Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Johnoly]

My 18 year old son and I are coming down this weekend for a quick dive trip before he starts college this summer. Planning to do morning boat dives on Sat & Sun and then dive BHB both afternoons. Hoping the viz clears up!

The issue is the wind direction because out in the ocean we had a strong east wind blowing in clean water on the 80ft reef. But that clean water was not making it all the way to shore inorder to continue to wash out the dirty water. BHB is garbage in-garbage out from the ocean shore line. I talked to divers today between Jup & WPB and they had a solid 40ft of slightly hazy viz. But once they started coming in to shore, it was still mud. The JUP wreck trek had a 10ft hammerhead and good viz this morning. I'm diving tomorrow with JDC and will put up a report late afternoon. Trying to find some LF's which will bring in the sharks as usual trying to pick a fight. You can also watch the WPB inlet cam and it's mini-video section, 2/3rd down the page and has an arrow play button on the picture. That camera sweeps 270 degrees and points down at the rocks to give you a clear idea of what viz is like.
Link:

Lake Worth Inlet Webcam

High definition webcam watching Lake Worth Inlet. A service of Palm Beach County ERM.

video-monitoring.com

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Did a beach dive this morning in Hollywood. Perry St. Was a bit leery about possible bad viz based on reports, and generally Perry St. has lower viz than other parts of Hollywood to the south. Was pleasantly surprised to find hazy blue 25ft, mild north current.

 

[Rob9876]

My 18 year old son and I are coming down this weekend for a quick dive trip before he starts college this summer. Planning to do morning boat dives on Sat & Sun and then dive BHB both afternoons. Hoping the viz clears up!

One follow-up: with the recent construction, what's the latest on parking and water entry at BHB?

 

[MrChen]

One follow-up: with the recent construction, what's the latest on parking and water entry at BHB?

The parking lot is open. You have to walk across the street at the light.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Adding about the walk. If you've done any beach diving in S. Florida, the walk is not any worse than most beach dives... including if you don't have close access to the path and have to park a ways away.

 

[Pipehorse]

After skipping Wednesday because the vis was so horrid on Tuesday, I went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Visibility had improved. It was not great at about 15ft but it was at least doable. Sea temp was 82f. Did a REEF survey, 50 species in 70 minutes. Stayed on the westside accept for when exiting and did not encounter another diver for the entirety of the dive. Took images of mostly sessile animals because of the nasty visibility. Longfin Blenny which only occurs in the database about 10 times was the most unusual observation. Observed a Large Atlantic Murex, they are common at BHB. Interestingly enough, I never see hermit crabs use these shells. I believe it is because the aperture of the shell opening is small compared to the relative size of the shell, i.e. it would not fit a hermit crab properly. Normally the Large Atlantic Murex shell has a lot growth on it, so the attractive pattern of the shell is not visible. The one observed yesterday did not have any growth so the pattern was visible.

With regards to the walk across the street to enter the water at BHB. @Scuba_Jenny is correct. Given that the walk is not over sand, but on asphalt, concrete, or grass, it is nothing more than a minor inconvenience. If you are willing to do a little extra swimming and deal with turbidity booms on the westside, there will be very few other divers to deal with.

Respectively, Giant Atlantic Murex, Box Crab (species unknown), Giant Hermit Crab, and Mangrove Tunicates.

 

[MrChen]

Adding about the walk. If you've done any beach diving in S. Florida, the walk is not any worse than most beach dives... including if you don't have close access to the path and have to park a ways away.

To be fair, you don't have to hit a button and wait for a safe time to cross the street, then go down stairs. But then again, sometimes coming out of the water on real beach dives, the first 6 feet feels like trying to walk out of quicksand, which is worse than stairs . It's definitely not as easy as it was prior to the construction, so if someone has any physical impairments, the expected walk would be more difficult. Ok, I'll stop crying about crossing the street, don't take my beach diver certificate from me just yet.

 

[MrChen]

OMG, 15ft of vis??? Time to go diving the bridge!

 

[Johnoly]

... and wait for a safe time to cross the street, ...

Ohh!!,,,,Could we unbolt one of the bus stop benches from down on US 1 and put it at the cross walk?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Ohh!!,,,,Could we unbolt one of the bus stop benches from down on US 1 and put it at the cross walk?