By Rick Stratton
Publisher, Dive News Network

The gulf-coast city of Fort Myers/Naples offers tourists a chance to enjoy warmer weather as well as a multitude of water-based sports. However, I’m preparing for a trip in the near future down to Ft. Myers, and I wanted to know from the local divers how to take advantage of the great diving in these amazing waters. From what I’ve learned Ft. Myers can bring out the thrill of diving.

I talked to Jeff Dawson of Scuba Marco, a full service dive shop located on Marco Island just off the Florida coastline. He told me “We have a lot of great diving here!” He goes on to tell of other dive sites, but specifies, “If you come just to dive Spring Hole and Black Hole, which are really one in the same site, you will discover diving like you’ve never experienced.”

The Blue Hole is truly a unique dive site lying 23 miles southwest of Marco Island.  Also known as The Naples Spring Hole and Black Hole, this geographical wonder has an 80 ft. diameter circular opening.  The lip is craggy limestone and hosts vivacious soft corals and gorgonians.  Descending over the lip at 70 ft., the first 20 of the shaft are completely vertical (a true wall dive).   At 90 ft. the shaft widens abruptly creating a ‘roof’. 

Interestingly, the fish orient themselves to the roof and swim upside down there!  The hole is 300 ft. wide by the time it bottoms out at 220 ft. and has a 40 ft. high silt mound in the center that crabs forage over.  This area is the breeding ground for the massive (protected) Goliath Grouper.  They are spotted on virtually all local sites and are a guarantee at the Blue Hole.

Fort Meyers offers a bevy of local diving adventures, but as Kevin Sweeney, of SCUBAdventures of Naples, Florida, reminded me it can be very unpredictable. “Folks don’t dive in the winter here because the vis is unpredictable. The water changes often and quickly so you really have to just get out there. It is important to note that you do have to travel a ways off shore to get to the dive sites where the vis is good.”

Sweeney tells us quite a few divers shy from the travel, but “I will say this, the Groupers, some of them as large as 400 lbs. are really something to see.” And Sweeney should know, SCUBAdventures has been in the dive travel business for over 30 years and they travel to dive destinations all over the world.

Sweeney says most of the diving in the area is generally done in spring and summer months. The vis can range from 5-100 ft. because the area gets a lot of runoff from the Florida Everglades, however, Sweeny says don’t let that stop you. 

Wreck diving is also a draw to the Ft. Myers/Naples area. The Fantastico, a 200 ft. Honduran freighter, sank in March 1993 as a result of a bad storm. The freighter is in 115 ft. of water on the starboard side and the mast, rudder, propeller, and rigging are still in place.

Matt Angelo of ScubaVice, located in Fort Myers, says this is an interesting wreck to take in even though the travel time is a little longer. “The Fantastico is a pretty popular wreck,” says Angelo. It’s all busted up from the many storms that come through, however, it is still a neat dive. The nice thing about dive sites like the Fantastico is their remoteness also means most are relatively untouched. You feel like the only guy who has been out there in a long while. It’s worth the travel time.”

The wreck is a draw for wildlife too, and the surrounding sand bottom is home to fields of garden eels. There is abundant fish life including many large goliath grouper to see. But I guess this is a pattern now, Ft. Myers seems to be the place to see the goliath grouper.

As a side note on these goliath groupers, this largest member of the sea bass family are most commonly found near the equator near shores, specifically in the Gulf all the way down to the Caribbean Sea. They can grow to lengths of 8.2 ft., and can weigh anywhere from 400-600 lbs. Mostly they prefer areas of rock, coral and muddy bottom areas, and are generally solitary by nature. They can be territorial, and intruders will get open mouths and a shaking body. They can also produce an audible rumbling sound, which is generated by the muscular contraction of the swim bladder. This grumbling sound can travel great distances underwater and can also help them locate other goliath groupers. For more about goliath groupers, please scan the tag. I can’t wait to see them up close, but I’ve been warned to keep my distance.

Back to the diving, Angelo also points out there are some shore dives but they are unconventional. “The vis close to shore isn’t great.” He goes on to say, “Regardless of the vis, there is some beach diving in Venice beach that is pretty interesting. Artifact diving, for shark teeth and such, is a huge thing off Venice Beach. There have been quite a few Megalodon teeth to come out of there.”

Pete Williamson of Captain Pete’s Diving Outfitters has been in the area for over 20 years and he agrees that although the diving is different, it does offer a lot just the same. “The diving is a little more untouched than in most places,” Williamson says. “We don’t have the charter operations you see elsewhere and the dive sites don’t tend to get a lot of divers making it a little like diving in remote locations.”

Williamson adds there are a lot of limestone ledges in the area to explore as well as a great artificial reef program. Williams also sees a huge spear fishing community in the area. “The diving tends to be seasonal but the spear fishing is something we see all year around,” Williamson says. “Spearfishing is great during the winter months and around here we see spear fishing for bottom fish such as grouper and snapper. You also see some amberjack come up as well; however, by far I think the biggest draw is the grouper fish.”

Williamson believes the limestone areas and ledges where there are a lot of honey holes are the reason the spear fishing tends to be popular. “The area does have a lot to offer divers even though they may have to work a little for it but if you are a diver who enjoys some good spearfishing the Fort Myers, Naples, and Marco Island areas might just be the place you want to come visit.”

I’m excited for my first dive trip down to Ft. Myers, and I’m looking forward to doing a little spear fishing and even enjoying the hang time in order to see massive schools of snapper, grouper, sheepshead, Amber Jacks, Mackeral as well as Nurse Sharks, Spotted Eagle Rays, but mostly I’m looking forward to seeing those Goliath Groupers! ■

Special thanks to the following for their help in preparing this article:

Jeff Dawson
Scuba Marco
www.scubamarco.com

Kevin Sweeney
SCUBAdventures
www.scubadventureslc.com

Matt Angelo
ScubaVice
www.scubavicedivers.com

Pete Williamson
Captain Pete’s Diving Outfitters
www.captpetes.com