This time of year, next year. Just got back from Bonaire again. Looking for a cheapish week long trip. I'll have my non diver wife with me.  The keys are a long day's drive away. I've heard keys dive sites often look like parking lots for dive boats.  Not a fan of that, so is it true?   Diving through the week?

Pensacola looks too cold this time of year to have active dive boats through the week.

Cozumel, what's the  rundown?  

Atlantic coast of Florida?


All my wife wants is to be able to hear the waves hit the shore.  So staying on the water is mandated.

I believe most of the commercial dive operations in Key Largo tend to hit the same reefs over and over again.

Last spring, I dove on French Reef with my son.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  Absolutely abandoned.

Look to the south, and Molasses reef was positively swarmed with commercial dive boats...including that big horking glass-bottom boat.

There's a lot of room to stretch out in the north Keys, so if you have the ability to plot your own course with your own boat, you'll find plenty of quiet reefs to dive.

We do Coz every year. We will be there in a few weeks in fact.

We both dive, so I can't speak personally about the fun to be had by non-divers, but others we've been with on the dive boats say their spouses enjoy themselves.

No real beaches at the main hotel areas, but most have sandy loungey areas.

If you try Cozumel look into Iberostar. Dive shop right on the beach, good group of people running it, nitrox and boats right at the dock.
All inclusive for the non-diver to enjoy. Not a lot of night life though if you are looking for that, more of a place to relax and get away from the noise for a while.
We have been there 4 times and the reef and associated life has come back very well in the last 10 years or so.

Is the diving included?   We're boring, she'd sit and read 10 hours a day and be happy as hell. Our idea of night life is sleeping.

My girlfriend went to the Iberostar last January and got certified then.   She's going back again next month.  It's a regular thing for some of her northern relatives.  They don't dive though.

Wife and I did Roatan twice this year. Pretty affordable and great diving.

Check online for specials at the different resorts.
Earlier this year after a cruise dive excursion in January I got an email notification from Anthony's Key Resort on Roatan. They had a special going. If I remember it right it was all inclusive, 7 days, 3 boat dives per day and unlimited shore dives, all food included but alcohol extra. The price was around $1100.00 per person double occupancy- but the second guest was free making it $1100.00 for a couple for a week. Airfare was not included. They have a lot to do other than dive.
If it was a pure dive vacation Cocoview on Roatan would be great, but they don't have much else to do.
Utila would be great for diving and partying.

Diving, food, a place to read, that's all we need.   I don't even drink.  Just eat and dive

Anthony's Key Resort

Yes, the keys can be a parking lot of dive boats.  
My latest trip, I went down for Veterans day.  Rainbow Reef offered free diving for vets and they have their usual package deal of dive + accommodation .
First day was great, not much traffic, but not my preferred site [Benwood or French reef}.
Second day was horrid.  A group of scuba-holes held up the AM trip by not being prepared which changed our destination from the Benwood to a reef.  Second dive was on the same reef, with a 5 min SI.
Keep in mind these boats are on a schedule and need to be back for the PM trip, so if someone slows things down, well.....
Oh, and one of them brought bananas, wtf?  You'll get perma-banned in my AO for such an oversight.

I have been planning a trip with Conch Republic, but the problem is a place to stay....Keys are not cheap.
CR will go to places that the heard will not.  I have dove with Capt Slate as well, which will take you to sites that are less travelled.

My fajita maker is like your SO, she just wants the beach etc read a book etc.  
No beach to speak of in the keys.  Unless you stay a place that is on the beach = $$$

Points North of the Keys, big hell ya [my AO].
Anywhere from Jupiter on down to Ft. Lauderdale has awesome boat diving.  Wrecks, reefs, big critters [sharks, turtles, rays, jewfish]
Staring in Jupiter, Jupiter Dive Center.   West Palm Beach, Narcosis Dive Charters.  Pompano Bch, South Florida Dive HQ.  And there is plenty of shore diving in Broward Cty.
Weather is iffy though, this time of year.   Eg, this week conditions were fine midweek, but not so much afterwards.
Narcosis runs a 48' boat, so they are known for going out when others are sipping cocoa.  Very professional and experienced boat.
Best of all, there are plenty of beautiful beaches for your SO.

We are looking at trip to Coz this summer, but if that doesn't pan out, we will be going to Keys
LMK if you have any questions.

The wife doesn't even care about a beach really, just wants a little water and wind sound.  BUT, while looking at different options the other day, she said that one dive a day wouuld be enough for her. She's ready to get certified if her upcoming Try Scuba goes well.   I'm still looking at Cozumel, Riviera Maya, Key Largo, and your suggestions.

Just so you know Dan, there really aren't a lot of beaches in the keys. And we just booked a trip for Bonaire for next year, nanny nanny boo boo.

I hope it's better for you than it was for me on this recent trip.   I'm not worried about sandy beaches.  She more or less just wants to be on the water, some movement for sound would be nice.

Wife and I have pretty much settled on Christmas time in the keys.   My only concern is availability of dive boats.  If we were to do the last ten days of the year there,  would I be likely to be able to dive 5 or more days?

In my experience winter tends to suck in the Keys, at least it has for us. You tend to get a lot of reinforcing fronts that time of year which can make the weather iffy. In our experience the seas tend to really stack up on the reefs and what might be alright in deeper water can be a real pain on a reef in 25-30 feet of water. You might have 3-4 foot seas beyond the reef but on the reef they might be 6-8 feet because the back of the wave is pushing a lot of water up onto the reef. There comes a point where we just call it ourselves because at that point it's just not worth it.

We've probably been down 8 times over the winter for a week at a stretch and only once did we have a good week. Otherwise it's 1-2 days of diving for the week. On the flip side of the coin we've known people that have gone down and gotten 5-6 days of diving in over the course of a week. The weather gods smile upon them and frown on us.

Same for Lauderdale/WPB/Jupiter?

Personally, I'd head towards that area before I went to the Keys.

I think you have a lot more diving opportunity in the WPB/Lauderdale area. There's a decent amount of shore diving that can be done in that area. In addition you have all the boat diving options with everything from reefs, wrecks, and drift dives as well. And I don't think the weather plays as much of a role in that area as it does in the Keys.

Driving is a pain in the butt in the Keys as US-1 is pretty much the only road and in the winter it's chock full of tourist, snow birds, and weekenders from Miami. Toss in some construction and it becomes a royal pain to get around. Driving in WPB/Lauderdale is still a pain but no where near the level you'll find in the keys.

Unless you dive or fish there aren't a lot of other things to do in the keys. There are a few attractions such as the diving museum, the turtle hospital, and Pennekamp state park and a couple of others. You can cover those things in a day or two. Key West is great for bars and T-shirt shops if you're into that sort of thing.

Heading to the WPB/Lauderdale area you have just as much diving, fishing, plus you've got beaches. There are also a lot more land attractions that are accessible, and a lot better restaurants.

Bat adventures.

Hotel Cozumel.

All inclusive.  The boat dock is directly across from the hotel.

Had a shooting competition at the back of the hotel.

I shore dive here a lot, and it is very iffy during the winter due to dominant Easterly winds, resulting in poor vis.  This is why I visit my go-to spot so frequently. As I mentioned in my previous post, Broward Cty has the best spots.
Seas in the wpb-Jupiter area will be a hit and a miss.  I went out yesterday with Narcosis [wpb] and it was lake Atlantic [which is why I went].  Heavy seas for tonight -Sunday, up to 14' .  Lasting through Wednesday @6'.
Diving locally requires monitoring NOAA.  I use aps for surf conditions as well as monitoring beach cams.
There is a ongoing thread over on SB in the FL section that an operator out the keys is doing daily updates.  Plough through that for good intel.

Pic from yesterday at Crosscurrent Barge, I'm bottom right.
Diving with my new to me lp72's., um 91's

Out of all the places my dive buddies & I have been to, Cozumel seems to give me the best bang for my dollar. When you drift dive you can cover a lot of area. It takes a little time to get adjusted to the current but once you're comfortable it's a blast. I can't give you a good recommendation for a hotel since ours didn't have a sandy beach but I can recommend Living Underwater for the diving. There are other great operators there but make sure you do your homework before you go since it is Mexico.

Cozumel has fantastic diving.

If you end up in Ft Lauderdale area, let me know and I'll dive with you.