OP
I might just bite the bullet and book a afternoon charter out of Jupiter for that Friday
Any other shore dives next to blue heron
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Johnoly
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Everyone above provided great answers. @tarponchik I think you missed my reply on page 2 that explains it with pictures too. (link below). I know there is 1 Bridge tender reserved parking space. And I think there are 3-4 free parking spaces but I'll check tomorrow because I'm diving and going right past there. Just like BHB weekends are busy, but weekdays there's no one there parking. And watch the Youtube video link I posted above with Kelly & Jackie that shows both topside & underwater and see what it's like. Again, it's different that BHB.
BHB is like Miss America and she's almost Perfect. Lots of parking, Huge sandy beach, Bathrooms with toilet paper & dryers, a playground, warm fresh water showers.....I mean - She's the crown jewel.
Cato bridge is like her wild cousin who's a meth head and you never know what to expect!. Wild grass weeds, a beach smaller than your car, stupid parking, no table, no shower, and the diving is,,,,,rough compared to BHB. But just like "people watching", you can't turn away because you never know what this wild dive is going to do and you just have to see it once before you return to the crown jewel.
click on this Link for info & picts :
Any other shore dives next to blue heron
To the SW is a Coast Guard Station with the Jupiter Lighthouse, Lighthouse Museum and a park with a soccer field. To the NW is a natural area with trails.
tarponchik
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Johnoly
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Both of your statements here are 100% absolutely correct. (1) Park on the NW side. & (2) Walk on the flat grass at the bottom of the guard rail on the SW side and enter the water at the tiny beach.
Today I drove past and over Cato Bridge, both ways twice. I confirmed that there are nine total parking spaces on the northwest side of the bridge. Of the 9 spaces,,, 2 of them are for the bridge tenders, another 1 is for County maintenance. Each of those spaces are marked with orange cones. That leaves six (6) un-restricted free spots for public parking. I drove past at about 5pm so all the kids were out of school and that's where all the cars came from in this photo.
It's also Memorial holiday week and all the beaches are packed too with visitors. A normal weekday should be just fine with plenty of parking. I also confirmed there is ZERO entry on any part of the east side of the bridge because there are chain link fences blocking the paths. All diving is done on the southwest side of the bridge. Today the lawn was nicely mowed and an easy flat walk to get to the tiny Beach area. There also is no fishing allowed on any place on Cato Bridge and you are allowed to dive it. A family of snorkelers under the bridge said they saw 2 big eagle rays just before I got down there.
Hope this clears up any confusion.
Thanks, I was not aware that you had to access from the SW as it has been years since I have done anything there except drive over the bridge.
tarponchik
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Johnoly
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Never done a night dive at Cato. Only once have I done a BHB night dive and I struggle so much with my camera that I got out of the water, put it back in my car, and walked back into the water. Promised myself, I'll never take another night dive picture ever again. I'm just going to look and enjoy.
tarponchik
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blauvelt
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If the viz is good Cato's is a fun little dive. I wouldn't try it unless high is early enough to get one of those 9 spots before 8:30 or 9 am. The only area of interest is under the bridge itself (north and south is sand). Till slack comes the current can be strong. You can get behind the bridge or hide in the columns by the channel if you want to extend your time. Another thing I do is drift it a few times, get to the side and walk back to the beach area so I'm not kicking like crazy against the current. They made that a little harder a couple years ago by dumping cement on the nice little path.
A better alternative is the US1 bridge by the lighthouse. Plenty of parking and a much larger area to dive. The current depends on the moon and the viz on what's going on in the ocean or whether there's been a lot of rain. Tuesday there was 2ft viz yesterday 30 to 40 so for out of towners a little hard to plan. It's also a great night dive. No one bothers you.
Snook on a nicer day.
A better alternative is the US1 bridge by the lighthouse. Plenty of parking and a much larger area to dive. The current depends on the moon and the viz on what's going on in the ocean or whether there's been a lot of rain. Tuesday there was 2ft viz yesterday 30 to 40 so for out of towners a little hard to plan. It's also a great night dive. No one bothers you.
Snook on a nicer day.
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