First dives since OW cert in Key Largo

[pailloz]

My 17YO daughter and I are planning on our first trip since our cert in Key Largo. Since we only have our checkout dives plus 3 extras under our belt(LOL) i would like to ask your advice. What do you conside the best easy , BEGINNER dives and Vacation spots? We live in NJ so until we ge some serious experience our own coast is far too advanced for our skill level.

She want to do NC wreck dives and MOM says NO WAY! not enough experience!
I would like Cozumel but she is araid of Swine FLU and drifting away in current...

So we are thinking Florida? Maybe Tampa/Ft. Myers area. We would love to see a shallow wreck..
Hoping to go in late June. ANy great spots? Recommended shops. We need to rent all of our gear too. Thanks . Elizabeth:blinking:

 

[elan]

You can dive different places in KeyLargo we found Atalantis artificial reef interesting, and diving other reeds. Anything is interesting to me at this point Wreck at shallower depths can be safe I think if you stay away from it and do not penetrate and if there is not current. But if you have difficulties with buoyancy it might not be a good idea as if the silt starts coming up the visibility will drop and it might become dangerous.

 

[Colliam7]

My 17YO daughter and I are planning on our first trip since our cert in Key Largo. Since we only have our checkout dives plus 3 extras under our belt(LOL) i would like to ask your advice. What do you conside the best easy , BEGINNER dives and Vacation spots? We live in NJ so until we ge some serious experience our own coast is far too advanced for our skill level. She want to do NC wreck dives and MOM says NO WAY! not enough experience! I would like Cozumel but she is araid of Swine FLU and drifting away in current... So we are thinking Florida? Maybe Tampa/Ft. Myers area. We would love to see a shallow wreck.. Hoping to go in late June. ANy great spots? Recommended shops.

Good questions. Three suggestions: 1. You could go down to FL again, where you can get a lot of good shallow experience through additional diving in the Keys, to allow you to build up skills and confidence. As for wrecks there, although the Benwood wreck is broken up / flat, it is a fun dive with lots of marine life and is a relatively shallow wreck dive as well. 2. While many of the NC wrecks are in the 100-130' range, and probably beyond where you want to be right now, there are artificial reefs such as the Hyde, which is at 85 feet to the sand, is upright and intact (and therefore very navigable for the new diver), is just a great dive, and I wouldn't automatically eliminate NC wrecks. They are a lot closer than FL if you are driving. 3. There are lots of warm water - e.g. Caribbean - diving vacation spots accessible to East Coasters. I wouldn't recommend Cozumel (not because of swine flu) - just my personal bias. But, you might consder Roatan - lots of dive resorts available - or Bonaire - even more resorts available, Both places have a lot of relatively shallow, very enjoyable diving opportunbties.

 

[Brishar]

First-Welcome to the Board!

Lots of good advice already posted. I like Key Largo for divers of all experience levels.
Many dive operators run to and around Pennecamp state park. Usual conditions are warm, gin clear water, lots of marine life, shallow depth with long bottom time.

Shallow wrecks, like the Benwood, great for novice and beginner divers. Tell your operator or divemaster what you are interested in and they can advise you.

We vacation in the Outer Banks and there are shallow wrecks just off the Beach.
You will need at least a 5mm wetsuit and vis is usually around 10-20 feet.
Not beyond your experience level, but the surf entry/exits can be challenging.
Again, tell the operator or divemaster what you want.

Good Luck and Safe Diving-Brishar

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
My first choice for you would be Key Largo, plenty of shallow dives including a few wrecks. Other Caribbean locations are Roatan, Bonaire and the Bahamas. You can get to Freeport Bahama fairly easily.

There are a lot of good shops in Key Largo, Silent World has a big following on the board and rightfully so, good boats, great crews and overall a nice experience. I also like Island Ventures, again, nice boats and great crews. I am sure there a bunch of others, those 2 I have recent expereince with. I do suggest you shy away from some of the larger, better know ops. Not that they are bad operations but smaller, less crowded boats are a better experience IMO.
I personaly do not like Coz as a first dive for novices, it is all drift diving, there are no hang lines so all your accents and decents must be done free with no reference or anything to grab on to. It's rare for a fresh out of class diver to be good enough to take on Coz.

I differ with Colliam a little on NC, even our "easy" wrecks like the Hyde and Markum are a good ways off shore and on the deep side. For a couple of new divers with no experience and with out an experienced diver along may not be the best idea either. It is really helpful to have someone along with experience diving NC if for no other reason than to "show you the ropes" on the boats. Seasickness is common and I can think of no better way to discourage a new diver than to be green for hours, learn what the fun of diving is, then it's worth getting green once in a while. There are a couple of close in wrecks that would make a good start. The Liberty ship off Wrightsville Beach is one, only a few miles off shore and a quick ride out, 50 ft and lots of fish. The down side is the vis can be pretty bad. If NC still works best for you, try dropping Tortuga James a PM. He runs a small operation near Morehead City NC and has a great DM. If you contact him and request some easy novice dives, I would bet he can set you up with a good experience with a little more personal touch than some of the bigger ops. tortugacharters.net Dive Tortuga

 

[SandyRobinson]

Congrats on a great way to spend time with your daughter. I have been diving with my 18 year opld daughter for 5 or 6 years and would not trade the experience for anything. I'd go back to Key Largo as there is plenty to see. You will not find as much on the west side of Florida.

For wrecks, the Benwood has been mentioned. There is also the City of Washington and Mike's Wreck. Depths are in 25 to 55 feet.

In addition to the wrecks, there are many reefs or sections of reef that you would not have seen on your previous dives.

We use Silent World for our Key Largo diving. www.silentworldkeylarrgo.com You can get a multi-dive package deal which includes gear rental. I am sure you can find other good shops to use on this board.

You said you only have a few dives but if you are both really comfortable with your diving at this early stage, you may consider taking AOW or Nitrox or least talk to an instructor about the possibility.

Have fun!

 

[lmorin]

My wife and I did our OW cert in Key Largo, then returned there and to Marathon for our first 20 or so dives on our own. Most of the Keys dives are shallow and great for learning. There are several shallow wrecks that should satisfy, at least for now, your daughter's need to see steel underwater. I also agree with the above advice to steer clear of Cozumel until you have a bit more experience. Some of the drift dives can be speedy enough to cause worries, on occasion. Bonaire would be fun. Go some place like Den Leman or Sand Dollar. If you don't feel up to driving yourself to the many shore dives around the island, you can dive Bari Reef right out in front of where you are staying. You will also have the opportunity to do guided boat dives to Klein Bonaire and a few of the other dives nearby. No current. Good vis. Lots to see and most dives are easy.

 

[pailloz]

Wow! thank you all for your responses. I was so surprized. You are SO NICE to a newbie it really makes staying with the sport worthwhile even with the travel and seasickness!

We are planning a Mom/daughter 10 day road trip to check out three colleges,2 are in NC and one in Florida. so all of your advice will be well used.

I am somewhat surprized to hear about COZ. From all the DM down there , you'd think that they had the easiest and best dives ever. Daughter' s best friend had a bad experience in COZ getting lost in the open water when she surfaced and didnt see the boat. I am just very cautious anyway and think we need more experience in the good ole USA.
As a MOM, we are trying to build a hobby to share together and we want low stress.
I love the Keys and I am glad to hear of a few shallow wrecks for her interest.

Elizabeth

 

[Goindrinkn]

I too will agree that going back to KL is probably your best bet. There are a ton of shallower dives, and plenty to see. You can go back to the same sites multiple times and see something different each time. --- I would also add that in my opinion most divers that are newer to the sport do have a bit of tunnel vision. I've been out with students who get on the boat and say - "I didn't really see that much" and the other divers are saying, what about the eel, the goliath, the ray, the ... It takes some time to get comfortable and to see everything!...

As far as the Tampa area, we do have some great sites, however not as good as the east coast and KL. In the gulf our vis tends to be less, and more of the wrecks are in the 60+ range.

One thing that we do have that is unique is sharks tooth diving in Venice. (about 1 - 1.5 hours south of TPA) There's also some great fresh water diving at Ginnie, and the Rainbow River. (about 1.5 - 2 north of TPA) ... I purposely am leaving out devils, and blue as imho those are more advanced dives... Venice and Ginnie can be walk in dives at your own pace, so sometimes this is nice. (and it tends to be a bit cheaper than boat diving)

BUT that aside, if I only had a few day, bang for your buck is going to be Key Largo. And it would be a great time to knock out the AOW Class. A night dive on the Benwood is about the best experience you can have for your first time. A nice structure to follow, and lots to see. Aaaaaand you may get a look at some the wrecks that are a bit deeper. (Mom would disappove) But if you utilize a guide, the Spiegle is worth the few extra hours of learning!

 

[boulderjohn]

I dive Cozumel often, and sometimes the currents are tough for beginnners, but usually they are just fine. I have seen many people there doing their first dives since certification. I myself did my first post certification dives there, and the conditions were wonderful and pretty easy for me then.

There are many other Caribbean locations that are also just fine for beginning divers. If I were you, I would follow a different approach to your search than what you are doing now. I would start by looking for the best deals I could get in terms of flights and lodging to a number of possible vacation spots. Then start looking at the diving potential.

My wife and I follow that approach frequently. As we plan future vacation, we start browsing the possibilities of a number of potential areas. A number of months ago we were looking at a variety of locations, b9oth in the Caribbean and in Hawaii. As we narrowed our choices, I went to the travel forums in ScubaBoard and searched the threads for information on the diving in each area. I sent private messages to some of the people who seemed particularly knowledgeable about the areas.

We finally made our decision (Hawaii), and we leave this Sunday. Because of my search of the travel sections, I already know what dive operators I want to use, and I have made initial contacts with them.