Boat dives near Blue Heron Bridge

[jomcclain]

My husband and I are planning to go to BHB for the first time August 31 through Sept 2.. We want to do some boat dives in the mornings. We are looking for shop that will allow us to park our car there on Saturday, Sept 2nd, so that we can do a boat dive in the morning but still get into the bridge for afternoon dive. Have been told that this may be the only way that we can get into the park in the afternoon on a Saturday. I've talked with Pura Vida Divers and they said that they would allow us to park there; however, when I asked about being permitted to dive our tank versus coming up early, I didn't like the answer. So am now looking for someone else who would both allow us to park and allows divers to dive their tank, or at least something close to it. .

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Try Force-E - 155 East Blue Heron Blvd Riviera Beach. I have had good luck with them.

 

[Dan]

I park my car in Force-E parking lot last Friday & hopped on my dive buddie's car to minimize the number of cars in my group going to BHB. They let me do it since I rent a tank from them.

 

[sportxlh]

What do you mean by 'dive your tank'. Does that mean you want to stay down underwater as long as your NDL and gas hold out, while on a boat dive? If so, that's not realistic. Operators run a business and will make every accommodation they can, but they need to get back to the dock for the second trip of the day or to get back in the evening at a realistic time so their staff can go home. You'll likely be limited to 45-60 minutes per tank by most dive operators, depending on the exact location, on any boat dives in northern Palm Beach County. Most dive profiles that keep you out of NDL and provide a reasonable SI between dives won't allow much more than that anyway at the typical depths in WPB and north Palm Beach County.

Keep in mind that the diving off boats in northern Palm Beach County is drift diving too..... not moored to a site as is the case in Pompano or the Keys

Pura Vida is an excellent shop as is Force E. I think Stuart Scuba still operates the shop in Phil Foster park.

 

[Ghetto Diver]

Sportxlh is correct....call Stuart Scuba for your boat trip...they have a shop at the dock there.

 

[stuartv]

I went down there Christmas before last. Parked and dived the BHB in the morning, then walked across the parking lot and got on a Stuart Scuba boat for drift dives in the afternoon. Stuart Scuba was awesome. They also have (or did, then, anyway - I assume they still do) another boat that runs out of Jupiter. I went out on both. Really enjoyed both.

 

[sheeper]

I went down there Christmas before last. Parked and dived the BHB in the morning, then walked across the parking lot and got on a Stuart Scuba boat for drift dives in the afternoon. Stuart Scuba was awesome. They also have (or did, then, anyway - I assume they still do) another boat that runs out of Jupiter. I went out on both. Really enjoyed both.

3 boats actually. one in Stuart (a 6 pack), and the big ones in Jupiter and at Blue Heron Bridge!

 

[jomcclain]

Thanks to all who answered! We're going with Force E.