SeaYoda
Contributor
I had off today because I'm working Saturday - I thought I'd make good use of my time and hit the jetties. High tide was scheduled to be at 10:51 and I decided to go a little early. I arrived at the parking area along the marina to find a few cars parked there but I got the coveted spot right next to the entry 
. I had looked at the water temps on-line and decided to take off the beanie, booty socks, and the farmer john. This left me with the 3mm full and, as always (even in hot water), my gloves. The beach had several people sunning and one or two small boats anchored along the water's edge. Fishermen were coming and going as I made my way toward the water. The air temp was in the upper 60s so it wasn't too hot of a walk. I cut across the sand instead of heading straight to the water and walking along the wet, compacted sand. The beach renourishment has put so much extra sand out there that it's easier to slog through the shifting soft sand in a straight line than to walk out to the hard stuff and hang a left. I entered the water at about 10:15. The water had seemed warmer than our computers indicated on the recent night dive and, after the initial chill wore off, the water was pretty comfortable throughout the dive. Water temp at 50' was 69 degrees. Viz was about 15'-20' but was very silty looking. I'm guessing things won't clear all the way until they stop pumping the sand out along the beaches to the east. The crabs were still out in number and they looked like popcorn jumping off the bottom as I approached. They had plenty of food to eat, lots of big fish heads and bones were scattered around. Many of the heads were cobia. I headed out around the point and noticed the current was actually pushing me out along the rocks. The tide was still pushing in toward the bay but I was being slowly pushed toward the Gulf (more about this on the return leg of the journey). There were many more small fish out there today - sandfish, sandperch, pinfish, and a few adult damsels. As I got near the anchor, I heard the squeaks of dolphin. I looked around for a while but never saw any. I swam West of the anchor to see if I could find that black rock wall again. It may be being covered by sand already because I did not find it, but did find a big slope of sand with a few black rocks poking out. I hugged the bottom of the valley on the way back in and felt little current (it was probably close to slack tide). As I came around the point, I felt current flowing against me. My guess is that a kind of eddy has formed flowing South along the beach and West along the North side of the finger jetty. This might be a good thing in order to clear out some of the sand on the protected side of the finger jetty. I played around for a few minutes and I again heard dolphin squeaks so I dumped the air in my BC and sat on the rocks looking for those elusive noisemakers. I waited for a good while with only wrasse to amuse me so I turned to the East along the finger jetty in order to head to shore. Just as I pointed my head toward the beach, a school of huge Jack Crevalle came bolting from the direction of the beach and almost knocked me over. They weren't dolphin but they were cool! I exited the water with no further adventures and waddled back across the sand to take the tanks for a fill at ScubaTech and back to the house for gear cleaning. It's good to be able to jump in the pond on a moment's notice again - I can't wait until more fish come home (and my camera gets back from the shop 
).
. I had looked at the water temps on-line and decided to take off the beanie, booty socks, and the farmer john. This left me with the 3mm full and, as always (even in hot water), my gloves. The beach had several people sunning and one or two small boats anchored along the water's edge. Fishermen were coming and going as I made my way toward the water. The air temp was in the upper 60s so it wasn't too hot of a walk. I cut across the sand instead of heading straight to the water and walking along the wet, compacted sand. The beach renourishment has put so much extra sand out there that it's easier to slog through the shifting soft sand in a straight line than to walk out to the hard stuff and hang a left. I entered the water at about 10:15. The water had seemed warmer than our computers indicated on the recent night dive and, after the initial chill wore off, the water was pretty comfortable throughout the dive. Water temp at 50' was 69 degrees. Viz was about 15'-20' but was very silty looking. I'm guessing things won't clear all the way until they stop pumping the sand out along the beaches to the east. The crabs were still out in number and they looked like popcorn jumping off the bottom as I approached. They had plenty of food to eat, lots of big fish heads and bones were scattered around. Many of the heads were cobia. I headed out around the point and noticed the current was actually pushing me out along the rocks. The tide was still pushing in toward the bay but I was being slowly pushed toward the Gulf (more about this on the return leg of the journey). There were many more small fish out there today - sandfish, sandperch, pinfish, and a few adult damsels. As I got near the anchor, I heard the squeaks of dolphin. I looked around for a while but never saw any. I swam West of the anchor to see if I could find that black rock wall again. It may be being covered by sand already because I did not find it, but did find a big slope of sand with a few black rocks poking out. I hugged the bottom of the valley on the way back in and felt little current (it was probably close to slack tide). As I came around the point, I felt current flowing against me. My guess is that a kind of eddy has formed flowing South along the beach and West along the North side of the finger jetty. This might be a good thing in order to clear out some of the sand on the protected side of the finger jetty. I played around for a few minutes and I again heard dolphin squeaks so I dumped the air in my BC and sat on the rocks looking for those elusive noisemakers. I waited for a good while with only wrasse to amuse me so I turned to the East along the finger jetty in order to head to shore. Just as I pointed my head toward the beach, a school of huge Jack Crevalle came bolting from the direction of the beach and almost knocked me over. They weren't dolphin but they were cool! I exited the water with no further adventures and waddled back across the sand to take the tanks for a fill at ScubaTech and back to the house for gear cleaning. It's good to be able to jump in the pond on a moment's notice again - I can't wait until more fish come home (and my camera gets back from the shop ).
