Hey from sunny (& scorching) Florida!!

[Caveeagle]

I’m actually interested in both. I haven’t really did either so I’m keeping an open mind!!

there is some really great fresh water diving available up in North Central, FL.

 

[tltracy]

If you are ever down here in Ft. Lauderdale and wanna do a beach dive... let me know.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I’m actually interested in both. I haven’t really did either so I’m keeping an open mind!!

For ocean diving you can't beat the diving down here in Palm Beach County! Jupiter - Palm Beach - Boynton Beach. 2-3 hr drive for you. Wrecks, reef, boat diving, shore diving. Incredibly diverse marine life on our reefs and wrecks.

Here is just a tiny sample of a typical reef off of Boynton Beach as an example.

 

[NothingClever]

Melody, welcome aboard and congratulations on your recent training accomplishments.

If you can, I'd focus on some used gear from a dive shop that services what they sell.

The classifieds here can be bountiful but you may want to wait until you get some more experience, both in the water to narrow down what you want, and online here in the forums to get to know the personalities (or at least know your way around the community enough to sniff out the weirdos and dishonest people).

@scubadada @JimBlay and @Caveeagle are right - fresh water diving up north and Palm Beach County offer great diving. It sounds like you've found a decent dive shop so they should be able to point out all kinds of good dive spots. If they're not taking a trip there, no problem. Ask for dive shop and/or charter references in the destination area and then work your own trip from there. Jupiter Dive Center and Starfish Scuba have female co-owners (Lisa and Maggie respectively) so you can call ahead to let her know you're a solo female diver. They'll link you up with another female or a trustworthy gentleman so you don't feel like you're walking into the men's locker room.

Anyways, welcome aboard and I hope you find ScubaBoard a useful resource.

 

[NothingClever]

How to avoid Scams on ScubaBoard...

 

[MJ1979]

If you are ever down here in Ft. Lauderdale and wanna do a beach dive... let me know.

Sounds great...will do!!

 

[MJ1979]

Melody, welcome aboard and congratulations on your recent training accomplishments.

If you can, I'd focus on some used gear from a dive shop that services what they sell.

The classifieds here can be bountiful but you may want to wait until you get some more experience, both in the water to narrow down what you want, and online here in the forums to get to know the personalities (or at least know your way around the community enough to sniff out the weirdos and dishonest people).

@scubadada @JimBlay and @Caveeagle are right - fresh water diving up north and Palm Beach County offer great diving. It sounds like you've found a decent dive shop so they should be able to point out all kinds of good dive spots. If they're not taking a trip there, no problem. Ask for dive shop and/or charter references in the destination area and then work your own trip from there. Jupiter Dive Center and Starfish Scuba have female co-owners (Lisa and Maggie respectively) so you can call ahead to let her know you're a solo female diver. They'll link you up with another female or a trustworthy gentleman so you don't feel like you're walking into the men's locker room.

Anyways, welcome aboard and I hope you find ScubaBoard a useful resource.

Haha that’s hilarious!! Thanks so much...I’ll definitely keep that in mind!!