Anyone dive with Jupiter Dive Center?

[sheeper]

both JDC and Capt Sl8r will put a DM in the water with you. Let them know beforehand if you want to stick close to them. Both of these ops do a great job with new divers, experienced divers and more.

 

[fjpatrum]

This is good to hear--we (four adults) plan to come down in May and thought we'd dive with them then.

Are there any diver-friendly places to stay in the area? Cottages/condos/old-style motels, or is it regular chain hotels?

I just booked a couple condos through vacationrentals.com or something like that. There are plenty in the area that should fit just about any reasonable budget, from $80/night up. There are a couple of similar websites so do some research before committing to one unless it's perfect for you.

 

[Zznola]

both JDC and Capt Sl8r will put a DM in the water with you. Let them know beforehand if you want to stick close to them. Both of these ops do a great job with new divers, experienced divers and more.

Ive heard that some if not most of them will do that. I've seen some that charge for it though.

Ill be in Pompano in a couple of weeks and Pompano dive center says they do put someone in the water with you, so im going to start my Florida diving career with them! Woo Hoo! I have a diving career! Im gonna do a few days there, at least to get comfortable with my new equipment, then I plan to try my first shore dive at datura ave with the Gold Coast Scuba meet up group if anyone's going those days.
Ill be back in July and hope to expand my territory. Ive read about the sharks in Jupiter, but other than that is diving north of Pompano much better or must see? The next trip ill move it around, maybe as far as key largo. So much ground to cover, so little time!

 

[sportxlh]

So how is it that they didn't wait for all groups to be settled before taking off?. Im still a beginner and a little nervous about this drift dive on your own thing.

I was about to get get a 4 ft smb. now you are saying the 6ft is necessary......

In Jupiter surface current and current at depth can move at different speeds. If divers don't descend with the dive guide, they are likely to be pushed north of the guide by the (normally) stronger surface current by the time they finally get around to heading down. That's probably what happened to Steve C when his dive buddy messed around with the camera on the surface and then descended slowly. Unless the current is incredibly light, there is limited opportunity to gather the group and get them settled at depth. Remember, the dive guide is never lost and it is the job of the divers to stay in close proximity of the guide (if they plan to dive with that guide). If you simply keep your eye on the guide during decent and then on the bottom, you'll do fine.

I use a 4 foot sausage (Zeagle model that has a fairly thick diameter). I've never had an issue, though a 6 foot SMB is probably better than a 4 foot version. I normally shoot it up on a reel when I head off the bottom unless I happen to have stayed close to the DM during the dive.

If you can get nitrox certified before you come, do it. On air, your first dive in Jupiter will only be 25 minutes while the nitrox breathing DM will be down for 45 minutes.

Both Pompano and Jupiter are enjoyable. I live close to JDC so dive with them most of the time. If I lived close to PDC, I'm sure I'd dive with them most of the time. Pompano has more wrecks and some beautiful shallow reef sites. Jupiter is known for the sharks as you mentioned but also the goliath grouper and large number of turtles. Fish species are similar if not the same. Jupiter is all drift diving, Pompano boats can usually tie off to the wrecks though some of the reef dives are drift dives. If I were visiting for the first time and not likely to be back soon, I'd carve out some time in Jupiter

 

[Zznola]

We did all drift diving in Roatan so im ok with that but there was almost no current. we all splashed before the dm and hung out for a few minutes till everyone was good and then all teams also waited for everyone to properly descend before taking off. I did let them know that I was having trouble descending the first few dives but got that under control as the week went on. Sounds like, "welcome to the real world ZZ." We cant dive the caribbean all the time!
Gonna pool practice my smb deployment techniques and hopefully buddy up with someone with more experience, if possible. The current sounds like a bit of a challenge but I don't think I really needed that much surface time before descent anyway so hopefully I wont get blown away before descending and will be able to keep an eye on the DM.. Sounds like fun. Cant wait!! Will do the Nitrox for the second trip.

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

If you are not Nitrox, the spots out of Jupiter can be a little deep and you have a heavy penalty on bottom time. But, for a wreck, ask for a trip to the MG-111, which is 65'. Good reefs are shark canyon and tunnels, also about 60'.

There are excellent dives in the 40-50' range, but they are more out of Lake Worth Inlet, and you would dive with the operators there. I am thinking of Breakers Reef which has a lot of beautiful spots. Top operators there are Jim Abernethy Scuba Adventures, Pura Vida Divers, and Narcosis Dive Boat. Verify that they are hitting the shallow spots. Best of all, ask any operator if they are taking open water students out. That will assure the shallower sites.

 

[Zznola]

Yep. Im sure there is plenty of diving for all levels. The thing that opened my eyes a bit was that discussion in the general forum regarding negative entries and deep drift diving. Not surre Im ready for all of that now.

"It's all in the training.....I dive an area where 2 to 4 mph currents are common, and we do negative entries. This is drift diving, and the cool thing about this, is that you actually do much less work with this.....For a 2 mph current, go down hand over hand on a line, and you blow lots of air fighting the current on the descent.With the negative drift drop, the boat drops you 100 feet up current of where we want to end up, and you jump in, and do a leisurely swim down....i Might not need more than 3 breaths to reach 70 feet....whereas a guy hand over hand on a line might burn 500 psi to reach 70 feet.
The whole line descent and ascent thing is really a defective way to dive--once you have experienced how much easier Palm Beach style drift diving is....And I do mean EASIER.
Buddies go down with eye contact beginning the moment the bubbles clear from jumping in....you get side by side as you swim down, and the buddy team descends at the pace comfortable for the team. Gear---it is checked at the surface, before you jump in.....Each buddy is watching the other on descent...at the bottom, if you want to do more checks you can do it there, out of the current ( skin friction drag on the bottom, horizontal and belly to the bottom--5 inches off the bottom

 

[sportxlh]

ZZ: just to be clear, negative entries are not the norm in Jupiter. A few locals that hunt for lobster or want to take photos with no one else around will preform negative entries (or quickly descend before the other divers) but most don't. Usually the DM jumps in first with the float ball. in a quick manner all the divers follow the guide off the boat, bobbing on the surface for a minute or two until all divers are off the boat. Once that happens the DM gives the descend signal and the group heads down. As long as you head down with the guide and don't waste time on the surface, it is pretty easy to stay with the DM during your dive.

Enjoy your trip to Florida: whether Pompano, Jupiter or WPB: the diving is all great.

 

[Zznola]

YEah Thanks Sport, That's what I figured (was hoping) and that's pretty much how Ive done it. except the DM got in last in Roatan. Just need to get familiar with the currents. That other post was obviously a hard core group. Sounds like fun eventually but not for me right yet. Thanks again.

 

[fjpatrum]

Zznola, my brother's first post OW dives were out of Jupiter and he didn't have any troubles at all with the entries. JDC had good crews for us (as did Pura Vida) and we just told them we'd be likely last in first out because of air consumption. The watched our first couple of entries to make sure we were comfortable and that was it. No big deal for anyone involved. Great dives and a great entry to drifts and the style of drop.

I suspect if you tell them your comfort level they'll take excellent care of you and you'll have great dives.