pairizarry
Guest
I drove down from Orlando in the morning for a morning drift dive with Jupiter Dive Charters with Capt Paul on Temptation and a boat full of Florida Conch Divers from Scubaboard.com. It was about 77 degrees and party cloudy. The seas were very calm. We had a total of 12 divers on the boat for the trip.
This my first drift dive experience but it definitely wont be my last. Getting into and out of the water was a little different, no giant stride here, instead you do a Nestea plunge, with your butt hitting the water first. Climbing in you had to crawl on the wooden platform until you got to the back of the boat and then kneeled and then stand up with assistance from the crew. During my first drift dive on the Bonnie site, I tried to stay glued to the DM who was holding the dive float. I saw a few nurse sharks and a big old turtle whose head was as big as a basketball. (77 ft, 40 min, 73 degrees on 34% Nitrox)
The next site we went to was The Tunnels, it seemed to be a favorite of the Florida Conch Divers. During the dive briefing the DM told us there would be some goliath groupers (400-800 lbs) inside this one swimthrough. Sure enough when went down to the swimthrough there they were in the front and left when I went through. Upon exiting the other side a black tip reef shark came swimming by and a small lobster was in front of me. There were nurse sharks all over the place, ranging from 4-6 ft. They were in every nook and cranny of this area. I saw another turtle and also a stingray that was about 5 ft wide and probably 10 + ft long from head to tail. This site definitely was the best big animal encounter I had since the Bahamas. (74 ft, 36 min, 73 degrees on 35% Nitrox)
This my first drift dive experience but it definitely wont be my last. Getting into and out of the water was a little different, no giant stride here, instead you do a Nestea plunge, with your butt hitting the water first. Climbing in you had to crawl on the wooden platform until you got to the back of the boat and then kneeled and then stand up with assistance from the crew. During my first drift dive on the Bonnie site, I tried to stay glued to the DM who was holding the dive float. I saw a few nurse sharks and a big old turtle whose head was as big as a basketball. (77 ft, 40 min, 73 degrees on 34% Nitrox)
The next site we went to was The Tunnels, it seemed to be a favorite of the Florida Conch Divers. During the dive briefing the DM told us there would be some goliath groupers (400-800 lbs) inside this one swimthrough. Sure enough when went down to the swimthrough there they were in the front and left when I went through. Upon exiting the other side a black tip reef shark came swimming by and a small lobster was in front of me. There were nurse sharks all over the place, ranging from 4-6 ft. They were in every nook and cranny of this area. I saw another turtle and also a stingray that was about 5 ft wide and probably 10 + ft long from head to tail. This site definitely was the best big animal encounter I had since the Bahamas. (74 ft, 36 min, 73 degrees on 35% Nitrox)
