Trip Report A week in fort lauderdale

[cather]

I was able to take a quick weeklong trip down to fort lauderdale by the sea after a long hiatus of diving due to 2020. Figured i could share some details with yall.
Dives were booked with ScubaDive It and the boats were from south florida diving HQ. Great people and lots of fun.

Day 1 - May 25th
Dive 1/2: Ancient Mariner and Lighthouse ledge
Took me a little time to get used to being underwater but after a few minutes i felt like i was back at home.
First time seeing a wreck so that was amazing. Saw some parrotfish (i think), pufferfish and some type of ray.
Lots of other fish i dont know the name of too. Good stuff and great start to my vacation.

Dive 3/4: Lady Luck and Pompano Trench
It seems that weather and currents were on my side and we were able to dive the Lady Luck. Im told the boats sometimes have to skip the lady luck due to that.
It was an amazing wreck to dive and got down to about 33m. Was a shorter dive of 23minutes due to the depth. There were more fish than i was expecting.
The trench was much shallower but had a lot of sea life all over. Tons of fish and lobsters.
The second set of dives were my favorite for the day.
Of course i forgot to put on sunscreen so got a nice sunburn. i seem to always forget that.

Day 2: May 26th
Dive 5/6: Aqua zoo and Razzle Dazzle reef
The aqua zoo was a neat wreck to see. We saw a cool nurse shark. first time i see one of them! really cool.
Some loggerheads, trigger fish (i hate these guys. got attacked by one in thailand en of 2019), lots of various fish and lobsters.
Lots of water life here.

a few more dives to come

 

[cather]

Day 2: May 26th
Dive 7/8: Pompano 3rd Reef and Touchdown Reef
Nice and chill dives just enjoying floating around and being at peace.
Lots of fish and things to see.
Starting to feel much more comfortable underwater working on my buoyancy and trim.

Day 3: May 27th
Dive 9: SS. Copenhagen wreck
This was a really cool shallow wreck that i felt was quite large and spread out. It was neat to see all the sea life in the nooks and crannies
all over this wreck. I love the parrotfish that are here, they look really cool. funny to watch em chomp on coral.

Day 4: May 28th
Dive 10-13: Pompano 3rd reef, lighthouse ledge, razzle dazzle reef
Some familiar things here as i have been here previous days. I did see some new things like moray eels and a snake type thing.
We were able to see a small pod of dolphins which i had never seen before and even a pretty big hammerhead shark! A couple nurse sharks were roaming around too.
The 2nd two dives were my first night dives which were really amazing. I was a little nervous for the first one but then i got used to it.
Lots of different sea life out at night. Way more lobsters/crabs and jellyfish looking things. Even saw some type of a ray and cuttlefish.
This day was my favorite due to all the really neat stuff we got lucky to see.

A few more dives to come.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The "snake type thing" is a sharptail eel. Also looks like a yellow spotted stingray also called just a yellow stingray. Both are common here. Great shot of the hammerhead!

 

[Redfoot]

Sweet!
I really like the dolphin picture, and you got to see a great variety of stuff.

Where did you stay? I think I remember reading (Maybe in the PADI magazine?) that there is a hotel directly onsite at the marina, which makes it super easy to dive.

I would be interested in that, as I like to keep things as easy as possible.

 

[scubadada]

Hammerheads and dolphins are not common, you had a good trip

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Hammerheads and dolphins are not common, you had a good trip

Indeed. I've never seen either underwater. @cather consider yourself blessed!

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Sweet!
I really like the dolphin picture, and you got to see a great variety of stuff.

Where did you stay? I think I remember reading (Maybe in the PADI magazine?) that there is a hotel directly onsite at the marina, which makes it super easy to dive.

I would be interested in that, as I like to keep things as easy as possible.

Probably referring to the Bahia Mar Resort which is where Sea Experience is based. The shop and boat are right there at the resort. Ft. Lauderdale beach is right across the A1A and plenty of restaurants are within walking distance.

 

[tkaelin]

Pretty amazing on the dolphins and hamerhead sitings and getting pictures to boot. Seen plenty of dolphins on the surface and only one underwater and that one experience was not great (Stinky the wayward dolphin in GC). No hammerheads yet.

 

[Redfoot]

Probably referring to the Bahia Mar Resort which is where Sea Experience is based. The shop and boat are right there at the resort. Ft. Lauderdale beach is right across the A1A and plenty of restaurants are within walking distance.

Thanks- Have you ever dove with them or visited that property? That sounds like a great setup, diving, restaurants and beach all in close proximity.

 

[Ana]

Probably referring to the Bahia Mar Resort which is where Sea Experience is based. The shop and boat are right there at the resort. Ft. Lauderdale beach is right across the A1A and plenty of restaurants are within walking distance.

Agree with the Bahia Mar but using the Sands Harbor Resort you are in the same marina as the South Florida Diving HQ boats.