Category: Diving in Florida

 

Diving in Florida is one of the best in the Americas with famous diving spots such as the Florida Keys and famous dives such as Pennekamp coral reef state park in Key Largo and the Vandenberg shipwreck in Key West. The sunshine state is a great destination for scuba divers who love wreck diving and coral reefs. A little less known, you can also give a try at diving in the northern Florida springs and snorkelling with manatees in Crystal River.

The marine life in Florida is mostly about reef sharks, nurse sharks, stingrays, barracudas and manatees. It’s the right place to go for both beginners and experienced divers. Due to the water temperatures, regarding scuba gear, it is most common to scuba dive there in a 3 mm wetsuit. The best time of the year is often from October to May. The best dive sites can be reached by boat.

Below you will find all my best scuba diving stories from diving in Florida. I share my top tips on how to organise your trip, my favourites dives, what is the best itinerary or how to do it without breaking the bank. From a travel budget point of view, Florida is a higher budget destination, so save up accordingly.

Scuba diving road trip in Florida: 15 Things you need to know

If you enjoyed my posts about Miami, the Florida Keys and the Northern Florida Springs, you may now wonder how to organise such an adventure. If travelling to the United States doesn’t pose any particular issue, there were a few things I needed to be careful to make my trip enjoyable while avoiding to break the bank! During the two weeks of my adventure,

Scuba diving Florida - Plongée Floride

Springs in Florida : diving in Crystal River and the Devil’s Den

To drive the 500 km/311 mi. from Miami to Crystal River, after a tropical week in the Florida Keys, it had to be for something exciting.  I only had 2 days ahead of me before driving back south to get the best glimpse of diving the springs in Northern Florida. I made the most of my time with an early morning swim with the manatees of

Diving in Devil’s Den, Florida

My scuba diving adventure to the Devil’s den in Florida started with a tiny picture on Pinterest. When I saw the picture of the underground spring it directly enticed to put it on my itinerary to Florida no matter what. The first time I went down the stairs taking me to this prehistorical cave, the view on this striking blue natural pool was beyond expectation. This video

Crystal River: Manatees’ Paradise in Florida

Come swim with me and the manatees of King’s Bay in Crystal River, Florida, USA! The gentle “sea cows” are the most adorable underwater creatures I ever met, even putting dolphins at the second place! Crystal River is in the only place in the world where you can snorkel with these amazing aquatic mammals.  This experience was part of my road trip from The

Scuba diving in the Florida Keys

Scuba diving in the Florida Keys, my American dream

Only “Caribbean” islands of the USA, the Florida Keys consist of an archipelago of 1700 islands at the extreme south-east of the Florida Peninsula. Even if they are not technically part of the Caribbean region (same as for the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos), the climate and the underwater ecosystem is similar to what I experienced in Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic and Belize’s Cayes. Stretching

A stopover in Miami on the way to the Florida Keys

With a long list of TV shows that inspired me, from Miami Vice to CSI Miami, from Miami Ink to Dexter, I had plenty of images to refer to when I tried to imagine how Miami would be. At the same time, I was not sure what to expect. Glamorous or Dangerous? Extravagant or Chilled out? My first impression was a “tropical New York City” with palm trees along