Back in SE FL for 10 days

[scubadada]

Arrived on Friday the 19th, hoping for 10 days of diving. Got off to a great start with 6 dives with Kevin Metz and Underwater Explorers out of Boynton Beach over the weekend. Saturday morning did Dave's Deep Reef and Briney Breezes and in the afternoon did 95 and 75. Yesterday did Delray Ledges and 007 with crossover to Clubhouse. Seas were on the rough side but better on Sunday. Visibility was pretty good at about 40-70 or so feet, water temps 76-79 degrees.

Highlights were at 95. A billfish swam lazily by me on my descent, I would guess a marlin based on the dorsal fin, but I suppose it could have been a sailfish, considerably more common. Near the end of the dive, at the north end, a husky Bull Shark slowly circled me twice before disappearing. Another group briefly saw a hammerhead at Delray Ledges, I missed that. Of course many Nurse Sharks, several Hawksbill and Loggerhead Turtles, and all the usual reef fish.

Now, off to day 3

Good diving, Craig

 

[iamrushman]

nice to hear your off to a great start...keep the dive reports coming...

 

[Johnoly]

Highlights were at 95. ...

See Any/Many/None lionfish?

 

[scubadada]

See Any/Many/None lionfish?

Hi @Johnoly

There were loads of Lionfish at the deeper, less dived spots, Dave's, 95, and 75. As usual, I was sightseeing by myself. The hunters got a couple ice chests full, you would have liked it. Kabobs would have been good

Retrospectively, I bet the Bull Shark was there at 95 because of the folks right behind me with all the Lionfish. At least a couple were using spearguns and making noise too

 

[scubadada]

Four more days, 8 more dives. Went out with Adam, Maggie and Alex on Starfish on Monday, Tuesday and yesterday and with Jim and Josh on Loggerhead on Wednesday, all out of Boynton Beach. The water temp is a solid 79-80 now. The visibility was around 60 feet until yesterday, when it was a stellar 80-100 feet. You could see across the entire reef on our dive on 75 and you could see the whole reef, bottom to top on the outside of Briney Breezes. The theme to these 8 dives was turtles, many, many turtles. I had a Lemon Shark and a Goliath Grouper on the outside reef yesterday.

Life is good, up to Jupiter today for the 3 tanker, I have grandiose plans for 10 dives over the Memorial Day weekend

See you underwater, Craig

 

[scubadada]

My trip up to Jupiter today deserves a post of its own. I went out on the 3 tanker on Jupiter Dive Center's Republic IV with Capt Mike and Capt Brian as DM. I heard all about Wednesday's rescue of 5 of the 7 "lost" divers from Emerald from Capt Brian, who was driving Republic VII that day. Seems like quite an embarrassment for Emerald, apparently, Randy Jordan was one of the lost. Now back to diving...

Our first drop was Deep Ledge. Visibility was great at about 80 feet, you could see the ledge just after descending. Water temp was 79 degrees. The 1st half of the dive was quite good with multiple sharks, and a couple of Goliath Grouper. The 2nd half of the dive was phenomenal. I have dived Deep Ledge 10 or 12 times and have had some good dives, this was, easily the best. We had about a dozen Bull Sharks stay with us for about 20 minutes, all the way up to our safety stop. They swam calm circles around us, often coming within arms length. It was very sad that we, eventually, had to end the dive. They did not leave us until we were on the surface. Consistent with full disclosure, I have to say that we followed Emerald Charters on Deep Ledge. I would imagine the Bulls were expecting us to be their next meal supplier. They certainly were patient, as they were getting nothing from us.

Our second dive was Scarface and Capt Kirles. Our third dive was Lighthouse and Loggerhead. The moderately brisk current dictated the distances we covered. The water temp was 80 degrees, visibility 60-80 feet. We saw several Reef Sharks, many turtles, and the usual reef fish. At the end of our 3rd dive we were amazed to see a 10 foot Tiger Shark. It swam lazily by us without a concern in the world, seemingly thinking, the reef is mine. This is the 1st Tiger Shark I have seen in SE FL, I do not participate in the feeding dives.

So, what a day, any of you who were thinking of coming today, are probably sorry you didn't. I'm extremely glad and lucky that I did.

Now, on to my 10 dive Memorial Day weekend plan for Boynton Beach.

Good diving, Craig

 

[The Chairman]

Who was hurt yesterday? PHOTOS: Jupiter diver in trauma center after ‘upper extremity’ injury I think I know who's in that picture, but I'm not going to guess.

 

[scubadada]

@The Chairman, Pete, you're right, not a good week

 

[CajunDiva]

That's not you is it???

 

[The Chairman]

That's not you is it???

No, it's not one of us, but it is a dear friend: https://www.scubaboard.com/community/posts/7998600/