Suggestions for Florida Diving

[drbill]

My father, who lives in Sarasota, just had a debilitating stroke and I am planning to go there to spend time with him. Fortunately I was just there three weeks ago before this happened so we had good quality time together then.

While I'm there, I thought I'd try some diving in Florida. Looking for divers who can suggest "don't miss" opportunities in the central and southern part of the state. Would be interested in diving with/filming manatees in fresh water and in diving the Keys.

Thanks for any suggestions. Fortunately Dad is in therapy and recovering albeit slowly.

Dr. Bill

 

[OneBrightGator]

Best of luck to your father.

As far as manatees goes you are probably out of luck, but the most likely place to find them would be Crystal River, I can't think of any ops right off hand, but a search here or Google will help.

If you're a reef-guy, southeast Florida is the place to be, they also have some decent wrecks.

If you're a wreck head the Keys is a great place, I highly recommend the USCG Duane and the Eagle, other good ones are the Spiegel Grove and Thunderbolt.

Ben

 

[Padiwan]

Sombrero Reef, about a two miles off the east coast of Marathon Key. You can see it from the seven mile bridge, it is marked by an old radio tower. There are daily charters out there that are fairly reasonable. Awesome visibility and a great reef.

Best wishes to your Dad.

 

[ReefGuy]

First of all, my best to your father.

There's also some diving close to where you'll be. I wouldn't class it as "don't miss", but Venice Beach and red rock reef is 1/2 hour south of where you will be. There's also several wrecks, icluding the Sugar Barge, which is a shore dive. There's also a very active spearfishing community in the area, and I'm sure if you want you can find lots of charters for that. If you're feeling adventurous, there's the bayronto and the middlegrounds, both of which charter from your area, and excellent diving.

Key Largo is about 4 hours from you, and Ft. Lauderdale about 3. Crystal River (for manatees) and Genni springs to the north.

Oh yeah, give a holler no matter where you go if you need buddies! TONS of divers from all the above locations on this board.

 

[metaldector]

has a few resident Manatees that hang around year round. You can contact Bird's Underwater @ 352-563-2763 for more info.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

All the best to your father...and you.
When will you be arriving? If you are also interested in meeting other SB'rs, check out the Private Trips, there are a few gettogethers being planned in the next month.

 

[CBulla]

DrBill - Sorry to hear about your father, its good to know he is recovering though. Depending on when your around, there is a weekend dive gig up at one of the springs in a few weeks. It would be nice to put a face to the name!

There's also some diving close to where you'll be. I wouldn't class it as "don't miss", but Venice Beach and red rock reef is 1/2 hour south of where you will be. There's also several wrecks, icluding the Sugar Barge, which is a shore dive. There's also a very active spearfishing community in the area, and I'm sure if you want you can find lots of charters for that. If you're feeling adventurous, there's the bayronto and the middlegrounds, both of which charter from your area, and excellent diving.

Jeff - lets not forget the phosphate docks!!! Also, lets consider some of the offshore wrecks or the Tortugas. Also since he is in Sarasota area, there's the sugar barge right from the beach that would be good for a get wet type of dive.

 

[H2Andy]

Dr. Bill:

all the best for your father.

as to diving, like it has been said, Sarasota is near Venice Beach. you can check with Walter for some "teeth diving."
the Sugar Barge is near you, a shallow but nice dive.

about an hour north of you is Crystal River, where you can
do some spring diving and maybe Rainbow River, which is a shallow but nice drift dive.

a little bit further is Blue Spring (near Daytona, about two hours away) if you want a taste of spring diving. Paradise Spring, near Ocala, is also a very nice cavern dive.

for reef diving, you'll have to cross the state and head south to West Palm or south (Ft. Lauderdale has excellent beach diving), and of course, the Keys.

 

[Padipro]

My best to your father as well.

IMO...bag the Keys and head for anything between Palm Beach all the way to Miami. It's closer, has great reefs, beach diving, shorter boat rides, less current, and about 70 different wrecks anywhere from 20 feet to over 300 feet deep. I've been diving here and in the Keys for years now and, again IMO, there's nothing in the Keys you can't find up this way, except for something like a wreck the size of the Speigal Grove. The Keys are nice if you want to get away from the hussle and bussle of the city for a few days and do some diving at the same time but if all you're looking for is some good diving, stay up this way.

Take a look at some of the dive sites in this area.

 

[ReefGuy]

I'm not so sure I'd do the phosphate docks in the near future. The tarpon have started to come in.

Entirely forgot the tortougas, although that'll be a bit expensive from here.