Hi Micheal,

Well since you're in Colorado isn't the west coast closer? And with
summer coming around southern california is a great place to dive. A
good fly-in/dive-inn place would be Catalina Island.
http://www.airnav.com/airport/avx

Fly in, take a short taxi ride ($15 for 2) to avalon and stay in one
of the nice hotels/resorts. The diving ranges from beginner to
advanced, shallow to deep, visibility is usually great and there is
good/quite nightlife. Check out casino point for a good intro dive.
One interesting thing about the island is that there are very few
cars. Every place can be walked to, but the locals are too lazy so
there are golf carts everywhere. Sunny San Diego has good diving too
but I wouldn't consider it fly-in diving : (

Florida has good diving too (of course). As far as the keys go the
more north you go the better the diving is. So since key west is the
most southern point the diving there sucks the most (in the keys). The
Spiegel Grove is something else, you have to see that. I'd do two
dives on it, if an operator says you have the option to dive elsewhere
for dive #2 turn it down(Diver City in Key Largo recommended). For
something more challenging check out Splash Down Divers in West Palm
Beach/Boynton. They offer drift dives off the coast, it's something
else and something you don't get in Colorado.

for more Florida dive info check out my 2002 trip report in
rec.scuba.locations. (do a search of "lance smith florida" on
groups.google.com and it'll be the 1st one up)

-lance smith


"Michael 182" wrote in message news:lQ71c.167435$uV3.715352@attbi_s51...
I am getting my open-water certification. My brother (a less experienced
pilot but a far more experienced diver) and I are looking for some some fly
and dive trips. We are planning to go to Pennekamp in Key Largo. I assume
MTH (Marathon) is the closest airport. Any other destinations people
suggest?

Thanks,

Michael