Scuba diving in Miami: the wrecks, the reefs, the dive shops and what it costs

The short answer: Miami diving means wrecks

You do not walk into a coral reef from a Miami beach. Scuba diving here happens from a boat, 30 minutes or so offshore, and the big draw is wrecks. Miami-Dade County's artificial reef program, started in 1981, has built 11 inshore and 17 offshore artificial reef sites, using almost 50 large vessels, two retired oil production platforms, an aircraft, US Army surplus tanks and thousands of tons of concrete and limestone. The county calls Miami-Dade a premier wreck-diving destination, and says its program is the largest of its kind in Florida by material deployed.

Most trips are two-tank mornings or afternoons: a wreck first, then a shallower reef. Dive shops pick the sites by weather and by your certification level. Open Water divers can do most of them; the deeper wrecks need Advanced Open Water.

If you are not certified, you can still go under: shops sell a Discover Scuba experience with an instructor, or you can take the Open Water course in three days.

Diver's Paradise: the Key Biscayne boats

The shop closest to downtown and Brickell is Diver's Paradise at 4000 Crandon Boulevard on Key Biscayne, the Crandon Park Marina address, about 30 minutes by boat from the sites it lists. It runs daily dive and snorkel trips on two custom Newton boats with a restroom, heated showers and shade, and teaches PADI courses from Open Water to Rescue Diver, plus Discover Scuba. The office is open 9 am to 5 pm every day, and parking is free.

Its site does not publish trip prices, so ask when you book. It does list a few standing deals, including half-price trips on the second Wednesday of each month and discounts for prepaying. For a rideshare, the shop asks you to enter its name rather than the street address.

The wreck program, and the rules that come with it

The county is still sinking things. Its deployment list shows memorial reef ball arrays off Golden Beach at 45 feet through September 2025, and in October 2025 the 22 concrete cars of the ReefLine sculpture park off South Beach at 22 feet.

The Key Biscayne Artificial Reef Site, from about 35 to 350 feet deep, is a Special Management Zone: spear guns of any kind, including slings and pole spears, are banned there, as are fish traps and bottom longlines. Goliath grouper are protected statewide; you cannot take or keep one.

Florida's divers-down rule applies to every dive: stay within 300 feet of your flag in open water and within 100 feet in rivers, inlets and channels. Boats must slow to idle speed within those distances. A flag flown from a boat must be at least 20 by 24 inches; one on a float, at least 12 by 12 inches.

When Key Largo is the better day

If you came for coral rather than steel, drive south to the Keys. The dive shop at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, 102601 Overseas Highway in Key Largo, sells a two-tank trip for $105 with tanks and weights, leaving at 9 am and 1:30 pm. Certification is required: Open Water for the standard sites, Advanced Open Water for the Spiegel Grove and Duane wrecks. Gear rents separately, from $5 for a mask to $15.50 for a buoyancy compensator, and nitrox is $16.50.

Pennekamp asks you to confirm in person at least an hour before the trip, and park entry is a separate fee; check it on the Florida State Parks page before you go. For snorkeling on the same reefs, see our snorkeling guide.