Boynton area dive boat recommendations

[FreqFlier]

They don't seem to do wrecks which I imagine are harder to do up that way with the stronger current

Boynton Beach has just a few wrecks, MV Castor being the most notable. Awesome Goliath Grouper aggregation there about to begin in a week or two

 

[MannyDib2]

Boynton Beach has just a few wrecks, MV Castor being the most notable. Awesome Goliath Grouper aggregation there about to begin in a week or two

Always seems to be ripping current on the Castor. 3 of my 4 attempts to dive it got cancelled because of current. The one time I was able to dive it, the current was ripping. I had to use my hands to get around. Cool to see all those Goliaths though.

 

[NothingClever]

You can chose to stay with that group or go do your own thing. That choice is yours, not the boats.

Concur this is the case. But with that liberty to do my own thing, I recognize that too much of 'doing my own thing' can complicate life for the Captain and that can come right back at me. Unless I coordinate in advance with the Captain that I'm going to kick with the current or scooter around, then I generally (very generally) stay near the group, most often ahead to get the best views of sealife. But I also shoot a DSMB in case the DM hooks in behind me and I keep going. Easier to deploy a DSMB and not need it than it is to not deploy it and not know that the Captain needs it.

@CosbySweater - I know you know all this so please pardon me if I was preaching to the choir. I just used your note as a springboard to write for others who may be wondering about Florida drift dive practices.

 

[LI-er]

We got blown off the Castor last year. The dive boat anchored at the wheelhouse and we worked against the current along the collapsed mid section to reach the bow which is detached but close to the rest of the wreck.

As we circled the bow the wife swam to follow a Goliath, I stuck with her and when we tried to kick back to the bow we realized we had drifted quite a bit and it was going to take a while and much of our remaining gas to get back to the bow let alone traverse the entire wreck and return to the line at about 100'.

I made the call to abandon the wreck and deployed my dsmb. After an uneventful ascent and safety stop we were almost immediately picked up after surfacing but the Captain of the Starfish boat wasn't happy with us. He said we were drifting towards a very busy area.

He didn't want to go the 2nd dive on another wreck but unfortunately he finally gave in and obliged. I say unfortunate because we found the Budweiser to be almost completely devoid of marine life and it's in a state of deterioration. It's the 2nd best of the 3 wrecks in Boynton, the 3rd bring the Tony which I consider to be extremely dangerous. It's so boring a diver could easily fall asleep, breathe down their tank and drown.

 

[scubadada]

We got blown off the Castor last year. The dive boat anchored at the wheelhouse and we worked against the current along the collapsed mid section to reach the bow which is detached but close to the rest of the wreck.

As we circled the bow the wife swam to follow a Goliath, I stuck with her and when we tried to kick back to the bow we realized we had drifted quite a bit and it was going to take a while and much of our remaining gas to get back to the bow let alone traverse the entire wreck and return to the line at about 100'.

I made the call to abandon the wreck and deployed my dsmb. After an uneventful ascent and safety stop we were almost immediately picked up after surfacing but the Captain of the Starfish boat wasn't happy with us. He said we were drifting towards a very busy area.

He didn't want to go the 2nd dive on another wreck but unfortunately he finally gave in and obliged. I say unfortunate because we found the Budweiser to be almost completely devoid of marine life and it's in a state of deterioration. It's the 2nd best of the 3 wrecks in Boynton, the 3rd bring the Tony which I consider to be extremely dangerous. It's so boring a diver could easily fall asleep, breathe down their tank and drown.

Hi @LI-er

The Castor can be a challenging dive. Since 2009, I have dived the Castor 130 times. Most of these dives were between 2012 and 2016, before Hurricane Matthew knocked the bow off to the starboard, interfering with the Goliath Grouper aggregation. I have continued to dive the Castor this year.
Trip Report - Back in the water in Florida

The current on the Castor can be quite impressive., sometimes prohibiting diving. I do not understand your problem with getting back to the ascent line at the stern. The current was usual, north. You swam to the bow and interacted with Goliath Grouper. The drift back to the stern is very easy and fast with a north current. I can only assume that you and you wife did not pay appropriate attention to your gas or misjudged how much was required to return. You did not get blown off the Castor, you failed to manage your gas.

I have had someone pull the ascent line before my arrival a couple of times, the only times I have made a DSMB free drifting ascent. I can imagine that Capt Chris might have questioned your experience or skill after such a maneuver.

On the other hand, I agree, the Bud Bar and the Capt Tony have seem much better days, I avoid them. Both used to be reasonably good dives.

 

[LI-er]

Hi @LI-er

The drift back to the stern is very easy and fast with a north current. I can only assume that you and you wife did not pay appropriate attention to your gas or misjudged how much was required to return. You did not get blown off the Castor, you failed to manage your gas.

I blame my wife for this one. She tends to get way ahead of me when she sees something that captures her attention and she isn't all that aware of her surroundings at times. I uploaded the part of the video where she's chasing the Goliath, it gives an idea of the visibility and how far from the wreck we were.

We were at the furthest point from the line, she chases the Goliath a good distance from the bow and we were now perhaps 2/3 of the way around the bow in poor vis. We could barely see the bow as it rapidly receded from view, we were down current and could see none of the rest of the wreck and I was a bit disoriented as to which way to swim to hit the midsection although as you surmised we were probably drifting in the general direction of the line. We were probably parallel to, and just a bit east of the wreck which was just beyond visibility range. We had sufficient gas I just didn't want to use it up searching for the wreck.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @LI-er

Thanks for the explanation.

It's easy for me to say as I am very familiar with the Castor. As you knew you were on the east side, you might have tried swimming west a bit, using the current direction and/or your compass. There is a large anchor chain coming off the bow end of the wreck on the port (east) side that is a very useful feature for navigation, did you see it? I often use the chain to swim off the wreck when the Goliath Grouper aggregate away from the Castor when the current is slow. You're right, the wreck can be a little creepy when visibility is low and it can disappear from sight pretty quickly.

 

[LI-er]

There is a large anchor chain coming off the bow end of the wreck on the port (east) side that is a very useful feature for navigation, did you see it?

I'm familiar with the chain, I've been told to follow it to an area where Goliaths tend to hang out. On a previous dive, I swam along the chain for several minutes, finding nothing and turning around wasting a good amount of dive time. I didn't see the chain on the dive in question, if I did I definitely would have followed it back to the wreck.

 

[h2o_hamilton]

I've exclusively dove charters in Jupiter and WPB. During mini season, I dove out of Boynton for the first time on Scubatyme. I will say, it was a little bit of a culture shock. Everyone on the boat was divided up into groups and handed a dive flag, and you had to provide your own reel. I asked for weights, and they looked at me funny, so I ran back to my truck to grab weights. You paid once you were on the boat. Groups were dropped off separately, maybe this had to do with lobster hunting, but I'm not sure. Our surface intervals were allowed to spread out too. The crew was good, Ben was the captain, and he took us all the way to Del Rey when we weren't finding lobster near Boynton. One concern, there weren't any roll calls after dives. The boat was large and packed with divers. Towing the flag was annoying, especially when there's 2ft swells and you're trying to catch lobsters. They threw a ball and rope to us to pull us into the boat.

It was definitely a different experience than the Jupiter/WPB charters where customer service and a catered experience is at the forefront. This felt more DIY, they were there to get you to the dive spot, and the rest was up to you. When I questioned why we had to tow a flag, they kinda chuckled about not having to follow a DM like you do up north. I countered that by saying, no, we can do whatever we like and just shoot a DSMB when we are done. Capt Ben said he wished he could do that. I'm not sure what he meant by that, are there different rules or something south of WPB? Is it a company rule? Insurance related? Are the currents different?

This is accurate. Diving south of WPB…kinda sucks if you’re used to organization and service. That’s not to say the operations are bad, but they seem to be catered to the “local” attitude.

 

[LI-er]

I asked for weights, and they looked at me funny, so I ran back to my truck to grab weights.

I know this post is from last year but I read it for the first time when it was quoted by another member.

This is so odd. They "looked at you funny" so you ran back to your truck to get weights? If it was me I'd say to the funny looking person "Is there a problem?", or I'd just ignore them and say where are the weights? If and when I was told they're not included in the charter (along with tanks) I'd then make my own funny face and say "fine ,how much are they, I'll be taking it off the tip."