Local viz is a function of wind direction, wind speed, wind
duration, upwelling rate off the continental shelf, rain and
runoff, and random vortices on the west edge of the Gulf Stream.

Viz on the morning of April 29, 2004 was 87 feet.

Viz on the morning of April 29, 2005 will be 67 feet, plus or
minus, 92 feet on the deep wrecks.

Best wrecks are the RBJ (260'), the Lowrance (200'), the Hydro
Atlantic (172'). Good shallow wrecks include the Noula Express,
Jim Atria, Captain Dan, and Ancient Mariner.

Dive with Mike Halprin, Seahorse, 954-783-9300.

Enjoy.
m

Easy questions to answer:

Visibility is what visibility is.  It can reach more than 100 feet or be as
little as a few feet and change within a day.  Thanks to the long expanse of
the continental shelf in this area, visibility is highly wind and wave
dependent.  The wind and waves stir up the shallows and the currents carry
the stuff to the deeper sites.  Good operators often know where the
visibility will be better, but nobody can be sure when it will be best.
Good weather is more reliable in the summer than in the winter.  April is
somewhere between least and most reliable.

AM diving is almost always better than PM diving.  Watch, now that I've said
that, the reverse will be true during your visit.

The sites you see depend on your preferences.  The Spiegal Grove is an
obvious answer if you like wrecks, but it's a lot better in the very best
visibility.  It's 500 feet long and it takes exceelent visibility to get
even a sense of this monster of the deep.  Good reefs are everywhere.  Pick
a good operator, tell them what you're interested in and let them help you
chose well.

For the Spiegal Grove, anybody that goes there.  For the reefs, Quieesence
in Key Largo has a good reputation for a well run 6 pack operations.  Silent
world, in Key Largo, treated a group of us well, but include all the PADI
"rules" in their dive briefings.  Those of us that are not PADI certified or
have grown beyond the desire to think PADI can, or should control out diving
weren't all that impressed.  To their credit, they didn't enforce any of the
"rules."  I found it amusing that the DM could, with a straight face, say
"no decompression" to a diver with a very obvious bottle of 50% O2 slung
under his arm.  8^)  It was almost amusing enough to make up for the "rules"
in the first place.

Lee

Oops.  My mistake.  When I got to Mike's post, I realized I responded
regarding the Keys and not Ft. Lauderdale.  Sorry, I must have been
distracted.

My comments regarding the visibility stand, but it's not quite as bad in the
Ft. Lauderdale area.  You can almost always find someplace with decent
visibility if you stay deepish and stay away from the inlets.

In addition to the wrecks that Mike mentioned, I like the Tenneco Towers.
They've got lots of growth and lots of nooks and crannies for things to live
in.

Lee

I think you'll need one with a time machine.