what part of the florida keyes is the best for diving?

Question

taking into account the variety and number of fish, wrecks, coral, rock formations, and water visibility.

Answer 1

There's some good stuff off of Miami and in the southern region of Florida and also over on the western side such as the Marco Island area but the real diving is really in the Keys.

After spending a week down there this past summer I went snorkeling in some great spots but not scuba diving. We went to a lot of places off of Looe Key and also along the Marathon / Islamorada stretch there out by the 7 Mile Bridge. We also went snorkeling in waters off of Summerland Key where there were some great bioiluminescents at night. If you were in-season for bio-lums it could be a real spectical to see. There's also spectacular diving a few miles off of Looe Key where schools of Mangrove Snapper will just swim right by you. If the waters there weren't protected I couldn't imagine all of the fishing boats that would be in the area.

And of course if you want to see ship wrecks your best bet is the coast off of Key West. Known for trading back in the day there were a lot of ships going through some very shallow waters around the Key. If lighthouses malfunctioned or the winds became nasty a shipwreck was almost guarenteed. There's some great dive spots off the coast there and traveler's information should have the necessary info on good dive spots off the coast. If I were you I'd pick the early summer to go down there like late June and spend a couple of days along the southwest keys and then a day or 2 along the northern keys.

Answer 2

if you happen near key largo, check out the Spiegel Grove (sp) its one of the newer wrecks in the keys and accomodates diving for a variety of different skill levels

Answer 3

i go to the keys alot and john penny camp is a good dive site the statue of jesus is there and the only thing is no fishing,lobstering but a really great dive site i go there about once a year hope this helps

Answer 4

Dive the Spiegel Grove, definitely. And the Duane. Both are great dives.