Best short trip option? Caribbean vs Jupiter?

[Amanwithaphone]

Dear SB folk,
New member, long time lurker. I'd like yr advice on where to go based on my specific situation.
I will have a 5 max 6 day window (must include travel days) in early Jan in which to dive. I will leave from and return to Orlando. I have dived in Grand Caymen (west and east sides, though only a few dives on east), coz (many many dives), Roatan (liked, did not love) and Jupiter (4 dives). I was impressed by the pelagic population in Jupiter, though vis wasn't great and I don't think the coral really stacks up to the Caribbean spots. I have around 75 to 100 dives total and have nitrox. I'm not a macro guy, prefer pelagics and beautiful coral. I've saved enough cash so that as long as we're not talking about renting a yacht, I'm not too worried about $. Traveling solo, so no need to please anyone else. Focus is on diving only. Top spots I'm considering:
Little Cayman - everyone seems to love it. Slightly concerned about travel times, not sure if i will see pelagics. I do really love wall dives tho.
GC- would go back to East End and see more of that. Again, wouldn't expect lots of pelagics.
Jupiter- obviously the easiest, since I can drive. I would expect lots of sharks, but not totally sure re time of year. Travel to Fl often, so can go relatively easily another time.
Saba - don't know much about this location. Could it combine sharky water with pretty coral?
Other? I certainly don't know it all!


So, given that set of circumstances and the time of year, where would you go and why? Thanks so much!

 

[drrich2]

I'd double check whether my dates put me in sync with the lemon shark aggregation, and decide how badly you want to see lemon sharks. If you're dealing with a constrained (under a week) time slot, want to see pelagics, and you already have some familiarity with Jupiter, seems like a good option. Maybe take a side trip one or two days if high tide times are convenient and enjoy a dive at Blue Heron Bridge - a very different, but good experience.

Richard.

 

[tkaelin]

How about Provo?

 

[Amanwithaphone]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Provo is one of the few places not on my list, mainly bc my wife really wants to go there and can't make it this trip.

 

[Johnoly]

.....So, given that set of circumstances and the time of year, ...

I am a die hard Jupiter fan and it's my home port. But honestly the 1st three weeks of January in Jupiter have weather windows that open for just hours, not days and it's seriously difficult to put 3 days in a row during that month. But on the good news is that the last weekend of January (25th-27th, 2019) is the peak of Lemon Sharks and 85% of the time it's been divable. MLK weekend = I've been blown out almost always. Just telling you what the last 20 years I've been diving it has been. Coz would be my vote

 

[nolatom]

I know zip about anything south of Florida, nor when your available dates are, but as to Jupiter, the Lemon Shark congregation is generally a January thought March thing, so February is the mid-point, and this past Feb I got to see a school of them passing beneath us, then swooping back around to do it again. Awesome.

More from this article:
The Florida East Coast Lemon Shark Aggregation


PS Edit: I see Johnoly just posted while I was typing. Whatever he says that's different from what I say here, believe John--he's done it many times, while I've done Jupiter a few times, but in February only once.

 

[Hoag]

If you can get a non-stop hop from MCO to NAS at a reasonable price, then Nassau would be an option. Many of the hotels in Nassau have a deal with Stuart Cove in which Stuart Cove will pick you up at your hotel and then drop you off when you are done.

I have done this option a few times while staying downtown Nassau (at the British Colonial Hilton) and out of the city (at the Orange Hill Inn) and it works like a well oiled machine.

 

[Amanwithaphone]

Wow, johnoly, v v valuable intel. Thanks!

 

[scubadada]

I had two fantastic Lemon Shark dives with JDC at Lemon Drop in February and March of this year. I don't know about January. SE Florida can be fickle this time of year. I dive this area all year, you can often get out in Jupiter or West Palm when you can't get out in Boynton Beach.

 

[KathyV]

I'm a warm water wimp so Florida, the Bahamas, and the T&Cs are just too cold for me in the winter.

Saba is lovely but not a lot of big stuff (if I recall correctly) and it isn't all that easy to get there when you have limited vacation time. You have to fly to St. Martin and then fly or take a ferry to Saba.

I remember seeing sharks around St. Croix but not loads of them, but perhaps someone that has been there more recently like @drrich2 could confirm that?

I'm a notorious fan of the Caymans for Caribbean diving and it is pretty easy to get there from the southeast US, but the north end is likely to get winded out in the winter and it is most probable that you will see sharks on the East End anyway - so you could fly to GC and stay at Compass Point on the East End. If the East End gets winded out they can usually dive the West or South sides.

Little Cayman's walls are lovely but I think that they can also get windy in the winter. If that happens you will be diving the south side of the island and it's good but it's not the BBW, so you might want to wait and go there another time when you can spend a full week. But I have never been there in January so perhaps someone else can give you a more accurate opinion. It's an easy half-hour flight over to LC from GC.

Have fun wherever you go!