A storm approaches across mangroves in Belize ... the sun peeks through clouds over the warm Indian Ocean off the Maldives ... a mother and son suit up for a shore dive on Curaçao's Porto Marie Beach ... a new diver basks in the glow of her first dive and a golden Florida Keys sunset.

This month the staff of Sport Diver and one of Bonnier Corporation's staff photographers hit the road to the Florida Keys to create these fantasy locations and others for our upcoming Jan/Feb issue, the 2011 Ultimate Dive Travel Planner.

For this issue we've styled archetypes for every kind of diver — adventure, photographer, beginner, family, luxury and live-aboard — and, with the help of top manufacturers like Aqua Lung, Bare, Body Glove, Cressi, Mares, Olympus, ScubaPro, Sherwood and others, outfitted them in a head-to-toe kit specially suited for their type of diving. We've also created itineraries, sought out travel tips from the pros, and included resources to study before you go and suggestions for additional locations to put on your bucket list for coming years.

"We're excited to bring this complete travel planner to readers dreaming of a big dive vacation this year," says Sport Diver editor Eric Michael. "And we couldn't have pulled off these photo shoots without the help of the great staffs at Hawks Cay resort and Dive Duck Key."

Hawks Cay is family-friendly luxury resort that takes up most of Duck Key, just north of Marathon at mile marker 61 in the Florida Keys (hawkscay.com). The resort boasts stunning pools and a unique saltwater lagoon, top restaurants, accommodations including rooms, suites and villas, and a bevy of topside activities such as fishing, water sports and a dolphin-interaction program with resident dolphins.

At the Hawks Cay marina you'll find PADI dive resort Dive Duck Key, whose owners and staff worked closely with Sport Diver to shoot at the marina and out on Dive Duck Key's gorgeous dive boat, the Seafari — Dive Duck Key even provided one of our models, captain and PADI instructor Bob McCormick (you'll spot him in the issue as our luxury diver).

Although there's a wealth of terrific PADI dive operators in the Keys, Dive Duck Key (diveduckkey.com) is in the fortunate position of being the only operator for an eight- or 10-mile stretch in either direction, said co-owner Wendy Hall, offering divers access to reefs that many other area boats don't visit. They run daily trips from the marina from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m., as well as instruction from their "Dive Experience" resort course to Divemaster.

So check out the results of our fantasy shoots in our Jan/Feb issue, and let us know what you think — and happy dive-travel planning in 2011.