Where should I live in Florida

[tekkydiver]

I love where I am at but if I were to move it would be waterfront in Lighthouse Point

 

[FullThrottle]

I've lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point, Boca Raton and Vero Beach, and I'm moving to Key Largo next month. I've been snorkeling since 1967, and have snorkeled and scuba dived up and down the east coast, throughout the Keys and to Dry Tortugas, and a bit in the springs. I'm not a cave diver though. If caves are your focus you want to be in north central or panhandle Florida. Otherwise you want to be on the southeast coast. The west coast has few diving opportunities. The Keys has by far the most coral reef diving and plenty of wrecks- a ton of great dive sites. You should check out some Pennekamp dives but by all means get down to Looe Key too; it's the best reef in the keys. But there is no shore diving in the Keys. I've done nice shore dives in Deerfield Beach, Boca, Lauderdale by the Sea, Pompano, Stuart, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach, but those last two locations have many fewer days of good visibility than South Florida sites. Drift diving off Jupiter is awesome and I'd seriously consider living around Hobe Sound which is just outside dysfunctional Palm Beach County, and you'd be well located to sample some shore diving too. Living in Vero Beach has been way nicer than South Florida because it's way too crowded and overrun with New York attitudes down there. If you intend to have a boat the area from Hobe Sound on north will have way less busy ramps than South Florida, but if you get north of Jupiter the deep water is further from shore and the ocean is rougher. The Keys are the gold standard though, by far the best part of Florida for my kind of diving, and there are neighborhoods with private boat ramps, which is key because public boat ramps are limited. And if you're moving to Florida you DO want a boat, even if you don't know it yet.

 

[scubadada]

I've lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point, Boca Raton and Vero Beach, and I'm moving to Key Largo next month. I've been snorkeling since 1967, and have snorkeled and scuba dived up and down the east coast, throughout the Keys and to Dry Tortugas, and a bit in the springs. I'm not a cave diver though. If caves are your focus you want to be in north central or panhandle Florida. Otherwise you want to be on the southeast coast. The west coast has few diving opportunities. The Keys has by far the most coral reef diving and plenty of wrecks- a ton of great dive sites. You should check out some Pennekamp dives but by all means get down to Looe Key too; it's the best reef in the keys. But there is no shore diving in the Keys. I've done nice shore dives in Deerfield Beach, Boca, Lauderdale by the Sea, Pompano, Stuart, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach, but those last two locations have many fewer days of good visibility than South Florida sites. Drift diving off Jupiter is awesome and I'd seriously consider living around Hobe Sound which is just outside dysfunctional Palm Beach County, and you'd be well located to sample some shore diving too. Living in Vero Beach has been way nicer than South Florida because it's way too crowded and overrun with New York attitudes down there. If you intend to have a boat the area from Hobe Sound on north will have way less busy ramps than South Florida, but if you get north of Jupiter the deep water is further from shore and the ocean is rougher. The Keys are the gold standard though, by far the best part of Florida for my kind of diving, and there are neighborhoods with private boat ramps, which is key because public boat ramps are limited. And if you're moving to Florida you DO want a boat, even if you don't know it yet.

Something's wrong with your profile, says you're 20

 

[FullThrottle]

Something's wrong with your profile, says you're 20

Yeah, I'm not.

 

[scubadada]

Yeah, I'm not.

So we can believe all else you say?

 

[FullThrottle]

So we can believe all else you say?

If it really matters I can make up a birthdate that is at least closer to reality...

 

[scubadada]

No problem, just credibility

 

[FullThrottle]

No problem, just credibility

My "birthdate" is no longer visible on my profile. Didn't notice that was an option when I registered and reflexively typed in random numbers...
As for credibility, was my FL info more or less on the mark in your opinion?

 

[scubadada]

...As for credibility, was my FL info more or less on the mark in your opinion?

No, not for me. I spent a decade diving the Keys before I discovered SE FL. No contest, I will take SE FL, specifically Boynton Beach, West Palm and Jupiter, over the Keys. I do miss the Spiegel Grove, the Duane, and the Bibb and go down every once in a while for my fix. If I had a boat, I might prefer the Keys for the ability to tie into a mooring ball rather than drift diving. For the reefs and the sealife there is no comparison.

 

[FullThrottle]

No, not for me. I spent a decade diving the Keys before I discovered SE FL. No contest, I will take SE FL, specifically Boynton Beach, West Palm and Jupiter, over the Keys. I do miss the Spiegel Grove, the Duane, and the Bibb and go down every once in a while for my fix. If I had a boat, I might prefer the Keys for the ability to tie into a mooring ball rather than drift diving. For the reefs and the sealife there is no comparison.

I did say Jupiter drift diving is awesome. Big critters, plenty of tropicals, dramatic structure, effortless glide over fossil reefs, but no live coral reef. But I wouldn't mind living in Hobe Sound.