Scuba Diving & Snorkeling in Miami

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Scuba Diving & Snorkeling

Diving and snorkeling on the off-shore coral wrecks and reefs on a calm day can be comparable to the Caribbean. Chances are excellent you'll come face to face with a flood of tropical fish. One option is to find Fowey, Triumph, Long, and Emerald reefs in 10- to 15-foot dives that are perfect for snorkelers and beginning divers. On the edge of the continental shelf a little more than 3 mi out, these reefs are just ¼ mi away from depths greater than 100 feet. Another option is to paddle around the tangled prop roots of the mangrove trees that line the coast, peering at the fish, crabs, and other creatures hiding there.

It's a bit of a drive, but the best diving and definitely the best snorkeling to be had in Miami-Dade are on the incredible living coral reefs in Biscayne National Park (9710 S.W. 328th St., Exit 6 of Florida's Tpke., Homestead. 305/230-1100. www.nps.gov/bisc/), in the rural southeast corner of the county. With 95% of its 173,000 acres underwater, this is the national park system's largest marine park. The huge park includes the northernmost islands of the Florida Keys and the beginning of the world's third-longest coral reef. Guided snorkeling and scuba trips, offered from the concession near the visitor center, cost $35 for a three-hour snorkel trip (daily 1:30 to 4:30), including equipment, and $54 for a 4 1/2-hour, two-tank dive trip (weekends 8:30 to 1). Scuba equipment is available for rent.

Perhaps the area's most unusual diving options are its artificial reefs (1920 Meridian Ave., South Beach, Miami Beach. 305/672-1270). Since 1981, Miami-Dade County's Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) has sunk tons of limestone boulders and a water tower, army tanks, and almost 200 boats of all descriptions to create a "wreckreational" habitat where divers can swim with yellow tang, barracudas, nurse sharks, snapper, eels, and grouper. Most dive shops sell a book listing the locations of these wrecks. Information on wreck diving can be obtained from the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Divers Paradise of Key Biscayne (5400 Crandon Blvd., Key Biscayne. 305/361-3483) has a complete dive shop and diving-charter service next to the Crandon Park Marina, including equipment rental and scuba instruction with PADI and NAUI affiliation. Dive trips are offered Tuesday through Friday at 1, weekends 8:30 and 1:30. South Beach Dive and Surf Center (850 Washington Ave., South Beach, Miami Beach. 305/531-6110), an all-purpose dive shop with PADI affiliation, runs night and wreck dives right in the center of it all. Its boats depart from marinas in Miami Beach and Key Largo, in the Florida Keys.