Florida dive vacation advice

Our only diving experiences have been in SE Asia (where we live). In
mid-July we are heading to Orlando, Florida for some meetings and have
scheduled in a week to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We want
to go somewhere in Florida with good diving as well as interesting
places to see and things to do when not diving. If you had 6 days to
experience diving and relaxing in Florida for the first time, where
would you go? Thanks for your advice.

"AmbeIan" wrote

> Our only diving experiences have been in SE Asia (where we live). In
> mid-July we are heading to Orlando, Florida for some meetings and have
> scheduled in a week to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We want
> to go somewhere in Florida with good diving as well as interesting
> places to see and things to do when not diving. If you had 6 days to
> experience diving and relaxing in Florida for the first time, where
> would you go? Thanks for your advice.

A lot depends on what you mean by relaxing.

In Palm Beach County, you can find some good diving, including one of the
favorites of many on this group, Boynton Beach and probably some relaxing
beaches, but you'll probably have problems finding much else of interest.
There's lots there, but it's not easy to find.

In Broward County, you'll also find some decent reef diving and some good
wreck diving. You'll find the beaches, but they won't be deserted and
you'll find other things to do, but they won't be relaxing. It's kind of a
high energy kind of place.

Miami Dade County is much like Broward County except neither the reefs nor
the wrecks are quite as nice.

Then there's the Keys. There are quite a few cattle boat diving operations
in the Keys, but there are also some more customized trip opportunities that
may help you find the best reef diving available in the US. The Keys can be
very relaxing, but with the exception of Key West, don't offer a lot not
water related. Key west, on the other hand, can be both interesting and
relaxing.

If I did not have my own boat, which I do, I'd plan a trip to Key West,
which I've done. I'd stay in a nice bed and breakfast, drop in on Mallory
Square for sunset a few nights and do my dining and drinking right there.
I'd get in my car and drive about 30 miles or so north to do my diving with
several visits to Looe Key (shallow, colorful coral and lots of fish) and
other reef locations. I might also take the day seaplane trip to Fort
Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas for some relatively pristine snorkeling.

Another option might be to stop all along the way, dropping in for a couple
of dives with Lynn Simmons Splashdown Divers in Boynton Beach, a couple of
dives on a wreck of choice with any of the operators in Ft. Lauderdale,
spend a night's activities at Howl at the Moon on Fort Lauderdale Beach,
tour Bayside in Miami, dive the Christ of the Abyss statue and Spiegal Grove
in Key Largo, then head down to Key West for a couple nights and begin my
journey back.

Lee

Thanks VERY much Lee. I really appreciate your helpful and detailed
advice.

AmbeIan

Without question, the keys fom marathon down to key west, especially if you
spear fish. Giant grouper!!
AmbeIan wrote:
>Our only diving experiences have been in SE Asia (where we live). In
>mid-July we are heading to Orlando, Florida for some meetings and have
>scheduled in a week to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We want
>to go somewhere in Florida with good diving as well as interesting
>places to see and things to do when not diving. If you had 6 days to
>experience diving and relaxing in Florida for the first time, where
>would you go? Thanks for your advice.
>

"AmbeIan" <ambeian@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks VERY much Lee. I really appreciate your helpful and detailed
> advice.


FWIW, I'd add two things to what Lee wrote.

First, if you've come this far and are doing tourist things, then Cape
Canaveral Space Center may be something to put on your list too. Its a
bit over an hour's drive from Orlando, and do remember to check out
NASA's launch schedule to see if you might get lucky:

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html


Second, Florida's bigger than it looks at first glance on a map. For
example, its a 400 mile drive from Orlando to Key West, so make sure to
not forget to budget for driving time when making your plans, since you
only have six days.


-hh

"H Huntzinger" wrote

> Second, Florida's bigger than it looks at first glance on a map. For
> example, its a 400 mile drive from Orlando to Key West, so make sure to
> not forget to budget for driving time when making your plans, since you
> only have six days.

Very good point, seeing how certain lawyers ain't smart enough to figure
that out.

Curtis

"H Huntzinger" <{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005@huntzinger.com> wrote in
message
news:{NOSPAM-rm_to_reply}rec-scuba2005-CDB7F1.07282115062005@news.giganews.com...

> Second, Florida's bigger than it looks at first glance on a map. For
> example, its a 400 mile drive from Orlando to Key West, so make sure to
> not forget to budget for driving time when making your plans, since you
> only have six days.

400 miles you say? That's not so far. Try driving from El Paso to
Texarkana sometime...

"Chris Guynn" <chris.guynn@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:0ufse.2300$ks4.1614@newssvr12.news.prodigy.co m...
> 400 miles you say? That's not so far. Try driving from El Paso to
> Texarkana sometime...

Of course, neither one has acceptable diving so one might ask why one would
*want* to drive from El Paso to Texarkana... <grin>

Happy 25th! You probably don't want to spend so much time on the road
as you only have 6 days.

Try this for local scuba diving places:
http://www.florida-scuba.com/orlando.htm

"Grumman-581" <grumman###@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:f1gse.66295$nG6.66051@attbi_s22...
> "Chris Guynn" <chris.guynn@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:0ufse.2300$ks4.1614@newssvr12.news.prodigy.co m...
> > 400 miles you say? That's not so far. Try driving from El Paso to
> > Texarkana sometime...
>
> Of course, neither one has acceptable diving so one might ask why one
would
> *want* to drive from El Paso to Texarkana... <grin>

The from El Paso part is pretty easy to understand... as for the Texarkana
part... well, it's the last place you hit before leaving the state on
I-20... I'm sure there are plenty of good diving spots if you keep going far
enough.