Glad to see that you finally got your certification dives in Jazzymusician. The longer you stick with the sport, the more glorious days you'll get to enjoy. You will however begin to hear the phrase, "You should have been here last week," an infuriating amount, but them's the breaks.
I concur with others here about the relatively poor conditions overall thus far this summer. I've been living here for over 20 years, and cannot recall another year that offered so few really stellar days by late July. I did a pair of dives yesterday off of northern Dade county. First dive site that I wanted to visit had seas that were too rough to allow me to anchor safely, (the Andro wreck, very close to Haulover inlet which can get very bouncy during fast tidal changes,) so opted for a deep reef further north. Wind was moderate out of the south-east but current was moving pretty swiftly southward. This is a relatively uncommon occurrence. Viz was about 25-30 feet, with lots of drifting gunk and stirred up sand. About 20 minutes into the dive, the current stopped dead, then started running to the north. Second dive was at the Deep Trench, and offered a mild north current, and perhaps 20' of viz. Not great for wide angle photography, but no trouble for the lobster hunting hoards who will soon be cavorting in the state waters. The good news thus far is that the algae bloom in Biscayne Bay has not traveled out to sea yet.
Y'all have fun and dive safely. Watch out for the other guy. I'm staying ashore.
I concur with others here about the relatively poor conditions overall thus far this summer. I've been living here for over 20 years, and cannot recall another year that offered so few really stellar days by late July. I did a pair of dives yesterday off of northern Dade county. First dive site that I wanted to visit had seas that were too rough to allow me to anchor safely, (the Andro wreck, very close to Haulover inlet which can get very bouncy during fast tidal changes,) so opted for a deep reef further north. Wind was moderate out of the south-east but current was moving pretty swiftly southward. This is a relatively uncommon occurrence. Viz was about 25-30 feet, with lots of drifting gunk and stirred up sand. About 20 minutes into the dive, the current stopped dead, then started running to the north. Second dive was at the Deep Trench, and offered a mild north current, and perhaps 20' of viz. Not great for wide angle photography, but no trouble for the lobster hunting hoards who will soon be cavorting in the state waters. The good news thus far is that the algae bloom in Biscayne Bay has not traveled out to sea yet.
Y'all have fun and dive safely. Watch out for the other guy. I'm staying ashore.
