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I think it's worth the extra driving to get the Keys, where there is a lot more to see, and where conditions are better than other options you mention. . But then, I live in Colorado. You might want to also look at some of the offshore sites in South Carolina, which I have heard are pretty good, though I have not dove there.
DivemasterDennis
Maybe I just had a "meh" experience in the Keys, but I honestly thought the diving off Ft. Lauderdale/Pompano Beach area was way cooler than Key Largo.
By ocean I assume Gulf of Mexico is included. The FL panhandle is handy from Atlanta. Destin, Panama City (Beach), Pensacola, Ft. Pickens near Pensacola. Shore dives and charters (harder in Destin Jan.-March). Also Perdido Pass over in Alabama. There's a charter out of Gautier, Miss. (private). Not the same great stuff as S. FL, but all in all pretty good. I've heard there are many more "tropicals" in summer. The "Loop" current off boat dives can vary in strength, but was OK for me as a newbie.
Finally reached 25 dives and it only took 2 years...
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Originally Posted by MG11
Newly certified, looking to get into some salt water for the first time, will be driving for vacation, live an hour from Atlanta.
Thinking somewhere in the Keys, but that's a long drive, been seeing some stuff about Jupiter Florida!
Looking for some newby friendly ocean dives....
Mike
Why not split your time between the keys and Jupiter area? We missed out on the keys two weeks ago (still working on my trip report) but the diving in Jupiter was great. If you're not comfortable with the idea of going deeper or doing drift dives, Jupiter isn't the place. I won't say it's as scary as some folks make it out to be because I thought it was quite tame and real fun diving, but if you've only gone to 40 feet and weren't comfortable with the idea of going deeper, the keys are a better choice, I think.
Conversely, there's some fantastic shore diving in West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale that I would recommend any day to any diver, new or old.
Never judge a day by the weather. The best things in life aren't things. He who dies with the most toys still dies. There are 2 ways to be rich - make more or desire less. No rain, no rainbows. Take it easy.
-Hawaiian rules to live by
My first dive experience was out of Destin FL where I did a resort dive. It was in a protected jetty so it was a really cool way to get a feel for what was to come without feeling like I was overcome by the experience.
I have been diving off Marathon FL and Ft Lauderdale. Both are excellent destinations. I have also done some cavern dives and snorkled with the Manatees in Crystal River FL. That was also a lot of fun... Marathon is great for beginners. The deepest we got to was about 60 ft. Most everything is between 20 - 30 ft and there is a lot of sealife. Ft Lauderdale dives ranged from 2- - 130 ft. Lots of sealife, but also a LOT of current on a couple of the dives. We did a deep dive and then a drift dive on each boat so we got a good feel for the varying dive sites. There are a ton of really cool wrecks to see off Ft Lauderdale, Largo and also down in Marathon.
From my experience, you can't really go wrong with any of the sites in FL.
My next trip is back to Ft Lauderdale and I will probably head to Northern FL cave country for some cavern and cave training. Then I plan to go out into the Gulf to dive the USS Oriskany which is an aircraft carrier.
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Originally Posted by MG11
