Trip Report Back in Florida, 2022 #4

[scubadada]

I haven't been down to Florida since July. Not as bad as it sounds, my wife and I had a great 2 week trip to Bonaire at the end of August Trip Report - Bonaire: Den Laman and Dive Friends, August 17-31. 2022 I flew down yesterday, what a difference a few months make. Essentially nobody in the airport or on the plane wearing a mask. Few masks at National Car Rental or Winn Dixie.

Dive day 1, Oct 8

I planned four dives with Starfish out of Boynton Beach but ended up getting in just two. It was beautiful and flat when we headed out this morning. First dive was down south, Clubhouse, starting on the outside and ending inside. There was a mild south current, visibility was about 30 feet, water was 82 degrees. Nothing spectacular but a relaxing dive with all the usual reef fish. During the first dive, the wind picked up from the NE and we surfaced to 3-5 footers, just like NOAA had predicted.

The second dive was up north at Briney Breezes. Again, a mild south current, visibility and water temp were the same. Another relaxing dive in Boynton Beach. The seas had picked up a bit more and the afternoon charter was cancelled.

 

[Johnoly]

The seas had picked up a bit more and the afternoon charter was cancelled.

The weather has not been kind to us and usually October is a good month to dive. Glad you are getting 30ft of viz. With all these strong east winds we hope it should push in some blue water. In previous gulf storms with 20ft high waves (!!) if will take about 2 weeks for that gulf stream loop current to get back to normal 50-70ft of viz. Next week (15th-20th) we are expecting fast currents and that should bring in a reverse migration of big animals like mantas, southern rays & others inward to our diving depths. The annual Mullet run combines with spinner sharks should be in 3 weeks. It's not terrible for waves but bumpy at 3-5's and big boat diving this week. Hope you can get out more this trip

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I was diving with a friend down from Indiana all day in Palm Beach yesterday. Topside conditions were quite challenging. He was sea sick most of both trips but he was a trooper! We did all 4 dives planned for the day.

Our dives south of the inlet had better viz than I expected. North Doubles, Flower Garden & 4th Window had 40-50’ of relatively blue water. The green top layer was long gone.

Corridor still had the nasty, green, dark top layer of 20-25’. Viz on the wrecks was a decent 30’ or so.

Water temps were 81-82.

Current was a mild N on North Doubles and very surgy with almost no north push on flower garden & 4th window.

@CosbySweater was on the morning trip with us. Pleasant surprise to see him & catch up.

Jupiter Dive Center canceled our planned dives for today.

 

[Johnoly]

Our dives south of the inlet had better viz than I expected.

Thank you for the viz report !!

 

[scubadada]

Beautiful morning, seas look good. Scheduled for the Castor with Starfish later this morning

 

[scubadada]

Dive day 2, Oct 9

Two great dives in Boynton Beach today off Starfish. Capt Chris, deckhand Mody, Ren was also on the boat, guiding a dive. Flat and calm on the way our, never got bigger than 2-3. Water was 81-82 degrees, visibility was 30-40 feet.

First dive was on the Castor. Almost no current, luxury to be able to swim around. There were Goliath Grouper on the stern, off the port stern, and off the port bow. There was bait, hunters, and two Bull Sharks cruising the perimeter. Thought I was going to miss the Goliath Grouper altogether this year, glad I was wrong.

Second dive was in the north, Castle Ledge/Table Tops. There was a mild south current. The reef was loaded with all of the usual reef fish, nothing special. It waa a very relaxing 65 min dive.

We towed another boat into Boynton Marina that had run out of fuel, I think Starfish knew them, their lucky day.

Doing 2 dives, starting at 10 AM, is very civilized.

 

[CosbySweater]

I was diving with a friend down from Indiana all day in Palm Beach yesterday. Topside conditions were quite challenging. He was sea sick most of both trips but he was a trooper! We did all 4 dives planned for the day.

Our dives south of the inlet had better viz than I expected. North Doubles, Flower Garden & 4th Window had 40-50’ of relatively blue water. The green top layer was long gone.

Corridor still had the nasty, green, dark top layer of 20-25’. Viz on the wrecks was a decent 30’ or so.

Water temps were 81-82.

Current was a mild N on North Doubles and very surgy with almost no north push on flower garden & 4th window.

@CosbySweater was on the morning trip with us. Pleasant surprise to see him & catch up.

Jupiter Dive Center canceled our planned dives for today.

Bummed your dives got cancelled on Sunday. It looked pretty lumpy from the air off PB and Jup yesterday afternoon. Nice diving with you and Jarred. he's a trooper for sticking it out all four dives.

 

[scubadada]

Dive day #3, Oct 10

I did 2 dives today with Starfish out of Boynton. My friend Alex B drove today, he easily makes the best drops in Boynton Beach. Deckhand was Katy, met her for the first time. It was a warm, sunny day with seas <2 ft. There was a mild south current again, the visibility was about 40 ft on the outside and 25-30 ft inside

First dive was outside of Gulfstream with a crossover to Clubhouse. The second dive was outside at Sharkie's Ledge with a crossover to Black Condo/Gulfstream. Nothing spectacular, all the usual reef life. I did not see another diver underwater all day, that is always very relaxing.

I'm off to Jupiter in the morning for a change of pace.

 

[scubadada]

Today was somewhat of a milestone for me, my 2,250th dive since my restart in 1997. I'm hoping to make 2,500 dives by my 70th birthday in January 2024, that may be somewhat of a reach. We'll see

 

[scubadada]

Dive day #4, Oct 11

I went up to Jupiter to do 4 dives with Jupiter Dive Center. I was the only one signed up for the afternoon, so that was cancelled. We only had 5 divers in the morning.

It was a very bright and sunny day, temperature got to 90. Seas were around 2 feet. The first 30 feet had very poor visibility and was 80-81 degrees, a couple of degrees cooler than at depth. At depth it was 83 degrees, very dark due to the surface conditions, and visibility was 20-30 feet. There was a mild to moderate south current.

The first dive was at Bluffs. We dived north, apparently there was no reef south of us. Swimming against the current for 45 min was, at best, annoying. The second dive was at Scarface, fortunately, we went south. Altogether, somewhat mediocre for Jupiter, A couple of Nurse Sharks, a couple of Reef Sharks, a couple of Goliath Grouper, a turtle, a couple morays. There were some huge schools of Grunts. I'm actually glad there were no afternoon dives. Not every day can be good.

I'll give it another try tomorrow.