LI-er
Contributor
A pony bottle beats an instabuddy any day of the week. I don't dive without a reel and a dsmb regardless of where I dive. Not sure why you'd even ask this question.
Boynton area dive boat recommendations
- Thread starter MannyDib2
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bassplayer
Contributor
LI-er
Contributor
The dive boat will supply you with a flag, however the provided reel is usually one of those big plastic thingies with the thick yellow line that you have to manually wrap each course of line around. I offer to use my reel with their flag and my request has never been declined.
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- Location
- Philadelphia and Boynton Beach
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Hi @bassplayer
I dive with Starfish frequently. For solo diving, you will need a pony and your cert. It is not difficult to hook up with another diver or group if you do not want to dive solo. You do not need to bring a flag, but bring your reel if you want to use it over a line and manual winder.
The navigation is pretty easy, not always for the first timer. The reef is about 3 miles long, relatively narrow. The inside, west facing reef is mostly reasonable profile but some of it is broken down with rubble. The outside, east facing reef is deeper, mostly finger and groove. I often start outside and at some point cross over to the inside to be picked up with the majority of groups. I almost always dive by myself and rarely see other divers.
Give my best to Capt Chris, Alex, Ren Madi, Katie. Let us know how your dives go.
Good diving,
Craig
You might want to bring a pony, just in case. The boat will provide you with a Reel and a very visible float with a flag on it, so they can track you. You can bring your own reel and attach it to their /float/flag, if you desire. You will be carry this on the entire dive. Navigation is quite easy. All dives are drift dives and you will either be cruising along on the east side of the reef, on top of the reef or the west side of the reef. West side is shallower side. Enjoy! Boynton is one of my favorite places to dive.
- Messages
- 20,484
- Reaction score
- 19,843
- Location
- Philadelphia and Boynton Beach
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
bassplayer
Contributor
conditions were great, and I had 2 really nice dives. the captain called it "purple water", visibility was the best i've seen in florida so far. i would call it 90-100 feet maybe?
Water was extremely warm, 86f at the top and a little "thermocline" to 83-84 ish at the bottom. was nice to have and a bit refreshing.
i was told "no solo diving" when i showed up - they didn't ask if i was solo certified.
i didn't bother to argue since they've never seen me before and i like diving with groups usually, especially in florida where i seem to run into experienced people.
i got paired up with a local guy who seemed to be somewhat of a regular. he sort of pressured me into being the flag carrier on both dives which i thought was funny.
flags were managed different on this boat then on trips i've taken so far in jupiter and palm beach. every group or pair was expected to dive with a flag. (up north so far there was always just one flag in the water regardless of the fact that people were splitting up)
i was glad to have a reel with me thanks to the advice given, that and the current being slow made towing the flag no trouble at all.
current was south, oddly. For the first dive, we started on gulfstream, i think i heard we traveled from that site to boynton ledge?
nice dive, navigation was trivial because the western edge of the reef was a well defined ledge border the whole way. really enjoyed this, the current was enough to make for a lazy dive but light enough that it didn't take much effort to go up-current or explore whatever looked interesting. sun was shining, visibility was great, water was clear, overall just very enjoyable diving conditions. lots of fish life, didn't see anything specifically notable but then again i might just be ignorant of what's rare around here.
we came up per the 60 minute time limit given. max depth 20m, avg depth 16.4m.
surface interval was really short, around 30 minutes. i was fine with that, didn't get close to NDL on either dive breathing ean 35.
second dive i was told "lynn's reef amphitheater". not sure if that means we dropped on lynn's reef and were supposed to take the current south to amphitheater? or maybe its just part of lynn's reef?
whatever it may be, lot of life on this dive, including some nice little parking garages for turtles. i didn't really see anything that i would call an amphitheater so guessing we missed it, will have to find a map or a photo or something. seemed like we were just traveling through a vast patchy field of rubble and reef.
attached photos are just gopro frames - my buddy fixing his spool while a baracuda investigates on dive 1 (in case you know him and want to give him some sass - his name was Don), a turtle from dive 2, dive log from dive 2 in case the depth sheds any light on what the route might have been
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- Messages
- 20,484
- Reaction score
- 19,843
- Location
- Philadelphia and Boynton Beach
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Hi @bassplayer
Glad you had a good time. That's amazing visibility, much better than average, doesn't get much better. The water seems awfully warm. As there are no guides in the water with a flag, as there are in Jupiter and Palm Beach, groups in Boynton take a flag.
I call the site south of Gulfstream, Clubhouse, I think some call it Boynton Ledge.
For your second dive you were on the main ledge in the mid to high 50s feet, correct? Lynn's Reef is shallower, part way up the reef to the east from the main ledge. Maybe you were to be headed south to Gazebo. I think maybe you were on Castle Ledge/Jerry's No Name/Briny Breezes. Others may use other names again. I'm an old guy.
Was Capt. Chris driving? Who was the mate? How many divers on the boat?
Glad you had a good time. That's amazing visibility, much better than average, doesn't get much better. The water seems awfully warm. As there are no guides in the water with a flag, as there are in Jupiter and Palm Beach, groups in Boynton take a flag.
I call the site south of Gulfstream, Clubhouse, I think some call it Boynton Ledge.
For your second dive you were on the main ledge in the mid to high 50s feet, correct? Lynn's Reef is shallower, part way up the reef to the east from the main ledge. Maybe you were to be headed south to Gazebo. I think maybe you were on Castle Ledge/Jerry's No Name/Briny Breezes. Others may use other names again. I'm an old guy.
Was Capt. Chris driving? Who was the mate? How many divers on the boat?
bassplayer
Contributor
appreciate the notes on dive site names, i'll take a look at a map.
pretty sure it was capt chris and julia running the boat. boat seemed full, from memory i think 14 divers.
CosbySweater
Contributor
I’m not super familiar with the Boynton reefs but Lynn’s has a sort of hook on the north end that they may be calling an amphitheater. I can’t remember what it looks like under water since it’s been some time since Ive dove Lynn’s. The images attached show this hook.
The first image is from the Palm Beach Reef Smart Guide book. The second is a relief shading rendering from the Navionics app.
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