran leaves out of Largo twice a day and is less than $25 per person. You'll see a lot of the same stuff that you would on a <20' dive at 1/3 the cost.

Biscayne Bay National Park.

Beautiful....

25 wrecks....

Not crowded....

Pristine.....


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