Blue Heron Bridge diving Christmas Eve

[homerdoc]

we are doing a family trip to key largo to dive starting this weekend. On the drive back it might make sense to dive Blue Heron Bridge - stopping in Gainesville Florida that night. On the way down, we are diving one of the springs in Gainesville so its kinda the midway point.

However the tides do not seem to be cooperating.

Would this be an okay dive from 12 to 1ish? Just making sure it would be worth our time.

Thanks!

JJ

 

[living4experiences]

I'll let the Florida locals weigh in for the finer details, but as a recent visitor to the south Florida area, I wanted to dive the BHB. Since I had never done this before, I used a private guide from Pura Vida, which is less than a mile from the parking area, so all of the logistics were taken care of for me. Pura Vida also provides group guided dives, which I would recommend if you've never dived there. The parking is limited, so divers arrive 1 1/2 hrs before the tide time window just to get a parking space. The timing of the tides is critical. You have to time your swim out, too, to get to the area you want (east or west side). Best visibility (rare) is 30 feet. Average visibility is 15 feet. Poor visibility is 5 feet and that's when you abort the dive. Out of 7 days in a row of attempts, I actually dived it twice, both days at 15 ft viz. The other days were 5 ft viz and all the divers were coming out of the water as soon as they swam out. I feel fortunate to have dived it twice, because the diversity of critters is pretty cool. Even saw an eagle ray swimming by about 20 feet from us. I posted my pics in the post called Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III, Post #998.

 

[johndiver999]

short answer... No.

 

[RyanT]

The current will be ripping at noon. So no.

 

[homerdoc]

new plan - we hit it on the way down. If we want to dive the 12:37 window on Sunday the 20th - what time do I need to be there (is the 1 1/2 hours enough) and what time should we plan to hit the water. I think I read an hour before? How long does it take to find parking etc.

I will check out the dive op mentioned above.

Thanks in advance. This looks like a really cool dive.

 

[johndiver999]

Contrary to what I generally read here, I think you want to do almost ALL of your dive before high tide. When the tide is coming in, you are getting flushed with clean ocean water. As soon as the tide starts to run out, you are getting flushed with bay water.

In some situations, you can have the visibility drop from 30 to 5 feet in 15 minutes or less.
I would rather get in a little early and have to hide from a somewhat strong tide/current and enjoy the clear water. It is hard to make accurate generalizations, because there is a lot of variability depending on tide height, prior rainfall events, wind,things like that. Sometimes the tide stops (or is very slow) for 20 minutes, other times it seems to flip from incoming to outgoing in 5 minutes.

If you get in too early, often you can just swim back to shore, stand up in 3 feet of water and chill for 10 minutes and wait until you are a little closer to high tide. Better to be early than late.

 

[homerdoc]

thanks for the tip, early works better for us.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Contrary to what I generally read here, I think you want to do almost ALL of your dive before high tide. When the tide is coming in, you are getting flushed with clean ocean water. As soon as the tide starts to run out, you are getting flushed with bay water.

In some situations, you can have the visibility drop from 30 to 5 feet in 15 minutes or less.
I would rather get in a little early and have to hide from a somewhat strong tide/current and enjoy the clear water. It is hard to make accurate generalizations, because there is a lot of variability depending on tide height, prior rainfall events, wind,things like that. Sometimes the tide stops (or is very slow) for 20 minutes, other times it seems to flip from incoming to outgoing in 5 minutes.

If you get in too early, often you can just swim back to shore, stand up in 3 feet of water and chill for 10 minutes and wait until you are a little closer to high tide. Better to be early than late.

Pretty much what we do. In about an hr or 45 min before high tide and dive until whenever. 5' of viz @ BHB in 70-80 degree water beats 5' viz in 46f @ the local mud hole quarry...

 

[Divin'Papaw]

For a Sunday 12/20 12:37 pm high tide the weekend before Christmas and a pretty day (sunny & 70s forecasted) you’ll have more than divers to contend with for parking. You’ll have beach goers, fishermen, paddle boarders, picnickers, etc. If I were diving BHB this Sunday I would plan to arrive at the park by 9-9:30 and enjoy a pretty morning relaxing before gearing up and diving around 11-11:15. But that’s just me.

How long to find parking? It’s right there! If there are spots ... seconds to minutes ... if it’s full you can end up circling the park forever. If you get there early on Sunday you’ll be just fine. If you cut it too close you may have issues.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

For a Sunday 12/20 12:37 pm high tide the weekend before Christmas and a pretty day (sunny & 70s forecasted) you’ll have more than divers to contend with for parking. You’ll have beach goers, fishermen, paddle boarders, picnickers, etc. If I were diving BHB this Sunday I would plan to arrive at the park by 9-9:30 and enjoy a pretty morning relaxing before gearing up and diving around 11-11:15. But that’s just me.

How long to find parking? It’s right there! If there are spots ... seconds to minutes ... if it’s full you can end up circling the park forever. If you get there early on Sunday you’ll be just fine.

That's another great point....never again will I go on a weekend

Maybe he'll be ok on Christmas Eve? Maybe not...idk.