Florida

USA_East

There is a SCUBA destination in Lake Denton, Florida.  This is where my wife and I completed our open water dives for our certification.  The visibility is good and there are a lot of fish to see.  It is a favorite of the locals and is busy on Saturday, but Sunday it's less crowded.  There are lines on the bottom to help navigate.  There are also a couple of sunken dinghies.

Lake Denton, Florida

Lake Denton

6 million gallon tank with over 65 species of marine life. Saw sharks, turtles, eagle rays, and diverse tropical fish.

Disneyworld! Living Seas Pavilion, Epcot, Lake Buena Vista, Orlando, FL

The Living Seas

EPCOT Dive Quest is an exciting experience offered at the Living Seas at EPCOT Center Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL which gives you the chance to perform on our underwater stage- a 6 million gallon aquarium which houses over 65 different species of fish, sharks, turtles, and stingrays.

The program, which lasts for about 2 ½ hours, begins with a backstage tour of the Living Seas- a functioning marine research facility.  You will learn about marine wildlife conservation and Disney’s efforts all around the world to protect our oceans.  After watching a short film about how the Living Seas was created, it is time for the ultimate dive.   We provide all of the gear, while you supply all of the fun when you SCUBA dive in our main aquatic environment for 40 minutes.  You’ll be part of the Disney show as you get to dive in a place that millions have visited but few have been able to go beneath its surface.  All guests are given a T-shirt and a certificate of completion at the conclusion of the program.

Certified divers ages 10 and up are welcome.  The cost is $140 per person (group rates available- other discounts may apply). This includes all gear, the dive, refreshments, a T-shirt, certificate, and a dive log stamp.  Equipment includes mask, fins, tank, buoyancy compensator, regulator, weightbelt, and a 2.5 mm shorty wetsuit.  Water temperature is in the mid-70s. Personal masks are acceptable. To make a reservation for Dive Quest, please call  407-WDW-TOUR (407-939-8687) 

In addition to Dive Quest, we also offer two programs for non-certified guests- Seas Aqua Tours and Dolphins in Depth. Aqua Tours involves surface-assisted-snorkeling in our main environment, while Dolphins in Depth involves in-depth information and interaction time with our two resident bottle-nosed dolphins.



Epcot Dive Quest

The program is approximately 90-minutes and includes an educational presentation about sharks and a 30-minute dive in the Shark Bay exhibit. The divers will exit the shark cage with an Aquarium dive master and position themselves on the bottom of the exhibit in front of the exhibit window for optimal viewing of the sharks. Family and friends will be able to view the divers during all phases of the dive from the Sea Hunt gallery.

The Shark Bay Exhibit at The Florida Aquarium, 701 Channelside Drive, Tampa, Florida.  http://www.flaquarium.org/html/l2/l2_explore_dive.html  From I-275 Southbound - Coming from North Tampa & Ocala Areas  Take Exit 45A (OLD 26) Downtown East (Jefferson Street) Continue straight on Jefferson to Twiggs Left on Twiggs to Channelside Drive Right on Channelside Drive to Washington Street Left on Washington Street to Aquarium Parking

Shark Bay Exhibit At the Florida Aquarium

This is a real nice dive spot. The reef is huge, I spent two hours there and saw less than a quarter of what is there. The coral life is amazing, soft corals, many several feet tall are everywhere Big heads of hard coral some three or more feet tall are not uncommon. In some areas I saw stag horn corals carpeting the ground. While the fish were not as dense as at gulf stream park, they were much more diverse, I saw almost everything I have seen in south Florida, Angelfish, Damsels, wrasses, parrotfish, a small nurse shark, a small stingray, and a whole lot I could not identify. This is seriously one of the best reefs I have seen this close to shore.

From I-95 get off on Oakland Park Blvd in Fort Lauderdale follow that east to the A1A. Go south along the A1A until 27th street. Go east on 27th. Then turn left (north) on Atlantic and drive about two blocks, Vista park parking will be on the right. There are cheap meters, 25cents an hour as of Jan 2004. Get into the water anywhere along the beach, the reef starts just after the Buoys

Vista Park

The El Capitana is one of ten treasure galleons that were driven onto local reefs by violent weather in 1715. A few cannons and hundreds of ballast stones are scattered across the reef. The large reef area starts 6.1m (20ft) off shore. Because of shallow depths, entries and exits can be hazardous during periods of rough surf. Even today, salvage workers are still collecting gold and sliver from the site. A local museum tells about the ships violent fate. Hope it helps!

From the intersection of SR 60 and A1A in Vero Beach, go north on A1A for 11 miles. OR 1 mile south of the Sebastian Inlet Bridge to the Sebastian Inlet State Park. Ask officials how to get to the site via boat or short swim.

El Capitana

This site is known to yield fossilized sharks' teeth. Poor visibility, esp when the water's a little choppy. I have found upwards of 60 teeth in a one-hour dive. (Pics of them on my page.) Teeth ranged from serrated (white sharks) to lanceolate (sand sharks). Many different sizes. This site has been reported to yield teeth in excess of 4" diameter !!! Local dive guides available, but you won't need them. Stay at exactly 19'-21', and you'll find plenty. BEWARE of boats: use a dive buoy.

Public parking at the municipal lot. Hump your gear to the water's edge. Go straight out +/- 100 yards from the lifeguard tower.

Venice Beach

The breckenshire is a steal hulled steam ship that ran aground in 1894. The boiler used to stick out of the water making it easy to locate. It has since collapsed I assume. During calm weather visibility is very good. Has many species of tropicals and a resident school of snook. Lots of twisted wreckage. Besure to float a flag,marine patrol mans this area. Good snorkleing and popular with spear fisherman

Access is off the public beach at the end of SR60. Wreck is about 100'
out off the beach behind the Ocean Grill restuarant.

The Breckenshire

The spring pool is roughly circular, between 100 and 200 ft in diameter in a semitropical swamp.
When spring flow is high, the pool is clean and clear, but when flow is low, murky lake water may cloud the pool. Advanced level cave diving (bring your light!).

In the SW section of lake Apopka (Gourd Neck arm).
The spring is 3 miles NW of Oakland. Drive 3.7 mile W on S-438, turn right onto a sand road through an old orange grove and continue for 0.5 miles; the spring is 500 feet N of the end of the road.

Apopka Spring is also known as Gordneck Sink, Gourd Neck.

Apopka Spring

Spanish Rocks Reef is unique in that it is one of the very rare saltwater shore dives on the west coast of Florida.  This dive site consists of limestone ledges that vary in height off the bottom from about a foot to about five feet high in certain locations.   Life on the ledges are sponges, tunicates, lots of sea weed, and some corals (hard coral, sea fans, gorgonians).  Various tropical fish live on an around the ledges with turtles and nurse sharks spotted on occasion.  Average depth is from 15 to 20 feet based on tides.  Visibility is highly dependant upon prevailing wind direction and strength.

This dive site located off of Bradenton Beach, FL on Anna Maria Island.  To get to this location find the beach access point on Gulf Drive North and 33rd Street.  33rd Street is only 50 to 100 feet long and serves as the parking lot for the local beach access.   A way to get there from the mainland is to take SR 64 (Manatee Ave.) to Gulf Drive North and then go south about a quarter mile.   If you keep going south along gulf drive for about another 1.5 miles you will get to the other Brandenton Beach shore dive site the Wreck of the Regina (aka Sugar Barge).  The 33rd St. Gulf Drive N. beach access is marked by a small blue green sign to the west.   From the Beach access point find the reef by walking south along the beach six houses and then head out from there due west for a couple hundred yards.  You have to go past the sandy bottom area.  If the visibility is poor it can be easy to miss.  The ledges then heads towards the west away from shore at an angle.

Spanish Rocks Reef

Lake. We saw blue gills and a painted turtle.


Merritt  Park. Walk in access on Merritt Island 

King's Park Lake is also known as Kings Park Lake.

King's Park Lake

Good ol' Lake Denton.  This popular beginners training site is often made fun of, but it's not bad if you live in Central Florida and need someplace to grab a quick dip.  Often pretty crowded with OW classes, they have a navigation course that could be handy.  Not sure if the locals are really fond of all the traffic, but it is off the beaten path.

Lake Denton

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at Lake Denton