Welcome, Blondey.
Looks like you've already met a good sample of our local divers. The Florida Conch Divers forum is a great place to meet local divers. I was in the same situation as you in January, and have done many dives with this group and consider many of them to be good friends as well as great buddies. We usually post our plans for diving under the Private Trips section. Most threads start with the name of the dive site and the proposed date(s).
It's a pretty loose group, so don't feel as if you're intruding by joining us. We always love to have new divers join us. In fact, there's a dive planned for this evening in Lauderdale By the Sea (Here's a description of the site -http://www.fillexpress.com/library/datura.shtml) and another for tomorrow morning at the Dania Pier. Look for the Friday 7/02 and Saturday 7/03 thread for details on both.
The beach diving here is cheap and easy, and you're almost certain to see some good sea life. Turtles and nurse sharks are common, as are most of the reef fish you see in the keys.
Again, welcome to the sport and the board.
Best wishes and safe ascents,
Grier