Randallr
Contributor
I know this will sound like nonsense, because Florida is routinely credited as the most trafficked dive destination in the United States, and perhaps the world. Making the sentiment I'm about to drop even more ludicrous is that this forum on Scubaboard is probably the most trafficked part of this wonderful site. But I will risk your ridicule and say it anyway: Boynton Beach may be the best kept dive secret on earth!
I freely admit to being a dive snob - not a worthy snob, since I've never dived in Asia. But I've been blessed to have dived in Saba, Bonaire, and Grand Cayman (all in the past year, come to think of it). Many years ago, I did one dive near Key Largo, and I remember enjoying it, but not being overwhelmed by it. But when I met Scubaboard's own HowardE at the Beyond the Sea Show at the Meadowlands and discovered that Scubaboard is located in various places in South Florida, I thought I could trust his advice. "Is there anyplace in Florida," I asked him, "that has really world-class diving?"
"You won't believe me," HowardE told me, "but it's Boynton Beach."
It's true, I didn't believe him. I'd never been to Boynton, are any of the area north of Ft. Lauderdale. But I'd assumed that the water would be too cold to foster great reefs; and I'd further assumed that what reefs there were would have been ravaged by the dense population of these popular resort towns. Not so on either count, HowardE advised me. The Gulf Stream comes very close to shore in the stretch between Lauderdale and West Palm, bringing lots of critters and lots of reef growth. And yes, the water may be too cool for a lot of hard coral, but the soft corals and sponges are abundant, and hardly affected by all the people lying on the beaches just 10 minutes away.
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to find a place I could dive in warm water, without having to spend four hours on a plane, or waiting in an immigration line. So I planned an extended Memorial Day weekend, with 5 dives: one morning at the fabled Blue Heron Bridge, and then two days of 2-tankers in Boynton Beach.
I was astonished. Blue Heron Bridge is as delightful and weird and strange as people in the "Trolls" thread indicate. And Boynton had some of the most beautiful, diverse, and lovely sites I've ever dived - better by far than anything I saw on the West End of Grand Cayman in March, and worthy of trip after trip after trip.
A few details are in order for future searchers. I didn't trust myself to find a pickup buddy at Blue Heron Bridge, so - thanks to Scubaboard connections - I found my way to Force-E Divers in Riviera Beach (about two minutes from BHB) and divemaster Mark Kosarin. I'm glad I did. BHB is a terrific muck dive, but when we were there, viz was only about 40-50 feet (down from 80 the day before) and it helps to know where you're going. Moreover, on Memorial Day, the area was so packed with divers and boaters that they'd closed the park there to traffic; it took a local to know where to park and how to get into the water! Mark was the perfect handler; he reminded me of the wonderful, calm guys who got me certified in 1984. I felt safe in his hands - and boy, did he show me stuff! Multiple seahorses, conchs, crabs, bottom feeders. Two hours went by in what seemed like a nanosecond (we never got below 25 feet, and most of the dive was about 10-15 feet). It certainly helped that Mark's a great photographer with an art school background - I'm a novice and he really helped me. I can't wait to dive the area with him again.
The next day, Boynton Beach. My first set of thanks - after HowardE for guiding me there in the first place - is to a fellow I never dove with, Kevin Metz of Underwater Explorers (Underwater Explorers - SCUBA Diving Boynton Beach, Delray, Palm Beach, Reefs and Wrecks). Kevin's a prolific poster on these pages, and he's got a spectacular reputation, as diver after diver will attest. I'd arranged to dive with him, but he'd warned me that his boat was in for repairs and might not be ready in time. He assured me, though, that if that happened, he'd set me up elsewhere. Well, it happened and he did - with his own former place of employ, Splashdown Divers, which operates out of the same marina in Boynton (Splashdown Divers - Palm Beach County, Florida - Scuba Diving Boats and Charters - PADI Scuba Diving Certification - Serving West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Florida.). What a great operation! Their boat was immaculate; the head even had a port. Six of us, including HowardE and his fiancee Megan, dove the first day, and only three of us the second day. The Captain, Terry, and the divemasters, Willy and Woody, were great handlers. Splashdown's rental BC's were older and simple, but that's not a complaint, merely an observation.
The sites were all close - maybe 10-15 minutes off shore. We dove Lynn's Reef, Black Condos, and Briney Breezes. They were all billed as drift dives, but the current wasn't terribly strong. Water temperature was 79-80. Sites were all in the 30-60 range, with a drop here or there to maybe 80. Comfortable, long dives with Nitrox. I was just shocked at how beautiful the sites were. There were gardens of large, healthy basket sponges. Sea fans abounded. The schools of grunts were large, and prolific; in fact, the size and diversity of the schools (and of the fish population generally) was astounding. We weren't spared the large stuff. When we dove Lynn's Reef (which I believe is named for Splashdown proprietor Lynn Simmons) we saw two large (8-foot) nurse sharks playing with each other, while a third tried to hide from us under a ledge. We finished the dive with a very large loggerhead turtle.
By the way, more thanks to Kevin: He directed me to Wright-by-the-Sea, a gorgeous little hotel right on the beach in Delray Beach, and perhaps one of the most perfect places I've ever stayed.
I'm attaching a bunch of photos. I made a newbie mistake (i only got the camera and took my first lessons in March; it's an Olympus XZ-1 with the Olympus UFL-1 strobe and the Olympus OEM housing) and loaded it wrong during the first day of diving Boynton, so all the photos came out washed looking. To my surprise and glee, some proved amenable to Lightshopping. I remain ever eager for photo tips from you more experienced folk out there.
A lot of thanks to go around for this perfect vacation: HowardE (that's him herding the turtle in the shot below), Kevin, Mark, Lynn and her crew at Splashdown - and Scubaboard, which keeps providing me great guidance, and a fantasy life that every now and then I get to fulfill underwater.
I freely admit to being a dive snob - not a worthy snob, since I've never dived in Asia. But I've been blessed to have dived in Saba, Bonaire, and Grand Cayman (all in the past year, come to think of it). Many years ago, I did one dive near Key Largo, and I remember enjoying it, but not being overwhelmed by it. But when I met Scubaboard's own HowardE at the Beyond the Sea Show at the Meadowlands and discovered that Scubaboard is located in various places in South Florida, I thought I could trust his advice. "Is there anyplace in Florida," I asked him, "that has really world-class diving?"
"You won't believe me," HowardE told me, "but it's Boynton Beach."
It's true, I didn't believe him. I'd never been to Boynton, are any of the area north of Ft. Lauderdale. But I'd assumed that the water would be too cold to foster great reefs; and I'd further assumed that what reefs there were would have been ravaged by the dense population of these popular resort towns. Not so on either count, HowardE advised me. The Gulf Stream comes very close to shore in the stretch between Lauderdale and West Palm, bringing lots of critters and lots of reef growth. And yes, the water may be too cool for a lot of hard coral, but the soft corals and sponges are abundant, and hardly affected by all the people lying on the beaches just 10 minutes away.
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to find a place I could dive in warm water, without having to spend four hours on a plane, or waiting in an immigration line. So I planned an extended Memorial Day weekend, with 5 dives: one morning at the fabled Blue Heron Bridge, and then two days of 2-tankers in Boynton Beach.
I was astonished. Blue Heron Bridge is as delightful and weird and strange as people in the "Trolls" thread indicate. And Boynton had some of the most beautiful, diverse, and lovely sites I've ever dived - better by far than anything I saw on the West End of Grand Cayman in March, and worthy of trip after trip after trip.
A few details are in order for future searchers. I didn't trust myself to find a pickup buddy at Blue Heron Bridge, so - thanks to Scubaboard connections - I found my way to Force-E Divers in Riviera Beach (about two minutes from BHB) and divemaster Mark Kosarin. I'm glad I did. BHB is a terrific muck dive, but when we were there, viz was only about 40-50 feet (down from 80 the day before) and it helps to know where you're going. Moreover, on Memorial Day, the area was so packed with divers and boaters that they'd closed the park there to traffic; it took a local to know where to park and how to get into the water! Mark was the perfect handler; he reminded me of the wonderful, calm guys who got me certified in 1984. I felt safe in his hands - and boy, did he show me stuff! Multiple seahorses, conchs, crabs, bottom feeders. Two hours went by in what seemed like a nanosecond (we never got below 25 feet, and most of the dive was about 10-15 feet). It certainly helped that Mark's a great photographer with an art school background - I'm a novice and he really helped me. I can't wait to dive the area with him again.
The next day, Boynton Beach. My first set of thanks - after HowardE for guiding me there in the first place - is to a fellow I never dove with, Kevin Metz of Underwater Explorers (Underwater Explorers - SCUBA Diving Boynton Beach, Delray, Palm Beach, Reefs and Wrecks). Kevin's a prolific poster on these pages, and he's got a spectacular reputation, as diver after diver will attest. I'd arranged to dive with him, but he'd warned me that his boat was in for repairs and might not be ready in time. He assured me, though, that if that happened, he'd set me up elsewhere. Well, it happened and he did - with his own former place of employ, Splashdown Divers, which operates out of the same marina in Boynton (Splashdown Divers - Palm Beach County, Florida - Scuba Diving Boats and Charters - PADI Scuba Diving Certification - Serving West Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Florida.). What a great operation! Their boat was immaculate; the head even had a port. Six of us, including HowardE and his fiancee Megan, dove the first day, and only three of us the second day. The Captain, Terry, and the divemasters, Willy and Woody, were great handlers. Splashdown's rental BC's were older and simple, but that's not a complaint, merely an observation.
The sites were all close - maybe 10-15 minutes off shore. We dove Lynn's Reef, Black Condos, and Briney Breezes. They were all billed as drift dives, but the current wasn't terribly strong. Water temperature was 79-80. Sites were all in the 30-60 range, with a drop here or there to maybe 80. Comfortable, long dives with Nitrox. I was just shocked at how beautiful the sites were. There were gardens of large, healthy basket sponges. Sea fans abounded. The schools of grunts were large, and prolific; in fact, the size and diversity of the schools (and of the fish population generally) was astounding. We weren't spared the large stuff. When we dove Lynn's Reef (which I believe is named for Splashdown proprietor Lynn Simmons) we saw two large (8-foot) nurse sharks playing with each other, while a third tried to hide from us under a ledge. We finished the dive with a very large loggerhead turtle.
By the way, more thanks to Kevin: He directed me to Wright-by-the-Sea, a gorgeous little hotel right on the beach in Delray Beach, and perhaps one of the most perfect places I've ever stayed.
I'm attaching a bunch of photos. I made a newbie mistake (i only got the camera and took my first lessons in March; it's an Olympus XZ-1 with the Olympus UFL-1 strobe and the Olympus OEM housing) and loaded it wrong during the first day of diving Boynton, so all the photos came out washed looking. To my surprise and glee, some proved amenable to Lightshopping. I remain ever eager for photo tips from you more experienced folk out there.
A lot of thanks to go around for this perfect vacation: HowardE (that's him herding the turtle in the shot below), Kevin, Mark, Lynn and her crew at Splashdown - and Scubaboard, which keeps providing me great guidance, and a fantasy life that every now and then I get to fulfill underwater.
