"Must Dive" Sites in Upper Florida Keys

[dgangi]

My friend and I will be making a relatively short 3-day trip to Key Largo later next week. I am an Advanced Open Water diver and he is a certified Divemaster, so neither of us are newbies.

But this is the first time we have been to Florida. So, if you only had 3 days to dive in the upper keys, where would you go?

One dive site we both want to visit is the Spiegel Grove. But we don't know much else about the area.

Any input you can give would be most appreciated.

And we are planning on diving with Blue Water Divers. Are they a good outfit? Or would you recommend somebody else. We don't want a cattle boat and we don't want somebody who doesn't know their way around the ocean.

Thx...Doug

 

[Walter]

If I only had 3 days to dive the Keys, I doubt I'd want to waste one of my dives on the Grove. It's OK and it's good to have done it, but there are much better dives in the area.

Day 1 Dive from either Tavernier or Islamorada
1. Eagle
2. Hens & Chickens

Day 2 Dive from Tavernier
1. Conch Wall
2. Pickles Pillar Coral

Day 3 Dive from either Key Largo or Tavernier
1. Duane
2. Molasses

 

[Bomber]

I agree with Walter 100%. The only things I would add are the Aquarium, the Garden, Crocker Wall south, and possibly Alligator (for tons of fish pictures). All in the Tavernier/Islamorada area.

Divers City is on Tavernier Creek and Ocean Quest is on Snake Creek. Both considered Islamorada.

http://www.oceanquestdivecenter.com/

http://www.diverscityusa.com/main.htm

 

[Wendy]

The Duane. I enjoyed that wreck.

 

[reefman]

dive sites i would visit are; molasses reef(shallow and a deep drift), the duane(bull sharks last week),the bibb, conch wall, the eagle, aquarium, victory reef, cannabis cruiser, crocker wall, snapper ledge, blue hole and the grove. forget hens and chickens, snorkel only. when i cant find dive buddies for my boat, i dive with divers city in tavernier. iv'e heard positive reports on bluewater. both operations have 6 to 10 divers max,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

reefman
key largo

 

[deepstops]

dgangi once bubbled...
But this is the first time we have been to Florida. So, if you only had 3 days to dive in the upper keys, where would you go?

And we are planning on diving with Blue Water Divers. Are they a good outfit? Or would you recommend somebody else. We don't want a cattle boat and we don't want somebody who doesn't know their way around the ocean.

Thx...Doug

Here are six good dives IMO:
Speigel Grove (will only get better with time)
Duane
Eagle
Benwood (and the nearby drop-off)
Victory Reef Wall (on the drop-off)
Christmas Caves

I don't know Blue Water Divers. I usually go out with
Dive In http://www.diveinflkeys.com or
Divers City or Ocean Quest or Dual Porpoise
http://www.dualporpoise.com
Quiessense Divers also enjoys a good reputation.
Dive In, Dual Porpoise, and Quiessense are six
pack boats. Divers City and OQ run 10-12 max.

 

[blawler1]

I would just add French reef because of the numerous swim throughs

 

[HarleyDiver]

Yes Bluewater is a great outfit, great guys, very flexible.
I would do Grove, Duane or Bibb, Elbow reef, French or Molassas.

You can do 2 dives on Grove in one trip. You can go deep on the first (Sand is 130') but still see plenty on a second dive at 70-80'.

Any of the larger outfits will have a preset plan that usually mandates a shallow reef after a deep wreck. But Bluewater (and probably some other smaller outfits) can & will be very flexible if you call ahead & talk to them.