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Scuba Forum / Scuba Locations / July 2007

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Florida diving

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Lisa and David Nuttall - 14 Apr 2007 08:48 GMT
I'm looking for some short dives in Florida, I'll be staying in Kissamee
with 3 non-divers. Any ideas on locations that have kit hire and a short
trip time to dive site?
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Lisa and David Nuttall

Lee Bell - 15 Apr 2007 15:48 GMT
> I'm looking for some short dives in Florida, I'll be staying in Kissamee
> with 3 non-divers. Any ideas on locations that have kit hire and a short
> trip time to dive site?

Disney's Living Seas exhibit is the only thing I know of close to Kissimmee.

The next closest diving is probably in the Kings Bay area of Crystal River
(manatee dive and shallow cavern) or Rainbow River (30 foot max drift along
a crystal clear river) , about 85 miles, as the crow flies, to the west
about a 2 hour drive.  The primary attraction is the manatees that frequent
the warmer water when the ocean and other nearby waters drop below 70 F.  In
other words, it's a winter diving destination.  After that, your best bet is
probably Devil's Den or Blue Grotto (cavern with max depth close to 100
feet), about 95 miles to the northwest, still about a 2 hour drive.

The nearest decent ocean diving is about 90 miles south in Fort Pierce.
It's better 150 miles south in Boynton Beach, a 3 to 4 hour drive and stays
good almost to the end of the Florida Keys.  Key Largo is about 5 or 6 hours
away, Key west is about 6 or 7 hours away.

Florida is fairly narrow, but due to being long north to south and east and
west along the northern border, has the longest coastline of any of the 48
continental states.  Only Alaska has more.  Being in Florida does not
necessarily equate to being close to great diving.  Florida is approximately
the size of England and Wales, or so says World InfoZone.  Kissimmee is
located inland, roughly in the middle of the state.

Lee
Brian - 16 Apr 2007 03:25 GMT
My girlfriend, her son and I just did the Dive Quest in Epcot's aquarium. It
was pretty fun. It cost $140 each and they supply everything. All you need
is your bathing suit and dive card. In fact they don't want you to bring
anything in with you. There were 4 sharks, 2 turtles, 2 manta rays, and a
mega grouper, along with other schools of fish. They only let 12 people a
day do it so book it early. We booked it 2 weeks ahead of time with no
problem. Look on the disney website or Epcots website for Dive quest...it
was worth it.

>> I'm looking for some short dives in Florida, I'll be staying in Kissamee
>> with 3 non-divers. Any ideas on locations that have kit hire and a short
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Lee
Max Headspace - 06 Jul 2007 14:16 GMT
Ditto on the Dive Quest option.  It's a forty minute dive in the acquarium
tank.  I did it about five years ago and it was a lot of fun.  It was a
blast being part of the exhibit, i.e., people watching you through the
glass.  You can swim over and watch people eating through the windows in the
restaurant.  They also video tape it, and offer it for sale for a nominal
fee.  The manatees, as suggested in the string above, are only around from
about November to March, mainly up in the Crystal Springs area, but it's not
really a dive, just snorkling.  The manatees hang out in about four feet of
water.  (They are cool, though!)  That's a great option since you can bring
the non-divers.  The best diving is down in the Keys, and you can dive for
many days off of Key Largo before getting bored (Key Largo is the closest
key).  Problem is, the Keys are about six hours away from Kissimee.  Miami
and Fort Lauderdale have some good dive spots.  All of those places are
littered with dive shops, so you won't have trouble finding the charter
boats or rental kit.

Good luck!
Max

> My girlfriend, her son and I just did the Dive Quest in Epcot's aquarium.
> It was pretty fun. It cost $140 each and they supply everything. All you
[quoted text clipped - 35 lines]
>>
>> Lee
Greg Mossman - 06 Jul 2007 17:29 GMT
On Jul 6, 6:16 am, "Max Headspace" <maxheadsp...@cablespeed.com>
wrote:

> The best diving is down in the Keys, and you can dive for
> many days off of Key Largo before getting bored (Key Largo is the closest
> key).  Problem is, the Keys are about six hours away from Kissimee.  

That's interesting.  It took me about 5 minutes to get bored diving
off Key Largo.  After two hour-long dives in water that I could
practically stand in, I'm lucky I didn't fall asleep and drown.
janerene - 06 Jul 2007 22:56 GMT
Has anyone had personal experience with Scuba Club Cozumel?  Your comments
are appreciated!  Thanks!
Dillon Pyron - 09 Jul 2007 03:00 GMT
>Has anyone had personal experience with Scuba Club Cozumel?  Your comments
>are appreciated!  Thanks!

We were there in Nov of 2004, right after Thanksgiving.  There were
moderatly affected by Wilma.

The diving was pretty good.  As usual, it's a mixed lot of skills,
unless you go with a group you know.  But the boats are small, mostly
12 max.  It's all drift, of course.  Kind of a long ride to the south,
though.  The DMs pick the dives, but they do take requests.  You're
normally assigned the same boat for most of your stay.  If you find
someone you get along with, you can request being placed together.

Nitrox is available, but you have to request it by 4pm the afternoon
before.  I can't remember how much.  I brought my own analyzer.  They
make you use theirs, but I double checked.  The fills are all in the
3000 psi range.

The shore diving is okay.  Worth one or two.  Night diving was pretty
neat, though.  Max depth is around 35 feet.  I was down for about 90
minutes and still got out with 1100 psi.  The women got 60s and were
pretty happy with them.  There's a little puka with stairs that you
can walk out through, or even walk in if you're lazy.

They have lockers to keep your gear.  Bring a cheap combo lock.  Cheap
because it will probably rust up within a week, whereas a good one
would probably rust up within a week.  Each of the rooms has a line
and hangers for wet suits and such.

Our room had the noisiest AC unit I've ever heard.  Except for the
ones in some of the other rooms.  Each room also has a dorm sized
fridge.  Most of the rooms have a huge shower.

They remind you (repeatedly) to only drink bottled water.  You can get
a pitcher filled with bottled water from the bar until about 11:30 at
night.  The ice all comes from the ice plant and is safe.

The food is pretty good.  The breakfasts are buffet and some of the
selections are "American".  But try some of the more local stuff.
Lunch was from a never changing menu, plus daily specials.  Dinner
changed nightly.  The dinner is served in the upstairs dining room,
which is much nicer.  We weren't disappointed with a single meal.  I'd
recommend the coconut ice cream at lunch.  Drinks aren't included in
the price, other than breakfast.

Downtown is easily walkable.  We'd normally walk in, then take a taxi
back.  $5 one way.  There is a very interesting grocery/department
store not too far away.  Think tortillas and motorscooters.

The dive shop is across the street.  Not much to it, really, though.

Enough?  Write me if you have any other quesitons.
Signature

dillon

Broadway Photo sucks.  Ask me why.

 
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