Three Dives You'd Take Your Out Of State Friends On

[Scuba_Jenny]

BHB
Venice Beach for sharks teeth
Eagle in the Keys

 

[Trigger-F]

1. Crocker or Conch Wall
2. Thunderbolt wreck - Marathon
3. Pompano/LBTS

 

[huxley_knew]

Tough call...

1. Casino Pt., Avalon, Catalina
   
2. Yukon or Ruby E
3. La Jolla Cove/Pt. Loma (tie)

...we have it good in Southern California. But it's also assuming the kelp beds are back in action (no more devil weed, as the good Dr. likes to call it).

EDIT: Caught this from my "Recent Posts' page, didn't realize is was a regional forum. Sorry folks!
However, did just get back from a trip to Fla a week ago. Blue Spring, Blue Grotto, Devil's Den and Ginnie Springs were all very good to me, so thanks!

 

[100days-a-year]

Looe Key: 5'-35' Epic wildlife and coral.
Middle Grounds: 85'-140' most unspoiled reefs in Fl.
Navy Drydock: out of Jacksonville 80'-135' It's 200' wide and 600' long wreck with large animals year round.GWS on down

Runner up is Ft.Pierce during GG spawn
Land based diveevil's Den coolness factor is high

 

[DiverAmy]

Wow, there are so many local dives that I love...
1. Juno Ledge
2. Shark Canyon
3. The Corridors (Mizpah, PC1170, and Amaryllis)

All right in my backyard.

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

With the quality of a dive NOT being judged by depth or difficulty my three "to-do" dives in Florida would be:
1. The Duane
2. Rainbow River drift dive
3. West Palm/Pompano drift dive

 

[paperdesk]

Update:
I really enjoyed all the advice on here, and am sure that this thread will help a lot of people! My wife and I did end up visiting Florida recently, and were able to dive the following:

1. Rainbow River
2. Blue Grotto
3. Molasses Reef
4. Lighthouse Reef and Tunnels

We REALLY liked Rainbow River. So amazing to see and dive with an unbelievable number and variety of fish, as well as other wildlife like turtles, an alligator, Anhinga diving for fish etc.

Blue Grotto was a disappointment for us. The facilities are fantastic, but we just found it to be boring, and not worth the price. Obviously many people disagree, as it seems to be a very popular dive site.

Molasses Reef was fun, and better than we expected. We saw sharks, turtles, loads of fish (especially huge green Morey's) and countless lobsters. Not a lot of amazing coral, but that was no surprise. We went with Rainbow Reef dive op, and they treated us very well. The boat was really packed, but the crew were all friendly, helpful and considerate.

Jupiter diving was amazing, we want to go back! Several sharks were really interested in us swam close to us a number of times throughout the dive, and at one point we could see a turtle, sharks, and Goliath Grouper all at the same time, and couldn't quite decide what to look at first! We went with Stuart Scuba and they were great. The crew were super helpful, knowledgeable, and fun. They seem to cater to more advanced divers than my wife and I, but were not at all condescending. We dove air because my wife isn't Nitrox certified, and we had a great experience, but I would definitely recommend diving Nitrox if possible on these deeper dives to extend your bottom time and shorten your surface interval. It was a real treat to dive with a smaller group after doing the more typical "cattle boat" thing in the Keys. For the sake of anyone interested in booking with Stuart Scuba. I found that email was not an efficient way of communication, but phone worked great.

We planned to dive the Blue Heron Bridge, but the plans fell through. Be sure to check the tides before planning a dive there, as that is what dictates when you begin and end the dive.

Ted

 

[scubadada]

Update:
I really enjoyed all the advice on here, and am sure that this thread will help a lot of people! My wife and I did end up visiting Florida recently, and were able to dive the following:

1. Rainbow River
2. Blue Grotto
3. Molasses Reef
4. Lighthouse Reef and Tunnels

We REALLY liked Rainbow River. So amazing to see and dive with an unbelievable number and variety of fish, as well as other wildlife like turtles, an alligator, Anhinga diving for fish etc.

Blue Grotto was a disappointment for us. The facilities are fantastic, but we just found it to be boring, and not worth the price. Obviously many people disagree, as it seems to be a very popular dive site.

Molasses Reef was fun, and better than we expected. We saw sharks, turtles, loads of fish (especially huge green Morey's) and countless lobsters. Not a lot of amazing coral, but that was no surprise. We went with Rainbow Reef dive op, and they treated us very well. The boat was really packed, but the crew were all friendly, helpful and considerate.

Jupiter diving was amazing, we want to go back! Several sharks were really interested in us swam close to us a number of times throughout the dive, and at one point we could see a turtle, sharks, and Goliath Grouper all at the same time, and couldn't quite decide what to look at first! We went with Stuart Scuba and they were great. The crew were super helpful, knowledgeable, and fun. They seem to cater to more advanced divers than my wife and I, but were not at all condescending. We dove air because my wife isn't Nitrox certified, and we had a great experience, but I would definitely recommend diving Nitrox if possible on these deeper dives to extend your bottom time and shorten your surface interval. It was a real treat to dive with a smaller group after doing the more typical "cattle boat" thing in the Keys. For the sake of anyone interested in booking with Stuart Scuba. I found that email was not an efficient way of communication, but phone worked great.

We planned to dive the Blue Heron Bridge, but the plans fell through. Be sure to check the tides before planning a dive there, as that is what dictates when you begin and end the dive.

Ted

Nitrox diving with JDC can be incredible.The deep reef may have many sharks. The western facing reefs are generally very good.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Waddah Fingers (Neah Bay), the Narrows, Keystone Jetty

 

[paperdesk]

Waddah Fingers (Neah Bay), the Narrows, Keystone Jetty

Hey Kosta, thank you for sharing, I'd love to do these dives sometime, and they're in my own "backyard". I was intending for this thread to focus on FL diving, but I love the home state suggestions. I plan to get over to that side sometime soon and do some WA saltwater diving!