Where on the West coast will you be? I went to that link and the Oriskany is the closest I can find to West coast but is is in the pan handle.
I just moved back to FL after being away 20 years so someone can correct me if I am wrong:
For Florida the clearest water is the keys. That barrier reef (3rd largest in the World) stretches up the East coast to Jupiter(ish). Due to the steady gulf stream current, and the fact that you reach 60-80' sometimes within 3/4 mile of the beach, the entire South East coast is dive-able. In general, visibility worsens as you go north up the East Coast of Florida unless you go to way out to 80-100 feet. That is a 15 mile ride from Cape Canaveral. There is some diving in Vero Beach, Daytona, even Jacksonville and a lots of hunters up the coast who don't care about Florida Key clarity; they just want to hunt.
West coast (Gulf side) wise the water is more green. You have to go miles and miles to hit 50-60 feet. Clearwater charter boats charge like $100/trip which is probably to cover the added fuel cost. Same trip in West Palm is $80. There is blue water in the Gulf but you have to go way off shore in the gulf to get to it and it is very deep. I do remember days growing up in St. Pete when the Gulf was pretty clear but it wasn't consistent. I seem to remember the Winter bringing more clear water at dive-able depths.
The good think about Florida is that it isn't a huge State. I drive from Orlando to Jupiter every weekend to dive. Takes me 2 hours. Yesterday I dove with some folks from Tampa. A little bit longer drive but do-able.I can be in Key Largo in 4 1/2 hours. Youtube searches are great for finding out what the dive sites and clarity look like. So just let us know where you will be and someone will know some dive sites there and we can recommend some drive-able sites as well.
Enjoy!
