Diving within 1 1/2 hrs. drive from downtown Miami

Hope I am posting in right forum, anyway, my question is ... I have a whole day pre cruise in April to get a dive in, I will be staying downtown Miami & will have a rental car, so where should I dive? My buddy and I are certified advance, but we tend to think of ouselves as just a little more experienced than novice, about 60 dives. Our only warm water diving has been in Cozumel, all other dives in Lake Ontario. Any suggestions?
Cheers,
Tizzy

You have a complete day before you sail - that is, arrive 2 nights before?

To the north of you, Ft.Lauderdate shore diviing is popular with the locals. You might ask Scuba_Jenny advise. She doesn't list an exact location, but I think she's there.

Or, Key Largo is but 1 hour and a different world south of Miami. I go there once or twice a year, just for that diving. I'll be there next weekend, with a motley crew. :dazzler1:

Good Morning!
Check out this site for a list of Miami local shops but like most web-sites it is not real current

for example: Bubbles is no longer in business
Tarpoon, Ocean Safari, and RJs are all good shops - RJs owns the boat though so they are all sharing. Depending on where you are staying in Miami RJs is probably the best bet because it is very close, has a great boat, and they go to some awesome wrecks.

http://www.florida-scuba.com/miami.htm#Charters

You can head north to Hollywood if you want to do any of the wrecks in the Fort Lauderdale area - try Mike and Penny at Southeast Oceanic

http://www.divefortlauderdale.com/

And as Don said - you can go a little further up the road and beach dive Lauderdale-by-the-Sea or any of many great boats from that area north! Then of course there is Key Largo just 1 hour south of Miami.

It is the bad thing about living down here! TOO MANY choices! LOL

Tizzy:

Hope I am posting in right forum, anyway, my question is ... I have a whole day pre cruise in April to get a dive in, I will be staying downtown Miami & will have a rental car, so where should I dive? My buddy and I are certified advance, but we tend to think of ouselves as just a little more experienced than novice, about 60 dives. Our only warm water diving has been in Cozumel, all other dives in Lake Ontario. Any suggestions?
Cheers,
Tizzy

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Molasses Reef, Key Largo, FL

Thanks for the replies everybody & yes, DandyDon we are flying in 2 nights before the cruise so we have an entire day to devote to diving.
Tizzy

Tizzy:

Thanks for the replies everybody & yes, DandyDon we are flying in 2 nights before the cruise so we have an entire day to devote to diving.
Tizzy

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I was in south Folrida earlier in October. I dove in West Palm, Fort Laduerdale and Miami Beach. Depending on what your looking for and number of dives, Key Largo may be your best bet. You could easily get in a morning trip with a shallow reef in the afternoon. There are many good posts on this board about the dive operators in Key Largo. If you decide to go to Lauderdale, I had a really good trip with Capt. Todd.

KeyLargoBrent:

Molasses Reef, Key Largo, FL

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Save these sites for future reference:

I like to check the forecasts for where I'm leaving vs where I'm going. click:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ and type in your city, st.

Doesn't work without the comma - a government thingig. To check where you're going, type in Miami, FL or Homestead, FL.

almtree: And, click to check the conditions at the Molasses Reef NOAA Buoy (this one is fun!):


http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=MLRF1

yes, DandyDon we are flying in 2 nights before the cruise so we have an entire day to devote to diving.

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Good plan!!

Drive to Pompano and dive the RSB1. It sounds perfect for you. Nice intact wreck in 110 feet. Use Nitrox for extra bottom time. Bring a reel and light

Broward County is full of excellent sites where you can get some good diving in. Check out this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=60333 for information on several sites in the Broward County (Fort Lauderdale, Pompano, Hollywood, Lauderdale by the Sea) area.

The fillexpress site is also loaded with lots of information of dive sites in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area.. check out this site: http://www.fillexpress.com/divesites.shtml

My favorite natural reef sites are the Pompano Drop off (it's a shallow reef), Abby too (a popular reef for drift diving, about 50 - 70 fsw), a reef I visited on Saturday called Sunkist (also a popular drift diving reef, about 50 - 70 fsw with lots of marine life), and as far as shore diving, my favorites are Datura and 12th St. in Pompano (see my post on the local insider thread). As far as wrecks, my favorites are: Tenneco Towers, the shallow end of which sit in about 110 fsw, the ancient mariner, the sea emperor, and hog heaven (all mid level dives at about 70fsw), and the Mercedes, which sits in about 97 fsw. Hog heaven has another wreck about 25' to the east (Monkey bars), the sea emperor is where among the residents you'll find Ray (a 4' resident stingray), also eels, 2 300 lbs Jew fish, and a couple of nurse sharks, along with a few scorpion fish.

Have fun and let us know when you'll be in...you're bound to get one of us to want to join in..

Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I think we will probably dive in the Key Largo area, it seems to offer pretty much a bit of everything. I did not realize it was so close to Miami. OK, so geograpy was never my favourite subject.
Cheers
Tizzy