Boynton Dive Report

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! What a great day of diving we had. Seas were pretty quiet with some small rollers. The vis was about 60'. The temp is up a little too! I had 77 degrees for most of the dive with a minimun of 75. We're still waiting for our engine to be rebuilt, so I went with a friend of mine. Also, my brother is in from LA so he came along too. The first dive was at the end of Gulfstream and the beginning of Black Condo. Notables included a single barracuda lurking, a group of midnight parrots marauding a sergeant major's nest, and a big green morray. The second dive was Gazebo and then Jerry's no-name. Notable was the bloated 8' bull shark that seemed curious, but not curious enough to close the 30' gap between us. My brother sums up the days events with the following quote... " It was scary, really scary. I was crying underwater but no one could tell, because I was underwater."

 

[JohnF]

Notable was the bloated 8' bull shark that seemed curious, but not curious enough to close the 30' gap between us.

Dayum!!! How come there's never any Bullsharks (except the human variety) when I dive there, only those crappy Hammerheads??

JohnF

 

[Scubakevdm]

Whew, I thought I'd never dive again. Our boat is still sick, so I went with our good friend Jim. There were 6-8' rollers, stirring up the bottom and causing considerable murkyness. Water temp was mostly 76 degrees.
The first dive was Delray ledges. Normally, the shore side of the reef is the drop of choice there because the ledge come straight out of the sand and is about 15' tall. Today, we decided to do the outside though to try to get maximum vis. Maximum vis turned out to be about 20'. There were some cool reef squid where we dropped in, and we also saw a couple lobsters.
The second drop was Castle. This is an inside drop at the north end of the Boynton Ledges reef. The reef is kinda wide up there, and surge really affects the vis. I don't know why we did Castle, I think someone must have asked for it without knowing about the whole surge thing, anyway we did it. The vis was about 10', maybe less. Nothing notable in particular, but tons of fish. All in all it was okay in spite of the vis. It was really good to get back in the water. I was starting to get a little grumpy.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! Guess what? Our boat isn't fixed yet, but I still got to go diving thanks to a suprise (to me) visit from Madeline. We went with Jim on the Loggerhead. Madeline and her group got to dive in the afternoon as well as in the morning. I could only dive in the morning 'cause I had to help take the boat to the motor fixing guys in the afternoon, so she's gonna do the afternoon trip report. Anyway, here's the report for the morning:
The seas were pretty calm, with some rollers, maybe 2-3'. There was slight surge, but the vis had improved dramatically to about 50' on the first dive, then probably 60' on the second (more light). There was a very slight North current. The first drop was the end of Gulfstream, and the beginning of Black Condo. The coolest thing to see was pointed out me by Madeline, a three pack of adult scalloped hammerheads. Madeline can descibe the event better than I because she saw more, so we'll leave that for her report as well. Also I counted seven lobsters on this dive, one was massive. Oh yeah, and a loggerhead too.
The second dive was Castle ledge, then Linn's. Notables included three more turtles. One was a baby hawksbill, and two loggerheads, one sleeping. I was trying to find an eel for everyone, and was unsuccessful on both dives which is unusual. Madeline has promised to write about the other two dives she made, so I'll go ahead and sign off. It looks like our boat will be ready Monday now, so hopefully the reports will become a little more regular soon.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Also I counted seven lobsters on this dive, one was massive.

I swear those bugs know how to read a calendar!

 

[madeline]

OH YES, lots and lots of Big lobsters, and we did find eels in the afternoon. You can never get all the info in on what you see there is so much, We had only 5 divers in the afternoon, so it was cool, Jen was able to use the dive flag, so she was a happy camper, she was so upset on her first dive, and I noticed that Kev was so nice and did not say that she mixed up her black and blue buttons so her ups, and downs were a bit mixed . I do like Boynton, went to Jupiter next day, and that is another story, any way, It was a great great dive. and they say splashdown should be up and running soon. >??

 

[divematt]

Speaking of Jupiter, how is the diving there these days? I've never been there, but have been near there. (Juno) All I know about it is that the Lemon sharks come by at some point.

Thanks

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! Me and my friend went diving today on his boat, so here's another exciting episode of the Boynton Dive Report. We had to wait until after 5:30pm though, so we only did a one tanker. Anyway, we dropped in on the main reef and headed for Tabletops. Vis was about 60', water temp was 75, flat calm seas, slight North current. We dropped almost directly on a big green morray who was halfway out his hole looking for dinner. The sun was still out, but really low, silouetting a monstrous school of Atlantic spadefish. Very cool. There was a giant midnight parrot hanging out under a ledge of one of the coralheads out at Tabletops. He seemed completely unconcerned about us, allowing us to kinda chill with him for a while. We saw a pretty large, moderatly friendly loggerhead out there too. It was the day of big things. A very cool, very pretty dive.

 

[greyface]

I really enjoy your reports. I live 4 hrs. north, but dive with Capt. Craig & Linda on the Starfish a few times a year. Last Thurs., we (our group from SeaHunt Scuba in St. Augustine) dove the Castor, Little Shark, & Briney Breeze. Awesome dives, with 100+ vis on the Castor. Amidships on the deck, you could see the bow and superstructure. Large Goliaths, 'cudas, parrots, and curious cobia greeted us. Your reef system is absolutely stunning and healthy. LS and BB are two totally different looking reefs, each very cool in their own way. Looking forward to your next report...

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey, thanks! And here is my next report. Well, it's the end of an era. The boat's done. We ran a trip yesterday, but I had to stay topside. Big Sage was up to visit though, and it was great seeing him again. Maybe he can comment on the vis and notables. Someone saw a shark, that wasn't a nurse. They described it as big, and described its behavior as "It could have cared less about us being there." Sounds to me like a female Bull. Someone saw seven turtles. Anyway, today I did get to dive. Four times actually. Let me tell you all about it.
The seas were a little rough this morning, maybe 3-5', sometimes even 6'. The vis was still pretty good though, like 80' or so. There was a very slight North current. Water temp... 75 min, but mostly 76. The first dive was a skills dive, in the sand. Notables included two nice sized helmet conchs and a multitude of sand dollars.
Dive two was on the very crest of the reef at God's Spot. Vis was down to about 70'. Notables included two sharks of unknown origin (non- nurse, probably reef) that I caught peeping us out. As is the case with many of the "real" sharks that I see, they were just inside the limits of visibility. When I turned my head to see them better they hauled butt away from us. I wonder what the ratio of sharks that I see to sharks that see me is. Probably pretty high. Also we saw a hogfish supermale and removed one pink T-shirt that no self-respecting reef would wear in public.
The seas were pretty much the same on the way back out this afternoon, maybe a little choppier. The current was running amuck. The third dive was on the fingers, which is the sea facing side of the reef in about 80' of water, then we cut up to Linn's. Vis was about 70', maybe 75' at the fingers, but dropped to about 45-50' up on Linn's due to the moderate surge. Notables included a midnigt parrot supermale, a black grouper and the school of spadefish. The current was slight to moderate North at depth, but then strong South on the hang. Weird, but cool.
Dive four started at Linn's, on the inside, heading North. Vis was still 45-50'. 20 minutes into the dive the current reversed, heading South, so we skirted over to the outside (sea-side) of Linn's and made a great big oval. When we got back to the begining, we turned towards shore, aiming at doing Castle Ledge in reverse, however, by the time we got out to Castle, the current had reversed again, heading North, so we cut across Tabletops and headed to The Finger, which is different than The Fingers inccidently. Confused? Us too. So, notables included the current, a friendly green morray, a long spined sea urchin (white) and 5 big nurse sharks, one of them didn't look so hot. Oh yeah, I don't remember if it was dive 3 or 4, but we saw two of the Pacific Sailfin Tangs.