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Scuba diving in Miami: Best spots and prices
We’ve prepared a guide for scuba diving in Miami: top centres for courses at the best spots and prices.
Discover with Holafly the best places to dive in Miami, the prices and even where you can take a course before you dive into US waters.
We’ll guide you through the most popular diving training centres in Miami, which teach everything from basic tourist diving to specialised diving with international certification.
You’ll also discover the key spots with the best conditions for safe dives filled with marine life. So don’t miss this valuable information we prepared for you.
Diving centres and courses in Miami
In Miami you’ll find diving centres and courses where you learn everything needed for this sport before your first dive. Here we present 3 courses offered by reliable companies with PADI certification (Professional Association of Diving Instructors).
Diver’s Paradise
On Key Biscayne island you’ll find the diving centre Diver’s Paradise, which offers courses at different levels: from beginners to the highest level, which trains you as an instructor in this sport.
You can choose a basic course that gives you the essential tools for a tourist dive. But you can also earn certification as a diver in the following specialties:
- Open water diver
- Rescue diver
- Peak performance buoyancy
- Night diver
- Wreck diver
- Digital underwater photographer
This company also offers trips for certified divers in several Miami spots, using two fully equipped and customised boats to ensure smooth activity development.
If you’d like to dive but you’re not a certified diver, Diver’s Paradise offers a boat and an instructor so you can enjoy this experience in Miami’s waters.
Squalo Divers
At Squalo Divers, in North Miami, you can choose among 50 different diving courses. Training starts at 8 years old. This academy offers PADI certification courses for beginners and experienced divers who want to learn and improve their open water diving technique.
These are some of the courses offered by Squalo Divers:
- Resuscitation techniques
- Rescue diver
- Emergency oxygen provider
- Boat diving
- Dive against debris
- Digital underwater photography
If you dive with this company, you’ll enjoy an exciting experience across more than 30 wrecks. These sunken vessels host many fish species, other animals and reef formations.
You can find these animals at depths between 6 and 25 metres, always accompanied by a group and instructors ready to help you whenever needed.
Ace Diving Miami
This company offers the widest range of certifications in Miami. Besides PADI courses, it also includes SSI, SDI, TDI and ERDI programmes. This allows you to obtain internationally recognised certifications in different diving fields, from recreational to technical or professional, depending on your chosen speciality.
These are some courses you can take with Ace Diving. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner or advanced, as you can choose among:
- Beginner open water diving
- Adventure diving
- Rescue diving
- Advanced open water diving
- Master scuba diver
- Dive master
- Referral
- Diving refresher
Ace Diving also offers daily charters where you can learn the basic technique in one day.
You’ll train with a team of expert divers in the open sea near Miami. There you can admire colourful reefs and varied marine life found across North Miami.
The best places to dive in Miami
Miami has the Florida Reef, the only continental coral reef system in the United States and the third largest worldwide. This feature turns Miami into one of the most attractive places on Earth for diving.
Around the city you’ll also find several natural and artificial wrecks, many marine species and vegetation that enriches the underwater scenery. Now let’s look at some of the most recommended spots for diving, suitable for experts and beginners.
Neptune Memorial Reef
This dive site sits about five kilometres from Key Biscayne island. Therefore, by boat the ride takes around 10 to 12 minutes. There you can reach a maximum of 13 metres or a minimum of four metres depth, depending on your experience level.
As you dive deeper, you see more animals and more wreck elements. Because this reef is artificial, you’ll find an underwater memorial where statues, columns, sculptures and memorial plaques honour several people.
These underwater structures attract fish, moray eels, turtles, rays and several corals. They enrich every dive for scuba divers and underwater photographers.
Biscayne National Park
In this park you’ll find an amazing aquatic ecosystem, covered by seagrass meadows and mangrove forests that decorate large parts of the seabed.
You’ll also see several vessels that sank during the last century. Many still keep their structure and now serve as homes for fish, crustaceans, turtles and corals.
To reach this area you must go by boat, which leaves from Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne. The boat takes you to a zone where you can dive to 18 metres if you already have the needed experience. But if you don’t, don’t worry. The instructors will accompany you down to three metres.
Proteus Wreck
If you’re an advanced diver, you can visit this site off the Miami coast and enjoy a dive up to 20 metres deep. There you’ll see the vessel Proteus, which divers sank about 40 years ago, creating an artificial reef.
During this wreck dive you can swim through several compartments of the structure, which still remains in good condition. The wreck now houses fish, rays, anemones and corals, and sometimes sharks and other animals visit it.
In this Miami area the sea currents usually stay calmer than in other locations. Therefore, visibility can reach 20 metres around you, which makes this one of the most fascinating dive sites for advanced divers.
Connectivity while you dive in Miami
So you don’t disconnect from friends and family, we recommend Holafly’s monthly subscription plans. These plans offer from 25 GB up to unlimited data and you can share it with other devices. In addition, you can travel to more than 170 countries without changing your SIM.
If your stay in the United States is short, you can choose the Holafly Miami eSIM. With it you can browse the internet with unlimited data only for the days you need.
Important: If you are a frequent traveler and want to stay connected without worrying about expensive roaming or looking for a new SIM at every destination, Holafly’s subscription plans are for you. With a single eSIM, enjoy internet in more than 170 countries for a fixed price and no surprises on your bill. Travel without limits and connect easily and securely! 🚀🌍
How much does diving in Miami cost?
The cost of diving in Miami depends on your experience and what you want to do, because if you’re already certified and only want a dive and you also have your own gear, you only pay for a dive plan. But if you don’t have any diving knowledge, costs start with a basic course and then you can add a plan if you want.
Here we show you in detail the costs you should consider for diving in Miami, according to your level and interests:
Diving courses
- For beginner divers:
- PADI certification course: theory, pool practice and four trial dives. In addition, a guide accompanies you, the company provides all diving equipment and the boat takes you to the dive site. Cost: €552-644 ($600-700) approximately.
- For advanced divers: Course for already certified divers who want to improve their technique in open water.
- Course for already certified divers who want to improve their technique in open water: here you can dive down to 30 metres to explore shipwrecks or simply swim around. Cost: €368-460 ($400-500) approximately.
- Specialisation courses:
- You already know how to dive, so now you can specialise as a night diver, underwater photographer or deep diver, among other options some agencies offer. Always check that they hold every required international certification before you book. Cost: €138-276 ($150-300) approximately.
Diving plans
If you only want the experience of diving as a tourist and you’re not interested in certification or specialisation, you can book half day plans or dives in specific locations. Expert divers will accompany you after a safety briefing before the dive.
- Dive plan for non certified divers: this experience usually lasts between four and six hours. First you’ll receive a theory introduction and then practise in deep pools before you do two sea dives. Cost: €138-184 ($150-200) approximately.
- Dive plan for certified divers
- Half day: These plans take you by boat to popular sites such as Emerald Reef, Neptune Memorial Reef or Wreck Trek for two dives. Cost: €110-166 ($120-180) approximately.
- Excursions: These trips suit divers with an advanced open water certification. This plan lets you visit several wrecks or enjoy a relaxed dive. Cost: $200 (€185)
- Night diving. Cost: €120-166 ($130-180) approximately.
- Diving in Biscayne National Park: This plan includes an instructor and guide plus boat transport. Cost: €129-184 ($140-200) approximately.
Frequently Asked Questions
During these months the weather stays dry and the sea usually remains calm, which allows visibility of up to 20 metres around you during dives. In addition, the water temperature feels warm, so your time underwater becomes even more pleasant.
In Miami you’ll find a wide variety of marine life, including schools of fish and other species such as parrotfish and angelfish. You can also see sea turtles, manatees and, occasionally, dolphins.
You can book a basic course where instructors teach you everything you need for a short dive in a beginner friendly location. It’s essential to learn every safety measure for diving, so you reduce any possible risks.
Yes, diving in Miami is safe, both as a tourist activity and as a sport. Sea currents usually stay gentle, visibility rarely drops significantly and instructors and guides carefully control the depths during dives.
Don’t worry. Most dive schools and guiding agencies usually offer full refunds for bad weather or let you reschedule the dive, according to the agreement you reach with them.
