Generally poor. The Gulf coast of Florida does not have a lot to offer. The
depth increases slowly and the bottom is relatively flat and featureless.
Because of the nature of the bottom, and the fact that much of it is sand or
mud, visibility tends to suffer a lot in windy conditions, and tends to stay
relatively poor for a bit longer than is the case on the east coast, where
the Gulf Stream current tends to clean things up more quickly. The best
diving is on wrecks, but there are not nearly as many of them as there are
along the SE coast.

My limited knowledge of the area is that the best diving tends to be deep.
Like the rest of the Gulf coast of Florida, the bottom tends to be
relatively featureless. Lobster hunting and spearfishing can be good, but I
don't know anybody that dives there for the scenery . . . except for those
doing the Oriskany.

Depends on what you mean by further out from the mainland. If you mean
further down the chain of islands, the diving is quite similar from Key
Largo, at the north end, to around Marathon, about half way down. As the
Keys turn west, conditions tend to get more variable and the good sites tend
to be a bit more spread out. There are exceptions. Looe Key, about 30 miles
northwest of Key West, is one of them. Key Largo, being closest to the
mainland, gets more diving pressure than locations further south. That
generally means more colorful reefs and more abundant fish life. Expect a
lot of smaller, colorful reef fish. Do not expect a lot of large sea life.
If you're lucky, you may see a large Jewfish or even a shark or two, but
smaller fish are the norm.

If you mean far from shore, the answer is a clear yes. There's no good shore
diving in the Keys and darned little acceptable shore diving. Everything
that makes the Keys special is a mile or so from shore.

The colder the water, the fewer reef fish you're likely to see. Fish on the
deep reefs and wrecks tend to be consistent throughout the year. Any time of
year will be as good as the visibility. Now that I've broached the subject,
visibility is variable, from very good (100 feet or more) to very bad (can't
see your hand in front of your face). Visibility, in Florida is heavily
dependent on wind. When the wind's blowing and seas are rough, visibility
tends to be poor. When it's been calm for a day or two, it tends to be
better. Good and bad days happen throughout the year, but good conditions
are generally more reliable in the summer than in the winter.

Here are a few suggestions you might find interesting:

1. In addition to wrecks and reefs, Florida has caves, caverns and diveable
sinkholes. You didn't mention cave or cavern certifications, so you're
probably not going to be allowed into most of them. You will be allowed in
the basins of springs and in a couple well known caverns, specifically,
Devil's Den and Blue Grotto. Both are reasonably close to Tampa. Another
interesting dive or snorkel is available on the Rainbow River, also
reasonably close to Tampa.

2. In the winter, Manatees move up into the spring fed fresh water rivers.
Once temperatures in the surrounding Gulf waters drop below about 72 F, the
manatees move into the rivers in quantities that make them easier to find.
Both the Homosassa River and Crystal River, have substantial populations and
services that specialize in taking divers or snorkelers to them. Both are
reasonably close to Tampa.

3. All of the reef diving in Florida is along the east coast. The best reef
diving starts around West Palm Beach and continues all the way to Key West.
By the time you've driven to the Keys, you've missed about half of the good
reefs in Florida. Jim Abernethy runs a good operation out of the West Palm
area. Dives up there tend to be a bit deeper than further south and, thanks
to prevailing currents, are usually drift dives. The next area I'm familiar
with is Boynton Beach. Pretty much any operator out of the Sea Mist Marina,
will be good. There are several there. Boynton has some of the better reefs
along Florida's SE coast and artificial reef wrecks, ships deliberately sunk
for fish attraction and fishing and diving opportunities. A bit further
south, in the Ft. Lauderdale area, you also have some nice reefs and even
more wrecks. Current tends to be milder and many of the dives are done from
an anchored boat.  Still further south, Miami is much the same. South of
Miami, is the Keys.

Lee

The best diving around Tampa is cavern and cave diving.  The dive boats
in February are extremely irregular, to the point where I've given up
trying to find one going out after 5 years' trying during my yearly
visits during that month.  Hospital Hole, Blue Grotto, Devil's Den, and
 Hudson Hole are all cavern dives, and except for Devil's Den (where I
haven't been) all are fun to do once.  Eagle's Nest isn't too far (I've
not been but I hear it's good diving) and there are other cave dives
around.  Ginnie Springs is pretty far North of Tampa but still closer
than Pensacola, and weather is never a problem.

The best dive shop I've found in the Tampa area is EZ Scuba.  Among
other redeeming features, they rent doubles and deco tanks, and sell
both Nitrox and Trimix.  It's owned and at least partially staffed by
cave divers and cave diving instructors; which is to say, they have a
clue.  They also offer cavern and cave instruction, which I might take
advantage of next year.  Other than renting there and picking up the odd
bargain or two when I'm in Tampa I have no connection with the shop.

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