Randallr
Contributor
With apologies, I am posting a belated and abbreviated trip report for July 26-28, with Underwater Explorers in Boynton Beach, Florida. I owe HowardE of Scubaboard big time: When I met him and his then-fiancee (now lovely wife) Megan two years ago at the Beyond the Sea show and asked if there was "any truly world-class diving in Florida," he told me Boynton was the "best non-secret secret of Florida diving." With two long weekends there in two years, I wholeheartedly affirm this: It's spectacular - I dream of returning to Boynton Beach as much as or more than I dream of returning to Bonaire.
Boynton can be fickle. On this last trip, Friday was murky, maybe 30 feet of opaque, green viz. But Saturday and Sunday, visibility cleared to an azure 80-feet plus. And the currents can be equivalent unpredictable. I'm not the world's most experienced diver (certainly not compared with so many others here) but on some dives, notably the remarkable wreck of the Castor, they were the roughest I've experienced. Yet on others, the drifting across the reef wall was pleasant and photo-friendly.
There were four of us on this last trip, two from my office and a friend. Two were relatively inexperienced; one was an experienced divemaster and instructor; and I'm middlebrow all the way. Also thanks to Howard, we had the great good pleasure of diving with Kevin Metz of Underwater Explorers. Kevin's got a lot of fans on these boards, and he added four more in July. He is an enthusiastic gentleman whose demeanor may be laid-back but whose attention to detail is acute. He enjoys having his divers enjoy themselves; he caters well to photographers and videographers; and he's got a wonderful dog named Flo (or is it Flow?) who kinda flips out when the divers go under, but is concomitantly pleased to see them when they resurface. Kevin runs a six-pack; when full, it doesn't feel crowded.
He took us to great spots. The basic Boynton reef - sites like Black Condos, Clubhouse, and Gazebo - is a great dive. The reefs are shockingly healthy, compared with, say, Grand Cayman. There's not a lot of hard coral that far north, but there's abundant soft coral, and some of the sites boast fields of healthy, big basket sponges. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore. We didn't see any sharks on this trip, but I spotted several nurse sharks and black tip reef sharks the last trip. There are lots of turtles, a fair number of rays, and terrific small critters if you take the time to explore. I saw my first juvenile angelfish on this last trip, lots of moray eels, and I was impressed yet again by the amazing schooling activity - grunts and snappers by the dozens, pretty much everywhere you look.
The highlights of this trip were the two wrecks Kevin took us to, the MV Beck and the Castor. These were incredible dives, the high point on each being the abundant Goliath Groupers. Now, I've read a lot about Goliath Groupers, but - call me naive - I had no idea how large they actually were. And on the Castor in particular, there were lots of them, maybe 20, all milling about. They made these wonderful dives even more exciting. All around, this was A+ diving with a fine dive operation. And based on our eight dives, Kevin draws good, sane, companiable divers to his boat. I cannot wait to go back. (Two of my colleagues already did about a week ago.)
With the currents and the occasional murk, you have to be careful here. These are drift dives, and you CAN drift. On one dive, I had trouble clearing, and took a while to get to depth. Fortunately, my buddy (Alexandra, with the divemaster rating) hung with me. But by the time I got to depth, we couldn't find the rest of our team - which included the diver carrying the dive flag. And because the viz was so bad, we couldn't find the reef. We decided to surface, and the boat was a long way off. Fortunately, a safety sausage attracted one of the several fishing boats in the area, which then graciously went and retrieved our boat. We actually got to do this dive, after the minor surface float. But the lesson: In Boynton, keep your eye on your buddy!
We stayed in Delray Beach, at the Colony Hotel, and it gets high marks, too. It's unusual - a 1920s-style rooming house, owned by the same family for generations, funky in a good way. The rooms are simple, the design is very Key-Westy (or Florida '20s), the service is friendly and inobtrusive, and the rates are great. It's like a great, European-style country hotel, but it's on the main drag in Delray Beach (which itself is a great town to holiday in, with a great selection of restaurants and bars right within walking distance). My favorite restaurant was DeeDee's Conch & Rib Shack, which was more of a ride than a walk, and served the real thing - with as much heat as you can handle. The hotel has a separate beach club on the ocean, with a pool, about a mile away, with a shuttle that runs back and forth several times a day. (The last time I dived Boynton, I stayed at Wright by the Sea, which Kevin had recommended and which offers special rates for divers. It is THE perfect beachfront Florida hotel -each room an exquisite, pastel-hued studio apartment.)
I know from Howard and Megan that there's more to explore in this area, as well - including even better wrecks, as well as one of the world's great muck-diving sites, Blue Heron Bridge, about 45 minutes north (which I did my last trip). With all that, if I have a final word on Boynton Beach, and diving in this part of Florida, it's this: If you live in the U.S., especially the east, and you want to do great diving without having to cross borders, contend with customs, and deal with spotty flight connections and/or long drives, this is your place. And it involves no compromises - it makes for a great dive vacation.
Here are some shots. As ever, I appreciate any critiques from more experienced photographers. I'm still learning, and welcome advice. These were shot with my Olympus XZ-1, in the Olympus PT-050 housing, with the Olympus UFL-1 strobe (although a few were with natural light).
Boynton can be fickle. On this last trip, Friday was murky, maybe 30 feet of opaque, green viz. But Saturday and Sunday, visibility cleared to an azure 80-feet plus. And the currents can be equivalent unpredictable. I'm not the world's most experienced diver (certainly not compared with so many others here) but on some dives, notably the remarkable wreck of the Castor, they were the roughest I've experienced. Yet on others, the drifting across the reef wall was pleasant and photo-friendly.
There were four of us on this last trip, two from my office and a friend. Two were relatively inexperienced; one was an experienced divemaster and instructor; and I'm middlebrow all the way. Also thanks to Howard, we had the great good pleasure of diving with Kevin Metz of Underwater Explorers. Kevin's got a lot of fans on these boards, and he added four more in July. He is an enthusiastic gentleman whose demeanor may be laid-back but whose attention to detail is acute. He enjoys having his divers enjoy themselves; he caters well to photographers and videographers; and he's got a wonderful dog named Flo (or is it Flow?) who kinda flips out when the divers go under, but is concomitantly pleased to see them when they resurface. Kevin runs a six-pack; when full, it doesn't feel crowded.
He took us to great spots. The basic Boynton reef - sites like Black Condos, Clubhouse, and Gazebo - is a great dive. The reefs are shockingly healthy, compared with, say, Grand Cayman. There's not a lot of hard coral that far north, but there's abundant soft coral, and some of the sites boast fields of healthy, big basket sponges. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore. We didn't see any sharks on this trip, but I spotted several nurse sharks and black tip reef sharks the last trip. There are lots of turtles, a fair number of rays, and terrific small critters if you take the time to explore. I saw my first juvenile angelfish on this last trip, lots of moray eels, and I was impressed yet again by the amazing schooling activity - grunts and snappers by the dozens, pretty much everywhere you look.
The highlights of this trip were the two wrecks Kevin took us to, the MV Beck and the Castor. These were incredible dives, the high point on each being the abundant Goliath Groupers. Now, I've read a lot about Goliath Groupers, but - call me naive - I had no idea how large they actually were. And on the Castor in particular, there were lots of them, maybe 20, all milling about. They made these wonderful dives even more exciting. All around, this was A+ diving with a fine dive operation. And based on our eight dives, Kevin draws good, sane, companiable divers to his boat. I cannot wait to go back. (Two of my colleagues already did about a week ago.)
With the currents and the occasional murk, you have to be careful here. These are drift dives, and you CAN drift. On one dive, I had trouble clearing, and took a while to get to depth. Fortunately, my buddy (Alexandra, with the divemaster rating) hung with me. But by the time I got to depth, we couldn't find the rest of our team - which included the diver carrying the dive flag. And because the viz was so bad, we couldn't find the reef. We decided to surface, and the boat was a long way off. Fortunately, a safety sausage attracted one of the several fishing boats in the area, which then graciously went and retrieved our boat. We actually got to do this dive, after the minor surface float. But the lesson: In Boynton, keep your eye on your buddy!
We stayed in Delray Beach, at the Colony Hotel, and it gets high marks, too. It's unusual - a 1920s-style rooming house, owned by the same family for generations, funky in a good way. The rooms are simple, the design is very Key-Westy (or Florida '20s), the service is friendly and inobtrusive, and the rates are great. It's like a great, European-style country hotel, but it's on the main drag in Delray Beach (which itself is a great town to holiday in, with a great selection of restaurants and bars right within walking distance). My favorite restaurant was DeeDee's Conch & Rib Shack, which was more of a ride than a walk, and served the real thing - with as much heat as you can handle. The hotel has a separate beach club on the ocean, with a pool, about a mile away, with a shuttle that runs back and forth several times a day. (The last time I dived Boynton, I stayed at Wright by the Sea, which Kevin had recommended and which offers special rates for divers. It is THE perfect beachfront Florida hotel -each room an exquisite, pastel-hued studio apartment.)
I know from Howard and Megan that there's more to explore in this area, as well - including even better wrecks, as well as one of the world's great muck-diving sites, Blue Heron Bridge, about 45 minutes north (which I did my last trip). With all that, if I have a final word on Boynton Beach, and diving in this part of Florida, it's this: If you live in the U.S., especially the east, and you want to do great diving without having to cross borders, contend with customs, and deal with spotty flight connections and/or long drives, this is your place. And it involves no compromises - it makes for a great dive vacation.
Here are some shots. As ever, I appreciate any critiques from more experienced photographers. I'm still learning, and welcome advice. These were shot with my Olympus XZ-1, in the Olympus PT-050 housing, with the Olympus UFL-1 strobe (although a few were with natural light).
