Jupiter Dive Thread

[Divin'Papaw]

Close to half of my scheduled dives in Jupiter were canceled this year. I’m booked with them Wed and it will almost certainly get blown out.

It happens. 3-5s they’ll typically run, any larger typically not. But the period and direction factor into the Captains decision as well.

 

[Johnoly]

.. I am now 0 for 4 over the last few years trying to dive out of Jupiter and West Palm. Everything gets blown out.

Dec & Jan in Jupiter are typically 1 day windows of calm diving. On either side of that window is 4-6ft "hard core Jupiter" diving. A couple of boats went out today. June & July are the sweetest months when you can almost dive every single day. For many years, New Year's morning has been just flat, but not this year.
{We also talk to the surfers..>..They'll tell you this has been the best year they've ever had}

 

[Divin'Papaw]

A few shots from today. Underwater we had 50-60’ viz, 75F, mild N current. Topside we had 2-4 at points and 3-5 at times. Conditions were worst at the end of the 1st dive but had calmed a bit by the end of the 2nd dive.

We did Scarface & Capt Kurls.

 

[edwants2dive]

Question for you @JimBlay do you know how early Kyalami would cancel for the conditions? Just wondering how far I would get on my trip over from Englewood just to turn around. I am planning on leaving at about 5:30 am to be there on time if it goes out.

 

[MrVegas]

Thanks for the responses. That wavefinder site is pretty neat, I hadn't seen that. I've been on some bouncy boats before, so I don't really mind that, but obviously I understand the captains have to be safe. Anyway, might have another chance in the Spring. Someday I'll see what SE Florida looks like underwater.

 

[CosbySweater]

Thanks for the responses. That wavefinder site is pretty neat, I hadn't seen that. I've been on some bouncy boats before, so I don't really mind that, but obviously I understand the captains have to be safe. Anyway, might have another chance in the Spring. Someday I'll see what SE Florida looks like underwater.

Another good app for wind and wave forecasts is FishWeather. FishWeather has a forecast location for Juno Ledge (aka the reef) off Juno Beach. I usually use a combo of windfinder, fishweather, and noaa forecasts to determine how dive-able any given day might be. Anything over 4 feet with a period less than 2x wave height and the operators usually cancel the trip. It makes getting back on the boat too difficult for most divers.

 

[Biotech Diver]

Thanks for the responses. That wavefinder site is pretty neat, I hadn't seen that. I've been on some bouncy boats before, so I don't really mind that, but obviously I understand the captains have to be safe. Anyway, might have another chance in the Spring. Someday I'll see what SE Florida looks like underwater.

There are a few reasons why they don’t go out when waves are above a certain height (4-6ish). For one, it’s much harder to spot divers at the surface, and since almost everything here is a drift dive, that can lead to divers getting lost at sea. Another reason is that it’s pretty difficult to get back on the boat if seas are too rough.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Question for you @JimBlay do you know how early Kyalami would cancel for the conditions? Just wondering how far I would get on my trip over from Englewood just to turn around. I am planning on leaving at about 5:30 am to be there on time if it goes out.

@edwants2dive They’ve already canceled for tomorrow. You probably already got a call.

 

[Snoweman]

Sorry if this is a stupid question: If Jupiter is closed, is Key Largo likely to be closed as well?

 

[CosbySweater]

Sorry if this is a stupid question: If Jupiter is closed, is Key Largo likely to be closed as well?

Not always. The answer to that question depends of the specifics on the weather in those two areas.

For example - Winds from due North up in Jupiter, even if relatively light can chop up the seas due the wind-against-current effect where the wind is blowing from one direction and the current (the Gulf-Stream in this case) is moving in the opposite direction. This causes a superimposition of sorts, making wave heights higher. A due North wind in Key Largo typically isn't bad as there is not as much fetch from the North (i.e. there is not as much open water distance for the wind to work on the seas from the North). All things equal, a North wind doesn't effect diving conditions in Key Largo as much as it does in Jupiter. That's one very simple example of where you can get blown out in Jupiter and not in Key Largo. However, if the wind speed is high enough, even a north wind will mess things up in Largo.

Another thing to consider is the simple fact that 120 miles separate the two locations so each location can be experiencing different weather at any given time.

So, the short answer is: "It depends". Luckily we have access to pretty decent weather forecasting tools so we can see what the weather is like in Jupiter and Key Largo. It looks like winds are blowing 15-20 from the E-SE in Largo and Jupiter through Saturday which typically isn't good (lots of fetch from the SE in both locations). Sunday might be doable.