Good diving in Southeast?

Mistake Not...

Mistake Not...

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Mistake Not...
So I've almost lost enough weight I'm considering SCUBA diving again. I really like the idea of tossing the gear in the plane and heading off for a weekend to some beautiful beach, diving in crystal clear water, etc.

What's available along the gulf coast? Anything out of Destin, for example?
 
Mistake Not... said:
So I've almost lost enough weight I'm considering SCUBA diving again. I really like the idea of tossing the gear in the plane and heading off for a weekend to some beautiful beach, diving in crystal clear water, etc.

What's available along the gulf coast? Anything out of Destin, for example?
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There's a couple of good wrecks out in the GOM, but everything is a hell of a long boat ride, so make sure you get on a fast boat. I would suggest you head down to the Keys. The best diving in the U.S. is between Big Pine Key and Key West. They also have the Duane and Bib off Key Largo, but the current is usually ripping on them, so I wouldn't suggest them for your first dive in a while, hit them on your way back up, unfortunately there's no public airport on Key Largo.
 
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Aw, man. I was hoping to find a good "$100 Dive". Thanks, Henning.
 
Mistake Not... said:
Aw, man. I was hoping to find a good "$100 Dive". Thanks, Henning.
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The problem with the GOM is there are extremely few natural underwater features to attract the lingering species of fish and such which are the bottom of the food chain. I'm sure there are some decent artificial reefs around there though. The Keys are cheap though, and the best diving in the U.S.
 
Florida has awesome diving at least they used to. I plan to get back into SCUBA myself after finishing my instrument rating. Here in San Diego we have shipwrecks but water is not as clear or warm.
 
Blueangel said:
Florida has awesome diving at least they used to. I plan to get back into SCUBA myself after finishing my instrument rating. Here in San Diego we have shipwrecks but water is not as clear or warm.
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California diving sucks, it's not just "not warm" it's freaking cold. Although Catalina has some good visibility. I do like diving the kelp around Monterey for the otter action.
 
I did all my cert work out of Key Largo. It's not a bad place (and really most of the year, going further up the Atlantic coast is going to be COLD).

I'd think carefully about a "weekend" trip. Dive to fly time. As Henning points out, you're likely going to have to drive from the airport to your dive boat. Not a whole lot of places near the airport anywhere down the keys to my knowledge (especially if you're lugging even a fraction of your own gear).
 
flyingron said:
I did all my cert work out of Key Largo. It's not a bad place (and really most of the year, going further up the Atlantic coast is going to be COLD).

I'd think carefully about a "weekend" trip. Dive to fly time. As Henning points out, you're likely going to have to drive from the airport to your dive boat. Not a whole lot of places near the airport anywhere down the keys to my knowledge (especially if you're lugging even a fraction of your own gear).
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Key West and Marathon both have dive operations close by that will come pick you up. I used to fly directly post dive all the time, just stay below 1000' and no worries. I checked it with a Doppler stethoscope once and didn't get any perceptible increase in bubbling until over 2000'.
 
Agree I have dived Monterey and Catalina. Need a drysuit there!

My favorite place so far is Little Cayman and Bonaire.
 
Henning said:
Key West and Marathon both have dive operations close by that will come pick you up. I used to fly directly post dive all the time, just stay below 1000' and no worries. I checked it with a Doppler stethoscope once and didn't get any perceptible increase in bubbling until over 2000'.
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I've got a close friend who got bent that way. Now there were likely other factors involved but staying at 1000' isn't any guarantee and particularly if you are the pilot, I'd not push it.
 
What's the time from bottle (tank) to throttle? I guess it depends on your dive plans (deeper, longer, takes more time).

Any rules of thumb? Is 24 hours out of the water enough before flying?

Fly down on a Friday, dive Friday afternoon, Saturday, come back Sunday afternoon?
 
flyingron said:
I've got a close friend who got bent that way. Now there were likely other factors involved but staying at 1000' isn't any guarantee and particularly if you are the pilot, I'd not push it.
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If he stayed below 1000', he was bent already. I flew my buddy back from the Bahamas that got bent over there and stayed below 100' until I had to climb at the coast to get into FXE.
 
My only east coast diving has been out of Morehead City, NC. Lots of WWII wrecks out there that the dive shops will take you to. I flew into KMRH, and got good service.
 
Anthony said:
My only east coast diving has been out of Morehead City, NC. Lots of WWII wrecks out there that the dive shops will take you to. I flew into KMRH, and got good service.
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The Monitor was an interesting dive back in the day.
 
Henning said:
The Monitor was an interesting dive back in the day.
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A guy I work with was one of the divers that discovered The Hunley (Confederate Sub) in Charleston, SC harbor. The bodies were still in it.
 
My rule of thumb between diving and flying is give full day after last dive to take off for safety reasons.
 
I usually fly to Marathon in the Keys and have a rental car agency leave a car at the airport for me. I like to get the 3 day / 10 dive package deals which will usually have a good variety of dives. I'll finish up my dives on the morning of the third day and fly home the next day. I prefer the Keys over the Gulf but I have made dives off of Panama City. The Navy blew up some observation towers that have become artificial reefs. Unfortunately they are 80 to 100 feet deep which I would not recommend for first dives after being away from diving. The great thing about the Keys is you can find some nice shallow reefs in the 25 to 30 foot range that would be good for starters. I think French Reef in Penecamp Park out from Key Largo would be good for starters. Up the Florida coast around the West Palm Beach area they have some good drift diving in the Gulf Stream. Again this would not be good starter dives because of the current and depth but good to add to the bucket list after you get aclimated again.
 
Destin doesn't have much to dive. There is an intake grate that we free dive at night occasionally and some guys brings their scuba gear and do an hour. Lotta fun. Few offshore wrecks. In the same general area look into Morrison Spings and Vortex Springs.
 
Seanaldinho said:
Destin doesn't have much to dive. There is an intake grate that we free dive at night occasionally and some guys brings their scuba gear and do an hour. Lotta fun. Few offshore wrecks. In the same general area look into Morrison Spings and Vortex Springs.
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Rats. If Destin had diving it'd be as close to perfection as I've seen. Those beaches are amazing.
 
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