Diving in Melbourne

[low-water-mark]

Hi guys,

I would be moving from New York to Melbourne, Florida soon for my further studies. I was wondering anyone has any idea on the diving activities in Melbourne?!... Never been there and has no idea how it is like in Melbourne!?....

Any ideas is great... dive operators, dive shops and dive sites.

thanks in advance

 

[murphdivers286]

Hey low-water-mark,
Welcome to the board. Have you posted your greeting post in "Introductions and Greetings". If not, think about doing it.

I live about 30-45 minutes south of Melbourne. My wife and I dive a Phil Foster in WPB. We may start shore diving in Ft. Lauderdale. My wife says the reef system there is beautiful, plus it is cheaper than going on a charter boat out of WPB.

If you ever want to dive, just let us or other Florida Conch Divers know. We are all always ready for a dive. Welcome

 

[TropicalDiver]

Your closest ports are Sebastian Inlet and Port Canaveral both have good bug hunting and spearfishing if you are so inclined....visability is not as good as West Palm Beach area, but the lobsters are bigger. Deeper 90' water also gets quite chilly at times - more of advanced diving. Mostly private boats here, not charter boats though. Closest charter that I know of is hour or so south, in Jupiter. Check out Hatt's Dive Shop off US 192, just west of bridge for gear, fills and such....or PDI in Melbourne.

 

[CHEGdiver]

Melbourne is a nice place to live. That being said you may wish that you had moved a bit farther south (especially on the drive back from Jupiter or WPB after a full day of diving). Jupiter is the closest reguliarly run boat charters (well New Smyrna is almost as far but doesn't have what Jupiter does). There is good beach diving from Sebastian all the way down the coast with the visibility getting better the farther you go. However, visibilty is more often very bad than good until you get south of Fort Pierce. See a great info page for more on local beach diving: http://www.irishmansoftware.com/beach_2.htm

I recommend Hatts Diving Headquarters (on S. Front Street) whole heartedly and without reserve.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

Hi Low-Water-Mark,
Where are you going to further your studies at? Florida Tech? Tropical Diver pretty much nailed it for diving around here. If you don't have your own boat, you head 100 miles south to WPB.
Swing by the Down Under Dive Club meeting. We meet at the Hyperbaric Chamber on Hibiscus St on the second Wednesday of every month. We have a pretty active group of divers.
As for dive shops... You have Dixie Divers, Hatts and PDI in Melbourne. There's also a new shop in Rockledge, Sea Dragons. All four dive shops have their own personality. You should be able to find the one that fits your personality.

Al

 

[Ed Jewell]

To touch upon what others have mentioned:

Dixie Divers (JND SCUBA)
Location: Palm Bay, On Babcock Street in the OutBack SteakHouse Plaza
Major Lines Carried: Dacor, Oceanic, Luxfer cylinders
Agency Represented: PADI
Pool: Off Premises
Nitrox: Partial Pressure Fills

Hatts
Location: Melbourne, at the intersection of Melbourne Ave. and Front Street
Major Lines Carried: ScubaPro, Zeagle, Sherwood, Genesis, Faber Steel and Luxfer Aluminum cylinders
Agency Represented: PADI
Pool: On Premises
Nitrox: Partial Pressure Fills

PDI (Professional Diving Industries)
Location: Melbourne, at intersection of North Harbor City Blvd. (US 1) and Aurora Road.
Major Lines Carried: Aqua Lung, Seaquest, Apeks, Deep See, Atomic, Suunto
Agencies Represented: PADI, NAUI, and TDI
Pool: On Premises
Nitrox: Nitrox produced with DNAx Membrane, banks 6000 cu. ft. of 36%. Offers nitrox blends from 36% on down.

Sea Dragon
Location: Barnes Blvd in Rockledge
Major Lines Carried: Dive Rite, Mares, Atomic
Agencies Represented: PADI
Pool: Currently off premises but an indoor pool is in the works
Nitrox: Nitrox is produced by means of a Nitrox Stick

No dive charters locally, but some good beach diving can be had in the Vero Beach and Ft. Pierce areas during the Summer months. As others have said, closest dive charters are in the Jupiter and West Palm areas (an hour and half to two hour drive south of Melbourne)

 

[TropicalDiver]

What in the world is a "nitrox stick"?????

 

[Ed Jewell]

Mixing nitrox with a "Nitrox Stick" is very similar to partial-pressure filling, in that pure oxygen and air are mixed to produce the final mixture. However, with this method, the pure oxygen and the air are mixed at atmospheric pressure in a mixing vessel, known as a blending stick. That mixed air is then fed into the compressor air intake and compressed to high pressure for filling into the cylinder or a bulk storage bank. Unlike using partial pressure mixing to pre-mix in a storage bank, this method allows for simpler "topping" of the pre-mix banks.

 

[Orlando Eric]

I thought it was like a paint stick from home depot only painted green, used to stir up the Nitrogen and Oxygen after they go into the tank.. a process that the snobby divers call "blending".

I have found that you don't really need to do this as you can just pick up the tank and shake it like they do at the paint store and it will "blend" just fine.. plus it is just too hard to try and get that valve screwed off, stir the combined air and then get the freakin top screwed back on before the air jumps out.

 

[low-water-mark]

Hi Low-Water-Mark,
Where are you going to further your studies at? Florida Tech? Tropical Diver pretty much nailed it for diving around here. If you don't have your own boat, you head 100 miles south to WPB.
Swing by the Down Under Dive Club meeting. We meet at the Hyperbaric Chamber on Hibiscus St on the second Wednesday of every month. We have a pretty active group of divers.
As for dive shops... You have Dixie Divers, Hatts and PDI in Melbourne. There's also a new shop in Rockledge, Sea Dragons. All four dive shops have their own personality. You should be able to find the one that fits your personality.

Al

Yeap, furthering my studies in Florida Tech.... I try to surf the website for information but it seems the surrounding are pretty boring places!

I came from Singapore, though I have been working in New York for 2 years. So I actually have no idea the places you guys are mentioning. However, I guess I would be able to survive and meet with divers when I reach Melbourne. Thanks for the inputs ...