I was hoping to get some advice from you kind folk. I am looking at going to Florida Keys next year for some diving and site seeing. I will of course be taking my UW camera with me, my partner Aimi dives as well to Openwater.
We are looking at a 10 night stay, along with a 5 day dive package with some night dives on top
I do have quite specific questions, if these could be answered it would be greatly appreciated.
1.We will be looking to avoid the school holidays, please advise the best times.
2.Dive centre wise, I was looking at Sea Dwellers or Florida Keys Dive Centre – any feed back would be great.
3.Generally, is there large groups of divers on the boats ? I will certainly be booking a private guide for a few days for both of us as I want to make the most of the UW photography etc.
4.Dive site wise, Molasses Reef, Key Largo etc ?? Any tips would be useful.
hi brian. i'll see if i can help a little. when are you thinking of traveling? schools are generally out june through august. as for holidays? thats a little tougher because schools take breaks at different times, but if you can stay away from easter times frames you should be ok. although i live in florida its been quite awhile since i've dove the the keys. visibility is often not very good and most of the keys is quite shallow and like you said there are huge dive boats that can carry 30+ divers that'll be dropped on a single small finger or patch reef and ruin your day. that being said if you look on the internet or facebook you'll find a few personal local dive guides and hopefully they can get you to quieter reefs. make sure you ask what their bottom time policy is because lately i've heard that many operators limit you to 45 minutes and at 40' max depth thats like half a tank!. for me personally i'm a huge fan of other areas to dive in florida. east coast, west palm beach has blue heron bridge which is awesome muck style diving and i generally get more than 2 hours bottom time there and wild life is unmatched in most of this hemisphere. also there if you go the right time of year (fall) there is the lemon shark migration and the goliath grouper spawning events. both are don't miss events if you dive in florida. i live on the west coast and we do fossil dives in venice area which is fun and if you're into fossils and sharks teeth is a unique experience. hope this helps some.
