Where to go in FL

[Last Call]

We are looking at going to Fl in Feb or March. Where would a good place be. That me and my Buddy can dive. And the wives can sit on the beach or at the bar. We are looking for easy access from the airport. We are coming from PA. Never went to FL to dive before.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

West palm beach, or Key Largo. Key Largo is about 1 1/2 hrs from Fort Lauderdale airport, and West Palm has an airport. West Palm is mostly drift diving I think, and Key Largo will give you your choice of reef or deep wreck. Also if you use Rainbow Reef in Key largo, they have 2 boats 1 goes deep and 1 goes shallow.

Dive Key Largo, Florida Keys with Rainbow Reef Dive Center;scuba diving:diving, Florida keys, florida diving

 

[thinairmagic]

Check out stuart. I have never dived there but fished it lots of times. there are several reefs right off shore you can access. Thats my plan as soon as im certified. right now im content freediving and spearfishing

 

[CajunDiva]

+1 for Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo. Miami International is only a 45 minute drive away and Key Largo is a really cool place to hang out and enjoy your vacation. Rainbow Reef is located right at the head of the marina in Key Largo, with hotels all around. (a variety of options to suit any taste) It would be perfect for you because you guys could stroll over to the dive shop and let the ladies have the car to go shopping and exploring while you're off diving...it's a win/win for all of you If you're interested, you can book your entire package through Rainbow Reef - they'll even take care of your hotel reservations for you. You can explore the options on their website. We just got back...REALLY enjoyed ourselves :cheerleader:

 

[rha600]

I would stay right there in Ft Lauderdale. No need to drive an hour or two when you've got everything you can ask for right there.

Depending on your experience levels, Ft laud offers wrecks as shallow as 60ish feet and as deep as 120. There's tenneco towers, the rebel, and a number of others and there are a number of good dive boats. I went out with American Dream that is docked at Pier 66 and I have to say, they have the nicest boat I've ever been out on for diving. Not that I've been on a ton of dive boats, but they have a huge amount of deck space.

ScubaFortLauderdale.com - Home of the American Dream II

Then if you want to do beach dives there's Hollywood beach with offers a surprising amount of marine life only a couple hundred yards off the beach (if that), there's Dania Pier and the Euro Jacks and I keep reading a lot of good things about beach dives in Lauderdale by the see. All a short 15-20 minute drive from Ft Lauderdale beach.

 

[danvolker]

We are looking at going to Fl in Feb or March. Where would a good place be. That me and my Buddy can dive. And the wives can sit on the beach or at the bar. We are looking for easy access from the airport. We are coming from PA. Never went to FL to dive before.

I think you should watch this, which is a "Why Palm Beach" video....keeping in mind the Airport is 15 minutes from the Hilton Hotel on the beach, the boats about 1 mile away and the hotels will shuttle you to the boats ( meaning no need for rental car)....[video=youtube_share;ZTdpxYSiv5M]http://youtu.be/ZTdpxYSiv5M?hd=1[/video]

The Hilton has a very cool Tiki bar at the beach....and if the two of you did want a night on the town, you are about 15 minutes from the Entertainment District of Downtown Clematis in West Palm Beach...a place known for music, for great food and cafes and even shopping

The island in the video is Singer Island, and the Hilton on Singer Island has become an amazing Dive Resort....special diver packages availble from $79/ night per room, with at least 2 weeks advanced reservation. See Hilton Oceanfront Singer Island



* note...the schooling baitfish that the video begins with happens in the fall every year...it should be starting any time now, and will last about 2 months...
** the reef scenes are typical of the shallow 40 to 65 foot Palm Beach reefs, and the Jewfish clips are typically a bit deeper, more like around 90 at the bottom, but with wrecks sitting this deep, they come up to 60 feet or so. There are awesome Jewfish/Goliath Grouper divers in Jupiter( Zion, Bonaire and Hole in the Wall) , also the Palm Beach inlet( the Mispah), and in Boynton Delray ( the Castor)...each of these is getting huge numbers of Goliaths on them right now, as we approach the time of the year for aggregation and then Spawning. Last weekend there were over 100 Goliaths on the Zion from many reports !!!
***Palm Beach wrecks are spectacular, and typically covered with dense clouds of fish. Expect to see much more of this in the major dive magazines in the next year, as the world has begin to finally discover Palm Beach, and it will be discussed as a hot new Adventure Diving destination.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

+1 for Rainbow Reef Dive Center in Key Largo. Miami International is only a 45 minute drive away and Key Largo is a really cool place to hang out and enjoy your vacation. Rainbow Reef is located right at the head of the marina in Key Largo, with hotels all around. (a variety of options to suit any taste) It would be perfect for you because you guys could stroll over to the dive shop and let the ladies have the car to go shopping and exploring while you're off diving...it's a win/win for all of you If you're interested, you can book your entire package through Rainbow Reef - they'll even take care of your hotel reservations for you. You can explore the options on their website. We just got back...REALLY enjoyed ourselves :cheerleader:

I use Ft Lauderdale because the flight and car rental are usually less from Atlanta, but check the surrounding airports, I think they are only about 30 mins apart.

 

[Rescue Diver68]

That was really great!

 

[PatW]

Where you go in Florida depends on what kind of diving you want to do.

I like shallow reef diving. Key Largo has the best shallow reef diving in FL. As an aside, I like hard corals so that pretty much restricts the diving to the Keys if I want corals.

The Blue Heron Bridge at West Palm Beach has a world class muck dive. It is loaded with all sorts of strange and wonderful little creatures. It is one of my favorite dives. Now, such a thing is a bit of an acquired taste. It would not appeal to everyone.

Jupiter Inlet at West Palm Beach has the reputation for having the best big fish diving in the state. It is also pretty deep and generally has strong currents. So again, it is not for everyone.

Florida has many famous wreck dives. I am not really all that keen on wrecks unless they are so encrusted as to nearly become reefs. I like the Benwood for that reason at Key Largo. But there are other wrecks from Jupiter down to Key West and many of them are quite famous.

You could start at West Palm beach and work your way south hitting some of the best known dives along the way.

As far as hanging out at the beach, there is not that much down in the Keys. The really do not have good beaches. The beaches from West Palm down to Key Biscayne are excellent though.

For the time of year you are talking about, the water will probably be cold and the seas on the choppy side. You can dive but it tends to be warmer and flatter in the summer months. But then again, your wives probably would prefer to sit on the beach in the winter won't they?

 

[danvolker]

One perk to planning the trip as a West Palm Beach dive vacation, is that in the winter months you are interested in, a bad weather day just means you are diving at the BHB Marine Park, rather than on a reef or wreck. I have been diving in the BHB Park even with severe storms raging, and still had a great time...it is protected water, so it is much more like a very small lake in a storm.
Come to think about it, the next time we get a really severe storm..like the Hurricaine now headed toward Florida, I am thinking a video of the BHB on the surface, and in the water might be cool