Diving in the Keys
 

I'm thinking of taking my 16-year-old son to the Keys this spring to learn how to dive. Any suggestions as to which key may be best, i.e. Largo, West, etc? Or is there someplace else that I should go?

John Pennekamppark is the US's only ocean state park and they have a lot of information on diving, shorkeling, etc. We did this a few years ago for snorkeling and enjoyed it. Here is the website. http://www.pennekamppark.com
My suggestion would be to get him a complete diving course before going. A quick course before diving in open water is not a good idea especially for a 16 year old. My sons learned at 12 and 18 through a 2 month course which included in depth safety and equipment use. Diving is a sport, but it can be dangerous without proper and complete training.

I second the idea that your son should complete the classroom/pool portion of the course at home and then do the check-out dives in the Keys. The Upper Keys (Key Largo, Islamorada) have great diving and would be a good choice.

We dove with Its a Dive in Key Largo a few years ago. They were great. We stayed at the Marriott so it was very convenient. They have space above the shop to keep your equipment.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, we are going to complete the classroom and pool portion in New York before we go down to Florida. Now I'm trying to figure out which Key has the best diving.

Key Largo and Islamorada have more of the best diving spots. But Looe Key on Big Pine Key (mm 29) is probably the best single spot. Marathon also has good diving.

Agreed, Key Largo and Islamorada will have the best diving.

Thanks for all of the advice