Florida Diving Inquiry

[mario_speedwagon]

We live in Las Vegas and are thinking about moving to Florida within the next year. We were leaning toward the Tampa area, but would love to know what the diving is like in Tampa, Keys, Ft Lauderdale, Naples, and surrounding areas. We hear that it is the shark capital of the world....we welcome any and all suggestions. What's the water temp??

Leigh Ann and Mario

 

[Vayu]

Hey man. Florida diving is great. Lots of springs are accesable near tampa and the water temp is 72 year round. The beaches get warmer (and cooler) during the seasons. In tampa you will be 4 -5 hours from the keys and 1-2 hours from springs and cave country. Check out the "florida conch diver" forum under regional sub forums for more info. Send me a pm when you move here and we can check out some of the sites.

I've got some pics of the springs (above water): http://www.pbase.com/jarrett/florida

-V

 

[mario_speedwagon]

Hey man. Florida diving is great. Lots of springs are accesable near tampa and the water temp is 72 year round. The beaches get warmer (and cooler) during the seasons. In tampa you will be 4 -5 hours from the keys and 1-2 hours from springs and cave country. Check out the "florida conch diver" forum under regional sub forums for more info. Send me a pm when you move here and we can check out some of the sites.

I've got some pics of the springs (above water): http://www.pbase.com/jarrett/florida

-V

So, it sounds like we will love the diving and the water temp is better than the west coast!!! Do you know anything about the Tampa Area??? Good side, bad side, cost of living, employment......any opinions??

Leigh Ann and Mario

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy and welcome to SB!

Tampa is one of the Last major city in the state I'd consider for diving. Check our floriday forum.

If you haven't yet, click Forums above and start going thru the list - looking for those of interest to you, especially your local dive club. Click the link in my Sig below to PM me if I can help you around here..

don

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

I grew up in St. Pete and dove the west coast a lot as a teenager. Currently I live in Lakeland (middle of the state between Tampa and Orlando). Now I mostly dive the east coast (Jupiter/West Palm) and the Keys. IMHO the east coast has much better diving and the reefs are much closer to shore. I'm a "warm water, pretty fish" kind of guy and only go to the springs with students when we get blown out on the coast so I look to others for opinions there.

On the other hand, the Tampa/St Pete area is very nice in terms of a place to live. We're only about 30 minutes away from Tampa and go there all the time for dinner, broadway shows, etc. I also love windsurfing off St. Pete.

Give me a shout when you get to town and we can hook up for some diving. Also, as mentioned above, check out the "Florida Conch Divers" section. It's a very active group!

 

[ffestpirate]

The diving is a lot better on the East coast and in the keys, but as for a place to live, I love the West coast. Things are a lot more laid back and move at a slower pace over here. The East coast is only an hour and 45 minutes away and yes, the springs are always good.

 

[plagsage]

I agree with others. I live in Tampa Bay area (near Clearwater). Diving close to Tampa is not great, but short drive to good diving. If you want ocean diving in Tampa area it is a long boat ride to water deep enough for diving. Go north of Tampa there are caves/caverns and springs to dive.
Outside of diving life is great for boating, beach, fishing etc.
Cost of living is good with the exception of housing.
Housing is coming down, but still expensive, along with home insurance, and taxes.

 

[PePaw]

Vayu, really enjoyed your photographs.
Leigh & Mario, good-luck on your decision.

 

[Hemlon]

Welcome to the board!

 

[Li'l38]

Hello Leigh Ann and Mario, welcome to SB! I live right in the middle of our beautiful Sunshine State. I have to say, diving the ocean on the East Coast is da bomb! The Keys are absolutely outstanding! The Gulf has a lot to offer but the vis is often very poor for diving. The reefs pale in comparison to the ocean. However, you can dive wrecks, hunt for fossils and shark teeth, and meet some of the nicest SB divers ever! The springs are pretty cool too. Florida has numerous places for diving.... all within driving distance of where ever you live. Good luck weighing all the options/reasons (cost of living, employment, diving, etc.) and deciding what you need to be closest to.
As others metioned, look in the Florida Conch Divers forum. <--(click on that link) I know someone over there will step up to get you the info you seek

Are we really the "shark capital of the world?" ..... I don't have stats n numbers but if that is so, it should be said the shark 'attack' capital... It's all in the mix.
You have a number of un-informed/ careless swimmers all "schooling" in the water together........ someone gets out too far, surfing, or in some other way, floating (flailing) on the surface. This appears "injured" to a shark.. (they same way you'd lure any fish with artificial bait.) Think about it, that's the li'l lamb that strayed too far from it's mother and the herd. Shark bitten divers are basically unheard of.

It isn't our number of sharks... it's the number of incidents or injuries... that has to be right. No doubt, the sharks are more plentiful elsewhere? (note to self: find more info and details on that!) j/k- I haven't had a shark encounter yet. Not that it doesn't happen, but from what I understand, divers don't appear as "shark food" and the sharks don't like the bubbles... so, purging your reg is your first defense. (Rock solid advice I learned from SB ) Seriously, sharks aren't everywhere, if you wanna see 'em, you gotta go lookin' for 'em.... well, there is the occasional nurse shark on a reef. They're timid and usually flee before you get very close.

I'm told there's Lemon Shark diving in January or February. It's on my "to dive list" but I'm not sure I can make it happen this time around. Should be something about it in the FCD forum...... (I haven't checked it lately) Or you can use the search function for past threads on any topic. Have fun, welcome aboard!