Florida Keys?

Thinking about going to the keys for some diving. Anyone been? A few
questions if you will:

* Are there any tour operators that specialise in Florida Keys trips
from the UK?
* Can anyone reccomend any dive shops in the keys?
* Can anyone reccomend any good places to stay (I am taking a non-diving
wife so its got to be reasonable....)?

I am thinking about the Lower Keys, more near Key West but not actually
in Key West, but I am open to sugestions...

Thanks...

I've dived with Ocean Divers based in Key Largo into the Pennecamp National
Park - you need to talk to them beforehand as the dives differ each day.
Some days they only do tourist stuff, shallow and safe.
Other days they will start with a deeper wreck dive then go and see the fish

I did my Reef Ecology Specialty there and can't recommend it enough - I
learnt a lot!
The diving further south I found less interesting but I didn't dive south of
Key West, only north of it. There are many many good dive shops on the Keys
and if you look for a PADI 5 star centre you should be okay.

Paul H wrote:
> I've dived with Ocean Divers based in Key Largo into the Pennecamp
> National Park - you need to talk to them beforehand as the dives
> differ each day. Some days they only do tourist stuff, shallow and
> safe.
> Other days they will start with a deeper wreck dive then go and see
> the fish
> I did my Reef Ecology Specialty there and can't recommend it enough -
> I learnt a lot!
> The diving further south I found less interesting but I didn't dive
> south of Key West, only north of it. There are many many good dive
> shops on the Keys and if you look for a PADI 5 star centre you should
> be okay.

There are a lot of dive shops in the Keys. Don't limit yourself to PADI
shops. Chose your shop by the dives they do, not the agency they represent.

Lee

The wife and I went there last year for a fly drive holiday the best
place we found to stay in Keywest was the www.budgetkeywest.com its
very nice in a good location and you can park outside.
We also stayed in Key Largo for a while but both wish we had spent all
our time in Key West and just driven up for the diving.

Hope that helps.

Adam

Adam Walker wrote:
> The wife and I went there last year for a fly drive holiday the best
> place we found to stay in Keywest was the www.budgetkeywest.com its
> very nice in a good location and you can park outside.
> We also stayed in Key Largo for a while but both wish we had spent all
> our time in Key West and just driven up for the diving.
>
> Hope that helps.

I don't know if it helps anybody else, but it helps me. Thanks.

BTW, if you're diving, you can stay in Key West for any shop up to about Big
Pine Key, about 30 miles from Key West. Beyond that, the drive gets to be a
bit of a bother.

Lee

"Daddy Longlegs" <daddy@spider.web> wrote in message

> Thinking about going to the keys for some diving. Anyone been?

I was diving out in Key Largo last March, here's a report I wrote at
the time http://www.bubbling-under.com/diving...orida2003.html

We didn't want shallow reefs/drifts and Horizon were able to offer us a
weekend of slightly deeper wreck diving, if that's what you're into.

HTH
Chris


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Adam Walker wrote:

> The wife and I went there last year for a fly drive holiday the best
> place we found to stay in Keywest was the www.budgetkeywest.com its
> very nice in a good location and you can park outside.
> We also stayed in Key Largo for a while but both wish we had spent all
> our time in Key West and just driven up for the diving.
>
> Hope that helps.
>
> Adam


Yep that helps! They look nice, and a good price too....


***********

Chris Bell wrote:
> "Daddy Longlegs" <daddy@spider.web> wrote in message
>
>> Thinking about going to the keys for some diving. Anyone been?
>
> I was diving out in Key Largo last March, here's a report I wrote at
> the time
> http://www.bubbling-under.com/diving...orida2003.html
>
> We didn't want shallow reefs/drifts and Horizon were able to offer us
> a weekend of slightly deeper wreck diving, if that's what you're into.

Nice report. Interesting that you chose to drive to the Keys for wreck
diving. Ft. Lauderdale, where you landed and I live, has one of the most
active artificial reef (wreck sinking) programs in the world. Usually,
those that go to the Keys go there for the reefs rather than the wrecks.
The Bibb, Duane, Eagle, Spiegal Grove and Adolphus Busch (about 60 miles
further down the chain) were all sunk to attract those that prefer wrecks to
reefs or a mix of the two. Glad it worked for you.

Lee

"Lee Bell" <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> wrote in message
> Nice report. Interesting that you chose to drive to the Keys for wreck

We'd had dived some of the areas north of Miami the year before that,
although a bit further up than Ft Lauderdale. It was really the chance
to dive the Speigel Grove that lead us to the keys.
Interestingly, the earlier trip was arranged based on some emails I'd
swapped
with you back in 2002!

http://www.bubbling-under.com/diving...orida2002.html

Chris


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"Daddy Longlegs" <daddy@spider.web> wrote in message
news:4039fd13$0$17851$fa0fcedb@lovejoy.zen.co.uk.. .
> Wow, loads of info. Thanks for that, I have seen Ocean Divers
> reccomended before, so I might give em a go...
>
> When is the best time to visit the area for weather etc? I was thinking
> September?

You can get excellent weather any time of year, but the summer months are
more reliable than the winter.

Lee