Trip Report Boynton Never Disappoints

[Trailboss123]

I dove with a Scubatyme out of Hillsboro Inlet several years ago. Same operator or is there some sort of Scubatyme network? I seem to see the name cropping up in different areas.

If Hillsboro Inlet is Pompano Beach, then yes. They are connected as far as I know.

 

[drrich2]

Bottom line is that Florida diving out of Boynton and West Palm is the most underrated in the broader US dive travel industry, in my humble opinion.

2 dolphins circling us this morning on the safety stop at Horseshoe Reef. 2 massive Spotted Eagle Rays on the safety stop circling us Friday at Cathedral. A bull shark, a lemon shark, a nurse shark, multiple goliath groupers, schooling grunts and spadefish.

I suspect a lot of people don't realize how much is commonly seen off the 'Cobalt Coast' of eastern Florida in that area (I'll add nearby Jupiter to your Boynton and West Palm, since Jupiter is where I had 2 trips) that's not commonly seen in much of the Caribbean (some seasonal, granted). Putting aside the rare 'one off' sightings of the extremely lucky or those who dive there a lot, there are a number of things one on a single week long trip is fairly likely to see (varying somewhat by season). Goliath grouper are impressive, and there's the fall aggregation. Then lemon sharks in winter.

For the benefit of newer dives who may be intrigued, let me ask a few follow up questions. Jupiter is drift diving, the viz. wasn't as good as some Caribbean destinations, it tended toward nearly square profile diving over fairly deep bottom (dive plan might figure 90 feet to the sand, aiming for 45-minute max. dive time on nitrox or 30 on air; Jupiter Dive Center's site now says all dives require nitrox), and a guide was put in with us. I recall at Jupiter Dive Center the wonderful discovery I could rent 120-cf steel tanks! An air hog's scuba dream!

IIRC from what I've read here in the past, Boynton operators aren't as commonly apt to put a dive guide in the water, is that right? And West Palm and Boyton diving tend to be a bit shallower? Is nitrox as needful as in Jupiter? Do you think the viz. at West Palm and Boynton tends to be better, and is the drift experience similar?

Oh, oh, oh...and the famous shallow but bountiful shore diving at Blue Heron Bridge isn't far away! Take a day and mark that off the bucket list, too.

 

[Jonah Kowall]

If Hillsboro Inlet is Pompano Beach, then yes. They are connected as far as I know.

The boat was previously housed in Pompano and owned by a single person who was an owner operator who sold it about 2-3 years ago to south Florida Diving HQ in Pompano. They moved the boat up to Boynton after a serious redecking and maintenance project. The boat is a nice newton that can fit under fixed bridges, which makes it pretty unique. It's now full-time in Boynton Beach and booked under South Florida Diving HQ site. They have a total of 4 boats, 3 of which are in Pompano.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The boat was previously housed in Pompano and owned by a single person who was an owner operator who sold it about 2-3 years ago to south Florida Diving HQ in Pompano. They moved the boat up to Boynton after a serious redecking and maintenance project. The boat is a nice newton that can fit under fixed bridges, which makes it pretty unique. It's now full-time in Boynton Beach and booked under South Florida Diving HQ site. They have a total of 4 boats, 3 of which are in Pompano.

Given how SFDHQ has taken over Pompano and is now migrating north, it is a shame that I refuse to dive with them. I miss diving in Pompano. But don't miss it badly enough to dive with SFDHQ.

 

[MrChen]

IIRC from what I've read here in the past, Boynton operators aren't as commonly apt to put a dive guide in the water, is that right? And West Palm and Boyton diving tend to be a bit shallower? Is nitrox as needful as in Jupiter? Do you think the viz. at West Palm and Boynton tends to be better, and is the drift experience similar?

From each inlet, Jupiter or Palm Beach, the boats obviously can go north or south.

My experience with north of the Jupiter inlet is that there are more upwellings and lower visibility. The majority of trips I've done, the boats prefer to go south to the Juno ledge dive sites.

From Palm Beach, you really have two good options, north to the same Juno ledge dive sites that the Jupiter boats commonly visit or south to the Breakers area of dive sites. Some boats have a habit of regularly going one way or the other. Pura Vida has 2 boats and one typically runs north while the other runs south.

I would say that Breakers and Juno are close enough that typically visibility and currents are similar, but then far enough apart that if one isn't good, it's worth trying the other. Sometimes they are different.

The private boat I dive on, we prefer to go out of Palm Beach and typically run north. Last weekend we had a ripping current, so we ran south. Visibility dropped the further south we went, and currents picked up the further north we went. From the private boat, we can still dive the deeper areas of Breakers that don't offer all the same pretty soft corals and tropical fish, but still have structure for fish and lobsters.

The popular Breakers dive sites are in shallower water than the Juno dive sites. If you're hunting, those Breakers dive sites have a back side which goes to 100+.

I personally wouldn't dive Jupiter without Nitrox. Air divers are only getting 25 min of bottom time and have to surface without a guide.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Great review, I almost want to keep it a secret. Scubatyme is my backup plan, but I like Starfish since Chris is the owner/operator and has a lot of passion for Boynton. They have a great set of folks on the boat.

Boynton has extremely healthy reefs and great topography, I believe they are the best in south Florida. I really enjoy the back side which has great rolling hills of soft coral and nice cutouts where you can find interesting animals. Another treat is getting to Delray which is quite far from either inlet, but several of the boats will occasionally go there from Boynton. Those reefs are also pristine and beautiful. With the flow that this area gets from the gulf stream it keeps things interesting.

2 weeks ago, there was a manta all day on the Castor over there (). I've seen sawfish, guitarfish, and other interesting creatures in Boynton before. The castor is the best wreck to see Goliath grouper on year round, there are usually at least 12 on it. During the aggregation I have seen up to 50-60. Last week there were about 20 when I went. I think the Castor is also a fun wreck to dive and one of my favorites in south Florida at 110' of depth.

was that first diver in the video tied to something with a rope around their waist?

 

[Jonah Kowall]

Given how SFDHQ has taken over Pompano and is now migrating north, it is a shame that I refuse to dive with them. I miss diving in Pompano. But don't miss it badly enough to dive with SFDHQ.

I try to avoid them as well as I prefer owner/operators in general.

I would suggest Aqualife (Awesome location and free beer!!!!) and Parrot Island (teacher owned and operated!) for Pompano but also Dixie divers has a great boat (very fast) and they hit a lot of the Pompano sites. Easy to avoid SFDHQ....

Boynton I always go with Starfish (owner operator) when I can, they leave at 10am, when my schedule needs to be early, I'll use SFDHQ which leaves at 8am.

 

[Trailboss123]

I suspect a lot of people don't realize how much is commonly seen off the 'Cobalt Coast' of eastern Florida in that area (I'll add nearby Jupiter to your Boynton and West Palm, since Jupiter is where I had 2 trips) that's not commonly seen in much of the Caribbean (some seasonal, granted). Putting aside the rare 'one off' sightings of the extremely lucky or those who dive there a lot, there are a number of things one on a single week long trip is fairly likely to see (varying somewhat by season). Goliath grouper are impressive, and there's the fall aggregation. Then lemon sharks in winter.

For the benefit of newer dives who may be intrigued, let me ask a few follow up questions. Jupiter is drift diving, the viz. wasn't as good as some Caribbean destinations, it tended toward nearly square profile diving over fairly deep bottom (dive plan might figure 90 feet to the sand, aiming for 45-minute max. dive time on nitrox or 30 on air; Jupiter Dive Center's site now says all dives require nitrox), and a guide was put in with us. I recall at Jupiter Dive Center the wonderful discovery I could rent 120-cf steel tanks! An air hog's scuba dream!

IIRC from what I've read here in the past, Boynton operators aren't as commonly apt to put a dive guide in the water, is that right? And West Palm and Boyton diving tend to be a bit shallower? Is nitrox as needful as in Jupiter? Do you think the viz. at West Palm and Boynton tends to be better, and is the drift experience similar?

Oh, oh, oh...and the famous shallow but bountiful shore diving at Blue Heron Bridge isn't far away! Take a day and mark that off the bucket list, too.

I think you have described Jupiter quite well in terms of dive profile. West Palm beach is shallower than Jupiter, but still square profiles and Boynton is shallower yet averaging between 40-60 feet on the west side ledge, but you can go deeper out to the eastern ledge of the reef. I think visibility can be different all of the time at all of the dive sites, even on the same day and not very far from one another. I have probably 50+ dives at the various dive sites between all three locations and I have had crystal clear Caribbean viz and very murky with lots of particulate and everything in between. Water temps vary much more than most of the Caribbean also, depending on time of year and what the jet stream is doing and there can be serious thermoclines at certain depths on certain days.

Boynton operators do not put a guide in the water with you. You are buddied up or dive solo with a float and a reel (your own, or one will be provided) and you do your own dive. You carry this along with you the entire dive so that the boat can always track you. West Palm operators do put a guide in the water with you that carries the reel and float and you can just stay with them. It is all drift diving in all locations and the drift can be sporty to nothing at all. I have never experienced currents as fast as in Cozumel though.

I don't think Nitrox is necessary in Boynton for a 2 tank dive day.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I try to avoid them as well as I prefer owner/operators in general.

I would suggest Aqualife (Awesome location and free beer!!!!) and Parrot Island (teacher owned and operated!) for Pompano but also Dixie divers has a great boat (very fast) and they hit a lot of the Pompano sites. Easy to avoid SFDHQ....

Boynton I always go with Starfish (owner operator) when I can, they leave at 10am, when my schedule needs to be early, I'll use SFDHQ which leaves at 8am.

Thanks!

I used to live in Boca Raton so have used Dixie several times before. My only problem is they used to run A LOT of very basic, super shallow trips that included snorkelers and divers. Do they still do that or are they running primarily scuba charters? Not a fan of check in at the shop then drive to the boat, but I can live with it.

I've tried Aqualife. Yes, great location, but I HATE the boat layout. Like with a passion. The tanks located in the center of the boat with the U-shaped aisle around the edges. Just does not work. It was flat out awful in my experience. YMMV

Parrot Island I've not tried. May have to give them a go. Where are they located?

 

[Jonah Kowall]

I think you have described Jupiter quite well in terms of dive profile. West Palm beach is shallower than Jupiter, but still square profiles and Boynton is shallower yet averaging between 40-60 feet on the west side ledge, but you can go deeper out to the eastern ledge of the reef. I think visibility can be different all of the time at all of the dive sites, even on the same day and not very far from one another. I have probably 50+ dives at the various dive sites between all three locations and I have had crystal clear Caribbean viz and very murky with lots of particulate and everything in between. Water temps vary much more than most of the Caribbean also, depending on time of year and what the jet stream is doing and there can be serious thermoclines at certain depths on certain days.

Boynton operators do not put a guide in the water with you. You are buddied up or dive solo with a float and a reel (your own, or one will be provided) and you do your own dive. You carry this along with you the entire dive so that the boat can always track you. West Palm operators do put a guide in the water with you that carries the reel and float and you can just stay with them. It is all drift diving in all locations and the drift can be sporty to nothing at all. I have never experienced currents as fast as in Cozumel though.

I don't think Nitrox is necessary in Boynton for a 2 tank dive day.

Depends where you go, I like the backside (as you said eastern side) on most of the dives. Average depth is probably 80 on those and you have to work your way up similar to what you get in Jupiter or west palm if you want a full hour dive. You have to haul a flag around anywhere south of WPB versus just shooting a bag at the end of your dive.

I would always dive Nitrox or you will have a very short 2nd dive if you go deeper.