There seems to be a bit of confusion about permits, and night permits. So I did what works when all other things fail, I read the instructions,
Palm Beach County Parks, Phil Foster.
About two thirds of the way done the page there is header that says "Diving". There are very few rules. One of the rules however, is that to do any scuba instructing at the park you must obtain a permit. It can be done as an individual instructor, or as a shop. Individuals pay $150 + tax, shops pay $350 + tax. (All of this information is available of the permit application, BTW). Permit is the county covering their butt liability wise, i.e. the instructor needs to be insured and prove it. Also there is another country covering their butt workmans comp release.
Obtaining this permit to do instruction, allows said holder of the permit to conduct "supervised night dives". However to do the night dives, the entity performing the night dives must give notice by calling 561-966-6623. I called the number, low and behold an actual person answers. The same person that issues the instructor permits. Yes, he has to be called biweekly to be informed if the entity is going to be doing night dives between sunrise and 10 pm on the days when that happens.
So doing the night dives does not incur any further cost to instructor or shop beyond the instruction permit that is required anyway. I know Force-E and Pura Vida have the shop permits. But my general impression was that a lot of these individual instructors didn't bother with the getting the permit. So I asked how many permits were issued for 2023 he said, 50. In 2022 it was, 70. I also asked him if there had been any recent issues with night divers "violating rules", he replied "not that he was aware of".
I have not done a lot of night dives at BHB. The few times I did, I signed a release and got a parking permit from Pura Vida. Pura Vida had a guide there, that you could go with for free or you could go off on your own. It seems that "supervised night dive" has been very loosely interpreted by Force E, and Pura Vida up to now.
We are making these changes in order to help enhance diver safety and ensure future access to Phil Foster Park for scuba divers. A number of different guided dive and class options are available to divers interested in exploring Blue Heron Bridge after dark.
We appreciate your understanding as we strive to protect access to this popular shore diving location on behalf of the dive community. If you have questions about these changes or would like to discuss available night diving activities, please call us at (561) 840-8750.
It seems to me like Pura Vida does not want to do it for free anymore, and the above is just a corporate way of saying, yeah, we want money for the night dives because we have the permit and you don't. Not sure that it has anything to do enhancing safety or protecting access IMHO.
I would guess the solution is to use Force E like
@MrChen said, or find one of the other 48 instructor permit holders and work with them. Of course, most of the other permit holders will not have a convenient location to pick up the parking pass, and even if you can arrange something would they do it for free?
We have also been told that Phil Foster Park is cracking down on early morning access. The “pool” opens at sunrise and if you arrive earlier than that, you may find yourself turned away by a park ranger.
Not sure of the veracity of this. I pretty much spend as much time at that park as anybody here or on the FB. I see a Park Ranger during the week at Phil Foster once in a Blue Moon. They just normally show up during the weekends. Not even sure that Park Rangers have authority to write parking tickets.
One other thing I would like to add. The park is open from sunrise to sunset. The fishing pier is open until 10pm. I think because of this paradox, i.e. the park is closed at sunset but you allowed to use the fishing pier until 10pm, the sheriffs tend not to bother hassling people until 10 pm approaches. This would coincide with the 10pm night dive limit.
