Dive sites for new divers in the Tampa area

[RedPost James]

My business partner and I got our open water certification a couple of years ago. Though being up here in kentucky and being on a shoestring budget as fledgling business owners, our dives have all been quarry dives at a few sites within reasonable driving distance of here and one quarry site in North Carolina where we had a project going on.

THis year has been a little more fruitful we are looking to take a little R&R celebratory trip for a couple of days after we get a couple of big deadlines met here in a couple of weeks. Fortunately one of our projects is down in Spring Hill Florida and we plan to use that area as our destination so we can write the travel expenses off and visit the site in the process.

So what are some good dive sites in that area for newbies like us? I know there is a Spring in Spring Hill that seems like it might be a good little tune-up for our first ocean dive. We don't want anything too deep, 70-80' max., but want good visibility (better than we get in quarries) I'm not sure what the gulf waters in that area are like, I know from vacationing in Fort Myers that the water down there doesn't exactly have good visibility at all. Also what can we expect to see at those dive sites and most importantly, will we be dodging bull sharks in the process.

 

[TartanFrog]

Here is a link to a page with some dive sites in the Tampa area that might work for you.

Tampa diving - GoodDive.com

I just got back from a trip to Crystal River area and did the Manatee snorkel tour and also a cavern dive. They also do drift dives down a couple of the rivers. You might consider that too. Depending on area of Tampa, Crystal River is about 2 hours north of there on US 19. The dive operator I used was American Pro right in Crystal River.

 

[noseeum]

There is Crystal River to the North of Spring Hill, Plantation Dive Center would be a good place to contact. This is a nice safe dive, there are manatee's there, but they usually arrive when the water is a little cooler. Diving in the Gulf this time of year can be iffy, due to the water clarity and the cold fronts that pass through stiring up the water. There are numerous dive boats available in Clearwater though.

 

[USFpsychDiver]

You might try asking in the Tampa local area for advice from experienced locals. Devil's Den and Blue Grotto are probably the best known OW spring dives in the area. Quite a few charters in the Clearwater area; Tanks-a-Lot is one of the better known. Some of the dive shops run their own boats (Mac's and ScubaQuest Brandon I think). Some would say that once you've come this far why not drive another 3 hours to the Atlantic coast and do some drift dives out of West Palm Beach or Jupiter Beach. My instructor claims to not do any gulf dives any more except checkout dives, much preferring the Atlantic side. I haven't done enough diving to get religious about these things, but something to consider. I've dove a couple of the artificial reefs off Clearwater and had fun.

 

[RonFrank]

I agree with the last poster, drive across the state and do some east coast diving. Not everything needs to be a business write-off! West Palm is nice as is Boynton. A 1/2 day boat dive will run around $75 with tanks. That 2 tanks/around 4 hrs. Make sure you tip. $5 a tank is minimum unless they drop an anchor on your foot.

 

[divingsiren]

I have been out diving in the Gulf the past two weeks, and both dives were great! Water temp is dropping a bit, 76-80 F. I wore a shorty and was fine. Went out of Tarpon Springs through the dive shop Narcosis (Welcome to Narcosis Scuba Center).. but Tanks-a-lot in Clearwater is great too! This week we went down about 45 ft with 40 ft viz. Just wish the water wasn't so choppy this time of year!

 

[fjpatrum]

There are some cool (I'm told) dives off Tampa so check them out. There's some tanks (yes, like army "rolling canons" tanks) out there and a few other man-made reefs. There's also Venice beach if you're interested in meg tooth hunting.

That said, I'd probably take the drive across to the east coast and do some diving at BHB, Boynton, West Palm, or even Lauderdale by the Sea. BHB is especially worth the drive, in my opinion. Plus, no boat ride requirement for BHB which will save you some "non business write-off" dollars.

 

[onefastpony]

I'm a local Tampa diver and yes we have the Gulf here and some really good dive sites but I really would recommend driving to the East coast and hitting Jupiter especially if you want good viz. The depth that you are looking for would not be a problem for the Gulf because everything is mainly in the 40-60fsw zone and you really need to go along way off shore to hit 80fsw. Jupiter on the other hand is all drift diving with some excellent sites. I recommend Jupiter Dive Center they run a fantastic operation and have two boats. The dive sites are only about three miles off shore but your depth will pushing what you are wanting to stay in. Most dives are 80-90fsw. The viz is almost always excellent and you have a DM in the water with you.

If you do decide to just dive the Gulf make sure you pack at least a 3mm because like what was said above, the water is cooling off.