Changes in Boynton Beach

[scubadada]

There has been a relatively recent change in ownership in one of the dive operations out of Boynton Harbor Marina, this is my recent Undercurrent review:

I have relatively recently reviewed Starfish Enterprise, see my review from
March 2015. The main reason for this review is a change of ownership for
the operation. After many, many years, Craig Smart sold the business to
Adam Birdwell. One always wonders how new ownership will affect a
successful, established business. In this case, only many subtle
improvements are obvious.

Diving with Adam, Maggie, and Chris or Bob is a great experience. The boat
is very well organized, whether it's full, with 13 divers, or has fewer
divers. The drops on Boynton's wrecks, outside reef, or inside reef, were
perfect. The operation has a completely upgraded website for reservations.
Nitrox is readily available in AL 80s or steel 100s. All divers are welcome
and supported, sightseers, photographers, spearos, and lobster hunters. I
never felt rushed after an hour of bottom time. One really feels like
family when you're handed bottles of water and peeled clementines during
the surface interval.

Boynton Beach has among the best reefs and wrecks in SE Florida. If you are
planning to visit, feel confident that diving with Starfish Enterprise will
be a good experience, whatever your experience or goals

 

[drrich2]

Good to know. One of my interests on Scuba Board is why some destinations 'get more love' than others. Such as why don't I see more threads about Grand Turk, etc... Looking on a map, running from North to South, I see in order...Jupiter (where I dove), West Palm Beach (about a half hour south, I think, where we went to the zoo), Boynton Beach and then the Pompano/Ft. Lauderdale region. Jupiter gets attention for big animal encounters despite lower viz. than West Palm Beach, if I understand correctly.

But it seems to me West Palm Beach gets a lot more attention in forum threads than Boynton Beach. Any idea why that is? For an out-of-state dive tourist considering West Palm Beach, what might lead him to change to Boynton Beach, such as with this dive op. you had a fine experience with?

Richard.

 

[Kairoos]

Good to know. One of my interests on Scuba Board is why some destinations 'get more love' than others. Such as why don't I see more threads about Grand Turk, etc... Looking on a map, running from North to South, I see in order...Jupiter (where I dove), West Palm Beach (about a half hour south, I think, where we went to the zoo), Boynton Beach and then the Pompano/Ft. Lauderdale region. Jupiter gets attention for big animal encounters despite lower viz. than West Palm Beach, if I understand correctly.

But it seems to me West Palm Beach gets a lot more attention in forum threads than Boynton Beach. Any idea why that is? For an out-of-state dive tourist considering West Palm Beach, what might lead him to change to Boynton Beach, such as with this dive op. you had a fine experience with?

Richard.

I've never dove in Boynton, but I live in WPB and dive here all the time. WPB has a lot of shallow reefs that are less than 60 fsw. Paul's Reef, Bath & Tennis, Playpen & Toybox, Flower Garden, Breaker's Reef are some great sites.

There's also a bunch of wrecks that sit in less than 90 fsw. The Danny is in about 85 fsw, Governor's Riverwalk consists of 4 ships (185ft, 174ft, 175ft, and 174ft in length) in about 90fsw all within the same area, and then there's the Mizpah which is about 185ft in length sitting in 85fsw.

I've heard there are some good dive sites down in Boynton too. There are probably way more charters here in WPB though.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

One of the issues with Boynton Beach is the inlet down there is absolutely treacherous. It is really very dangerous when rough and often prevents boats going out. Jupiter Inlet is probably a little safer/better. WPB (Lake Worth Inlet) Or PB Inlet it is probably called, is a deep water channel for ships. This makes it much, much safer to go in and out. Often it can be dangerous to go out a small inlet, but once out on the open ocean it is perfectly divable. That is probably one reason why WPB supports more diving

 

[scubadada]

One of the issues with Boynton Beach is the inlet down there is absolutely treacherous. It is really very dangerous when rough and often prevents boats going out. Jupiter Inlet is probably a little safer/better. WPB (Lake Worth Inlet) Or PB Inlet it is probably called, is a deep water channel for ships. This makes it much, much safer to go in and out. Often it can be dangerous to go out a small inlet, but once out on the open ocean it is perfectly divable. That is probably one reason why WPB supports more diving

When I can't get out in Boynton Beach, I go to Jupiter or West Palm. The PB inlet is by far the easiest

 

[letterboy]

IMHO West Palm has the name recognition that boynton does not.

When I lived up north I knew of West Palm, but had never heard of boynton Beach until I moved there, or Deerfield Beach until I moved there.

While the inlet conditions may be of concern for local divers, I doubt Wilma and Wilfred from Idaho would know that Lake Worth inlet is different from Boca inlet is different from Hillsboro inlet... Nor would I expect them to know there are options. Lol.

We went to Belize and stayed in the south, when I told people where we stayed, dove etc they didn't even know there was diving there. It was just less busy and didn't have the blue hole. I would take slower/less busy over anything, any day...

Ymmv

~John