I’m from Santa Fe, NM, and highly recommend the easy going lifestyles there, along with all the cafes and micro breweries. However, while I love downhill skiing, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, hiking, climbing and all the art galleries, symphony, opera, wine tastings, healthfood and major ambiance of a Tri-cultural area, diving would require quite a haul.
Now that I’m in North Central FL, spring, cavern, cave country of the USA, I highly recommend it here. The cool coffee shops are far and few, but we can’t have everything. There are good, organic, fair trade coffee roasters here though, plus some good colleges.
And, like ginovega said, there is diving galore. From coast to coast, and in between, there are plenty of holes just waiting to be explored.
Meanwhile, I grew up on Cape Hatteras, and the quaintness of the barrier islands is magnificent. Of course, to survive, they too have had to turn into major tourist traps. So, lots of veneer there now, and quite a bit of contention between the park service and the locals, and the costs of buying are quite high now too.
If in North Central FL, check out the counties of Marion, Alachua, and Levy, maybe even Gilchrist and Dixie too. Lots of bang for your buck when buying a home with acreage in these parts.