We went to Venice Beach on the west coast and they have guided diving trips from the 'West Florida Diving School', they have a website. Didn't actually go but it looked quite good. You can pick up sharks teeth and other fossils in the shallow water. Requires pre-booking, but you can e-mail them. Water very cold Jan-April though. East coast better that time of year.
I did Dive Quest in 2007 and it is a BLAST. If you are experienced Diver it may not be the most extreme dive but it terms of fun you cannot beat it. Dressed in shortie wetsuits they had us walk through the Living Seas in a line. An American kid of about 12 asked me, wide eyed, who we were and I told him in a gruff voice we were a Navy SEAL team. Given that the group ranged in age from about 15 to 60, men and women, all shapes and sizes, we must have looked more like beached whales than Navy SEALs but the look on his face was priceless. The best part was inteacting with people outside the glass, including the diners in the Coral Sea restaurant. The cast members also make it a memorable experience.
i cant wait to do this again next month, i scared the absolute wits out of some woman who had her back to the glass while her friend was taking a photo. she turned round and saw me floating there and jumped out of her skin!! i nearly spat my reg out!!
We'll definitely plan on doing the Epcot dive, but was just wondering about other options.
Then again, probably best next time, pennies are starting to need some pinching. Plus it would mean time out of WDW... do I really want to do that???
Thanks!