First, some detailed beach dive spot information:
Dive Spot: The Wreck of the Lofthus - FKA Kiteboarding Forums
Dive Spot - Northern Erojacks and Barge Wreck - FKA Kiteboarding Forums
Dive Spot - Dania Erojack Reef - FKA Kiteboarding Forums
I sent the following information to a friend recently with a similar question. He was using a boat but I have routinely beached dived all these spots. Often free diving however but motivated scuba divers have done it as well. Ft. Laud. Beach Patrol has requirements for divers going off their beach, things like a BC, flag, C-card, staying beyond 100 yards until time to come in, etc..
The Beach Bizaar has pothole or solution features on the first reef. It hs seaward ledges, with some hard coral, lots of soft coral, lobster at certain times of the year, etc.. Both are about 800 ft. off the beach. I would usually throw someone in the water on a line and tow west towards the shore reference point to spot the sand bottom and ledges of the features. The Beach Bizaar reef is about 100 ft. north of Las Olas Blvd. and extends for a couple of hundred feet north to south. The depths range between 10 to 15 ft. more or less.
The outer and inner second reef ledge features are more or less continuous along all of Greater Ft. Lauderdale with nicer spots at various intervals along that run. I just marked an interesting area which showed up on Google Earth. The outer reef can have large oval solution features with sand bottom and prominent ledges, a seaward ledge and even western facing ledge at times. This reef ranges between 15 and 30 ft. on average. The inner second ledges usually are facing seaward but on occasion can also have a western facing inner ledge. This reef ranges between 10 and 20 ft. typically. Both reef sections show up pretty well on Google Earth.
The first reef off Datura, also called the Commercial Pier Reef, Pompano Dropoff starts fairly close to shore and increases in profile, ledges, holes, etc. as you proceed offshore. Most beach dives hit the spots inside the length of the pier. You will see two buoys close together out there with solar arrays. This power a reef accretion project and may be worth a look. You will see mooring buoys beyond the fishing pier largely placed on the outer second reef. The depths can range between 8 and 15 ft. on the inner reef areas. More about diving in this area at:
Lauderdale by the Sea Snorkle Trail is South Florida Shore Dive | Florida Dive Connection - Florida SCUBA Diving News and Information and at
http://www.floridadiveconnection.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LBTS-Beach-Diving-Page-062413.pdf
The wreck of the Copanhagen lays beside and even on the outer ledge of the inner second reef off the north end of the Sea Watch Restaurant in LBTS. There are two mooring balls on the wreck. More about the dive at
http://www.divespots.com/scuba-diving-spots/florida/ft-lauderdale/spots/copenhagen It ranges between 15 and 35 ft. to the bottom with shallower spots on the reef ledges both east and west facing, to the west of the wreck.
There are still more spots but here are a few to check out.
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and I usually do LBTS but I have had this list in my favorites for a while and didn't know what was worth checking out. Just looking for some info and maybe a yay or nay :cool2: - Here's the list...
