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Well unless something has changed Hawaii is still in the US. There is no where in the 48 in the same class.
Mexico has some nice spots and there are other places in the Caribbean that meet or surpass Hawaii.
No one was claiming Catalina Island or the Florida Keys were as good as Bonaire or something... That being said the question wasn't what was the best in the world or the best in the US, it was simply a comparison between those two. Hawaii is great, but it wasn't part of the equation.
Mexico outside of Cozumel and a couple other spots on the eastern shore of the Yucatan isn't that great. The Pacific Coast is okay in places as is the Sea of Cortez, but I've had a lot better trips to the Florida Keys.
No one was claiming Catalina Island or the Florida Keys were as good as Bonaire or something... That being said the question wasn't what was the best in the world or the best in the US, it was simply a comparison between those two. Hawaii is great, but it wasn't part of the equation.
Mexico outside of Cozumel and a couple other spots on the eastern shore of the Yucatan isn't that great. The Pacific Coast is okay in places as is the Sea of Cortez, but I've had a lot better trips to the Florida Keys.
As Scuba goes both are very inferior in any number of ways. Said that succulently in #6.
Water is warmer in So FL. And given that neither is a particularly good place to snorkel I would thing FL wins.
I would think this makes as much sense as comparing the quality of diving of Milwaukee to that of Lake Mead. People dive both as they have nothing better easily available.
As Scuba goes both are very inferior in any number of ways. Said that succulently in #6.
Water is warmer in So FL. And given that neither is a particularly good place to snorkel I would thing FL wins.
I would think this makes as much sense as comparing the quality of diving of Milwaukee to that of Lake Mead. People dive both as they have nothing better easily available.
Miami & the Keys has Biscayne National Park which is the nation's only underwater National Park and the only living coral reefs in the continental US. It is a protected marine sanctuary established in 1980 and covers over 181,500 acres. It is a pristine environment devoid of any human development save for campgrounds. Sorry but Florida takes this one.
Perhaps you can find some thrilling dives in your neighborhood rock quarry....
And I have probably more than a 1000 hours underwater in Catalina....
You spent over 1000 hours underwater at a place you said "sucks" and isn't even "remotely competitive against any reasonable dive spot"? Must've been a horrible 1000+ hours...
You spent over 1000 hours underwater at a place you said "sucks" and isn't even "remotely competitive against any reasonable dive spot"? Must've been a horrible 1000+ hours...
I would think it obvious that I spent a good bit of time in Catalina and enjoy diving there even though it is not a very exciting dive site.
Every just snorkel along a shore for a couple of miles to see what is in the rocks?
Kelp forests are OK...if you have nothing better. And it is interesting to snorkel or scuba some of the interesting areas...
Every end up in a school of yellow tail? Different. Ever discuss who goes where with a 9 foot ray? Ever get bumped around by a pissed off harbor seal? Ever spend 6 or 8 hours prowling a course trying to find a lost anchor rode in 100 feet deep water where you can see the bottom in detail from the surface?
Compared to 20 minutes on a good Hawaiian reef.
Ever been there when ten of thousands of a silver fish with blue eyes are chased up against a shore by a 600 or 700 lb tuna who is trying to decide whether the flecks in dinner are hostile or not? From 20 feet that is a really big fish...
Catalina is a great place. I am sure there are wonders in S. FL. But no they are not significant diving or scuba sites. Sorry you feel offended but That is how it is.
An hour below water anywhere is generally better than the same hour spent above. But there is a large range of quality...and none of the good stuff is in the Continental US.
I would think it obvious that I spent a good bit of time in Catalina and enjoy diving there even though it is not a very exciting dive site.
Every just snorkel along a shore for a couple of miles to see what is in the rocks?
Kelp forests are OK...if you have nothing better. And it is interesting to snorkel or scuba some of the interesting areas...
Every end up in a school of yellow tail? Different. Ever discuss who goes where with a 9 foot ray? Ever get bumped around by a pissed off harbor seal? Ever spend 6 or 8 hours prowling a course trying to find a lost anchor rode in 100 feet deep water where you can see the bottom in detail from the surface?
Compared to 20 minutes on a good Hawaiian reef.
Ever been there when ten of thousands of a silver fish with blue eyes are chased up against a shore by a 600 or 700 lb tuna who is trying to decide whether the flecks in dinner are hostile or not? From 20 feet that is a really big fish...
Catalina is a great place. I am sure there are wonders in S. FL. But no they are not significant diving or scuba sites. Sorry you feel offended but That is how it is.
An hour below water anywhere is generally better than the same hour spent above. But there is a large range of quality...and none of the good stuff is in the Continental US.
Ohh please. Based on having dived any number of places in Hawaii and the Caribbean.
And lots of places in S. FL and CA and any other place I have hit where I could at least put a Snorkel on including the great lakes and some of the lakes of Wisconsin and the Lakes of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
We are talking night and day here. Not minor differences.
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