Fort Lauderdale, The Shore Diving Capital of the US

Many scuba divers consider Fort Lauderdale the Shore Diving Capital of the US. I will admit that Puget Sound has more shore diving sites. However, The Sound has hundreds of miles of coastline, dive sites can be hours away from each other and most of the year dry suits are needed. Greater Fort Lauderdale is made up of 31 cities and towns and has about 24 miles (ca. 39 km) of sandy shoreline. You can just about scuba dive anywhere along the shoreline. The Florida Reef tract is often found just a few hundred feet offshore and provides diving in depths of 15 feet to 50 feet, with some sites going deeper. The outer portion of the reef can be deeper but is beyond a distance accessible from shore. Divers have dozens of recognized shore diving sites that include both natural reefs and artificial reefs, including shipwrecks. In the summer months, you might need a dive skin or a 3 mm shortie, in the winter you might need to upgrade to a 5 mm suit if you get cold easily.

I recently wrote an article here about snorkeling in Fort Lauderdale, and previously about scuba diving in the southeast coast of Florida that includes Fort Lauderdale. I will try not to duplicate the sites that I mentioned in those articles. Most of the snorkeling sites mentioned in the previous article are suited for scuba diving as well. With only a few exceptions, for all snorkeling and scuba diving in Florida, a diver down flag with a float is required. These items are used, so boat traffic knows that you are in the water. When surfacing from a scuba dive, do so near your float, and look for boat traffic as you near the surface. Is not uncommon for boat operators to ignore your diver down flag. Another related concern is tourists who are using jet skies for the first time. They often get carried away with what they are doing and forget about safety rules. (My view). If you are entering the water in an area under the control of a lifeguard, check in with the lifeguard before kitting up. At some lifeguard-controlled beaches, you must stay on the surface until you exit the controlled swimming area.

Why Fort Lauderdale for a Scuba Diving Holiday?

When you hear of people going to Fort Lauderdale for a holiday, scuba diving may not be a reason that jumps to your mind. The beaches and bars, maybe not in that order, attract thousands of college students each spring. The area provides a warm vacation, a release from the cold winters in the north. Accommodations in a wide range of prices and ample culinary support provide an opportunity for a range of budgets. Fort Lauderdale has one of the busiest cruise terminals in the world. Tens of thousands of cruise passengers depart from the port each week.

Fort Lauderdale is easy to reach. Both Interstate 95 and US 1, the major north/south highways along the east coast, passed through the city. The Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport ( FLL) is just outside the city and offers connections to most major US cities. The Miami International Airport (MIA) is less than an hour away, with excellent ground transportation to Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale also has an excellent public transportation system, which will lessen your need to rent a car.

Outside of Spring Break and busy weekends, accommodations are reasonably priced. While an average price ranging from 120 to 150 dollars for a two-tank boat dive is what you will commonly find at scuba diving destinations worldwide, shore dives are much less. If you have your own gear and dive buddy, you can rent a tank and weights for around $15. If you do not bring your gear, the average price for a full scuba set with 2 tanks runs around $55. Grab a picnic lunch and some drinks, and you are all set for a day of scuba diving and snorkeling.

Fort Lauderdale Shore Diving

Since you can enter the water at just about any point of the 24 miles of Fort Lauderdale beaches with reefs nearby, you have hundreds of possible dive sites. Still, some areas have become favorite dive sites by both local and visiting divers. Here are a few suggestions:

• Lauderdale By The Sea: Lauderdale By The Sea markets itself as the Beach Diving Capital of the US. The article on the best beach snorkeling talks about some of the snorkeling sites entering from the town’s amazing beach. Anglin’s Pier Reef and the snorkeling shipwreck trail were discussed in the earlier article. The information in that article also applies to scuba diving from shore as well. If you are looking for a relaxing shallow dive, this is a great place to start. There are several beach entry points along El Mar Drive. Once you enter the water, the first reef line is about 400 feet (ca. 122 meters) from the beach. Here the reef is around 270 feet (ca. 82 meters) wide, and the water depth is about 10 feet (ca. 3 meters) deep. Visibility is generally very good. The healthy coral and abundant fish life lure many divers to stay on this section of the reef. Most divers just select a direction, north or south depending on where they entered the water, and enjoy a long dive. At this depth, dives over an hour are common. When you reach the limit of your dive, just turn to shore and dive/snorkel back to the beach. No major navigation is needed when you reach the beach, just walk back to your entry point. Divers also have an option of crossing the first reef and heading out across 450 feet (ca. 137 meters) of sandy bottom to the second reef line. The second reef starts in about 20 feet (ca. 6 meters) of water and goes slightly deeper. Here you will find larger marine life.

• SS Copenhagen Shipwreck: While this dive site is accessed from Lauderdale By the Sea, it is often listed separately from the other sites. It is a bit of a surface swim; however, it is easily reached by experienced divers. It is also perfect to reach with a DPV. The 325-foot-long (ca 100 meters) by 47-foot-wide(ca 14 meters) SS Cophenhagen was a steel-hulled schooner-rigged screw steamship built in 1898. It ran aground in 1890 and eventually sunk. Today, she sits in 16 (ca 5 meters) to 30 feet (ca 9 meters) of water. This wreck is one of Florida’s Underwater Preserves. You can view the site plan for the SS Cophenhagen here

• Yankee Clipper Reef (AKA Yankee Clipper Rocks): Located offshore of the Sheraton Hotel near Fort Lauderdale’s South Beach Park. Named after the Yankee Clipper hotel that used to be at the shore of this reef, the reef is only 75 feet(ca 23 meters) from shore and is as shallow as 5 feet (ca 1.5 meters) and drops to 15 feet(ca 4.5 meters). Having a short surface swim, this site is often used for training dives and checkout dives. Further out the reef is deeper and a portion of the reef is accessible from other local parks

• Yellow Brick Road, Hollywood, Florida: Here is a “secret” site that is becoming a popular dive site. A discarded outfall pipe has collapsed, leaving an 800-foot-long (ca 244 meters)“road” headed out past the inner reef. The “remains” looks like paving stones and have a slight yellowish tint. This road is about 30 feet (ca 9 meters) wide. The site starts about 600 feet(ca 182 meters) offshore from the lifeguard station near Hollywood Beach between Johnson and Michigan Streets. The “road” is 15 feet (ca 4.5 meters)to 25 feet (ca 8 meters) deep. Coral growth and marine life are impressive.

• Turtle Beach Reef Deerfield Beach: Deerfield Beach is the northernmost city of the 31 municipalities that make up the Fort Lauderdale Metropolitan area. They have over a dozen dive sites, with about half being shore dives. Like most of the beach areas in Fort Lauderdale, you can shore dive from most of the beach locations. Many of the beach access points are near the Deerfield Beach Pier. While diving under the pier is not allowed, the reefs north and south of the pier are outstanding shore diving locations. The area to the north is often called Turtle Beach. Broward County is classified as a medium-density nesting area by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for sea turtles, and in 2020 over 3,000 nests were identified in the county. About 35% of the nest were in Deerfield/Hillsboro, most in the area north of the pier. The stats from 5/19/23 shows Deerfield/Hillsboro having 165 nests laid by Loggerhead turtles, 16 by Leatherbacks, and another 2 by Green turtles. All three of these turtle species are on the endangered list. To put this in perspective, you should know that the nesting season runs from March to October and peaks in July and August. So they are just getting started. Turtles lay their eggs at night. Also, the Loggerhead turtles are generally the first to start nesting. Now back to our diving. Turtle Beach Reef is mostly a ruble field of large boulders with scattered coral, algae growth, small reef fish, and seagrasses. It starts about 150 feet (ca 45 meters) from the shore and continues out to a natural reef about 600 feet (ca182 meters) offshore. The depth is mostly 10 (ca 10 meters) to 25 feet (ca 8 meters). This is great for a spot for a leisure scuba dive. The algae, small reef fish, and seagrasses are food favorites for sea turtles. Making the reef a perfect place for the mothers-to-be to eat and relax before heading to the beach to build a nest. Deerfield Beach has a number of cameras streaming online, including underwater cameras.

Fort Lauderdale Shore Diving

The hundreds of dive sites that are found in the waters of Fort Lauderdale will entice any diver. The fact that many of these outstanding dive sites are available as shore dives make it even more attractive, especially for those on a tighter budget. Most shore diving is suitable for novice divers, while still attractive for experienced divers. Time to add Fort Lauderdale to your bucket list.