Went out with Pura Vida on Marin this morning with Capt. Jason and the crew included Ambar, Quinn and Tom (in training). Had the pleasure of meeting two other ScubaBoarders I'd not yet met in person ...
@NothingClever and
@DiveFlag = Target. Great to meet and dive with both of you!
It was a chilly morning with air temps in the low 50s and winds out of the NW at 15-20 mph. Seas started out pretty calm at maybe 1-2' but built throughout the morning. After our 2nd dive we surfaced to 3-5' roughly.
We did Teardrop first dive which is where they saw a juvenile humpback whale yesterday. We have 30-40' of viz that improved to 40-50' as we moved north. Water temps were 75-76 F. We got to Ron's Rock, Middle Earth and crossed into south Flower Gardens. We saw all the usual tropicals in large quantities plus a bull shark that seemed to be hanging with the group, coming and going a few times. Unfortunately, no humpback whale.
We did Elevator Shaft on the second dive. Viz was even better at 50-60' of beautiful blue water. Similar water temps. We saw a number of huge schools of snapper/grunt as well as a school of atlantic spadefish. While on the surface we looked down to see another bull shark.
By the time we got back to the dock it was sunny, temps in the mid-60s and much more pleasant.
This was my first time using Pura Vida since they moved the boats to the south side of Lake Park Marina due to the construction on the northside of the Marina. As expected, Pura Vida had worked out the logistics and while not ideal, it worked better than I had anticipated. Kudos to the crew as the new location means more work for them. I spoke to Jason and at this point they aren't sure how long they will be at this location. They are at the mercy of the huge condo high rise they are building next to the Marina.
It was a beautiful couple of dives! Looking forward to two more tomorrow.
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