Diving in the Keys - especially Key Largo which is popular for the reefs. It is rare that it gets rough due to the shallow areas. I am not talking about Spiegel Grove which can be rough some days. Diving in Broward/Palm Beach, it can be rough especially in the wintertime. I am saying this from my experience, Dan. I am not talking about a person who gets sea sick once they step on the boat and ride for 5 minutes from the dock - that's extreme. I am talking about tolerable level for average people. If you are talking about getting sea sick that easily, then they shouldn't be on the boat at all. Sorry, Dan, I do not think of any that the boat will ride for 5 minutes to the dive site.
I remember my first trip ever to the Keys, the first time I met one of the coolest charicters in the Keys...this of course being Spencer Slate. And every dive tourist should go out on the boat with Spencer at least once
They were doing 2 dives, one was the Christ Statue, certainly this is a very shallow area. Seas were about 3 to 4 and choppy. Not a big deal to me, but there were several people on the boat that were feeding the fishes by the time we were getting into the water.
I don't think the shallow part has any real effect to speak of...it is primarily how much of a distance the wind has to work on the surface of the ocean..and is known as "Reach" I believe. The short distance between waves in the keys, and the chop that builds up, is enough to make many divers sea sick when the seas get much over 3 feet.
My point, was that Palm Beach gets exposed to the same winds as the Keys, if the wind is blowing so hard that we are getting 4 to 6 foot seas, or bigger....the boats can leave the Inlet and run less than 5 minutes to a Dive site that is awesome...such as leaving the Palm Beach inlet and running 5 minutes to the wreck dive of the Mispah......the divers can do this for 40 minutes to an hour( depending on the group and the plan), and if anyone is sea sick or getting green, the captain can run 5 minutes back to the inlet, where there are no waves at all. This is a nice place for the surface interval, and even the green ones are usually good to go after an hour of this...then back out 5 minutes to South Doubles, or one of the other hot but close dive sites.... We have done this even with storms coming like the one about to visit this Sunday or Monday....( it will visit you first
) , and even with 10 foot seas this can be fun, particularly if the period between the waves is faily large. My issue with the Keys, is you are way away from the still water when on the dive sites, and a sea sick diver is just out of luck, for the surface interval and the 2nd dive, and the long ride back to the dock.
