Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

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Seeing stuff is all that matters!

(OK, it would be nicer with warm and clear blue water...)
 
Conditions this morning - 81 degrees F, visibilty 5-10ft at slack, diminishing pretty rapidly with the tide going out. Not ideal, especially since a dozen people are flying down from Baltimore to work on photos with me for the next 3 days. But, it's good enough for macro...
P6220195s.jpg
 
Has anyone been in the water since Wed? Viz improved since the rain has slacked off?
 
Decent water conditions today. 1:30 high tide was in the water from 12:45 to 2:30. The lagoon is a bit green due to algea blooms. Conditions cleared up pretty good near High tide to about 20-30 feet of visibility that dropped back to about >10 feet 30 mins after high tide. I didn't have my dive computer but water temps were pleasant, I was confortable for my almost 2 hour dive time in just my shorts and rash guard.
 
What's the downside to being in the water here at the bridge during low tide? The day my wife and I are planning on visiting low tide will be in the morning which is when we plan on being there and not swinging back to high tide till later in the afternoon. We won't be diving, just snorkeling around looking for interesting marine life in the snorkeling area.
 
What's the downside to being in the water here at the bridge during low tide? The day my wife and I are planning on visiting low tide will be in the morning which is when we plan on being there and not swinging back to high tide till later in the afternoon. We won't be diving, just snorkeling around looking for interesting marine life in the snorkeling area.

The downside is poor visibility (think 1-5 feet) due to diving in the dark runoff water from the shore and all the canals that pour into the inlet but you can snorkel the shallows and still have fun. Currently, you will also be dealing with an unusually large blue green algae bloom that is flowing out of lake Okeechobee and dumping into the lagoon via C-17 canal.

This past Sunday you could literally see where the tide had crept up to, there was a sharp warm thermocline and a wall of dark green water north of the bridge.
 
What's the downside to being in the water here at the bridge during low tide?

The visibility is a bit lower after the tide turns, but improves once the tides begins flowing back in. The recent poor vis days were due to runoff - vis will be bad no matter what in those conditions. The vis is typically good enough for the snorkel trail any time - just gets a bit better with the incoming tide. Current can get pretty strong towards the edges (East and West), but is very tolerable right in front of the beach area.
 
Thanks guys for the advice. Looking forward to explore the area and see something different then over here on the gulf side.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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