Miami Snorkeling and Diving
There are lots of options for snorkelling or diving from Miami. Several scuba diving and snorkeling companies operate out of Miami Beach Marina in South Beach as well as Fort Lauderdale and Key Biscayne. Most of these cater for novice as well as experienced divers. Miami is particularly interesting for its wrecks. These have been sunk since the early 90s to create artificial reefs, often in relatively shallow water which is great for snorkelers as well as divers. Choose your operator and your wreck of choice and head out.
Come on in, the water’s lovely!
If you are a novice (or nervous) snorkeler it can be easier to start by going in the water from the beach, rather than off a boat (which is how you will get to the wrecks) where you are often in water way too deep to stand . Having said that be careful where you put your feet even if the water is shallow enough to stand. Never stand on any coral – you will cause considerable damage that can take years to repair – and be careful of sea urchins and other spiny and irritating creatures.
Hopefully this hasn’t put you off putting your head under water – it is great, honest. There are several great options for novice snorkelers in the Miami area. If you head out to Key Biscayne Crandon Park has two good options.
If you would like someone to take care of you then check out Eco Adventures http://www.miamidade.gov/ecoadventures/kayak_snorkel_sea.asp
They do a couple of kayak / canoe and snorkeling combo trips which will include loan of a mask and snorkel and snorkeling tuition.
If you would rather be left to your own devices, you can find plenty of fish at the most northerly point of Crandon Park Beach, just by the pier.
Fun in the water
My own preferred snorkel site in the Miami area is at Boca Raton. This is approximately 50 miles north of South Beach and the drive takes around an hour or you can take a very slow crawl along highway 1A north and stop off at Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach along the way. Either way, Boca is home to Red Reef Park ($16 per car on weekdays and $18 at weekends). This is a great place with nature trails, the Gumbo Limbo Nature Centre with boardwalk through the mangroves and hammocks, clean loos and showers and its own artificial reef. There is a nice sandy bottom so it is quite easy to see where you can put your feet and usually decent visibility and plenty of fish.
If want to try snorkeling off the beach but don’t have any equipment you can buy very cheap snorkel sets from a huge range of outlets in Miami. Beach shops, drug stores and large supermarkets all sell them. You may find the mask doesn’t fit terribly well but it should let you find out whether snorkelling is for you. If you don’t want to buy cheap equipment, South Beach Divers on Washington Avenue in South Beach rents snorkel gear by the day.
Once you have the snorkel bug it is worth paying a little and investing in a decent mask and snorkel. There are countless outlets all over Florida and a good shop will help you find the right mask. We bought ours more than ten years ago. We have looked after them and they are still going strong.