First time at LBTS! How to read weather/tide reports?

[Trigger-F]

Yup, Hall of Fame, isn't that close to the Copenhagen wreck? Problem is, where do I park there? I was told there's a staghorn acropora field there too.

I haven't encountered any current at the Drop Off(2nd reef) so far. I've dived the 2nd reef 9 times so far. I find there's a lot of sealife to see for a shore dive, but would definitely not venture to the 3rd reef or past 50 feet by myself. Either way it takes forever to get out there, especially during rough seas with Easterly winds.

Looks like flat seas today though.. wish I was down there.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

They're in the same general area, but there's not as much reef between the two as there is in other places. The second reef starts to get small South of the Copenhagen, and also North of the HoF, so the area in between is the least the 2nd reef has to offer.

I used to go to HoF by parking one block North of the Pier. (Now I go in at Datura because the inshore area North of the Pier is a desert.) There has been a lot of new condos constructed in that area in the last 5 years, but there's still parking. Just doing the HoF is all the swimming most want to do anyway. As for the Copenhagen, you could 'talk' to the Valet at the restaurant. That's all I'm saying about that...

I'm not sure about the staghorn acropora field, that's not really my thing. There could be one there and I never would have known it, but I'll be on the lookout for it now.

 

[Trigger-F]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7mQuwTZSH4

Been told It's straight out of Seawatch on the Ocean restaurant but haven't tried parking there yet to explore. It's probably in bad shape with all the bleaching lately (those are very sensitive corals).

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I watched the video and I have seen a fair amount of regular staghorn even on the South side of the pier, but the acropora part threw me. If you Google the acropora version, it looks different than the regular kind. I have seen some, but it's probably not the 'field' your looking for.

Now you have a mission, and an excuse to go diving...

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My new GoPro arrived yesterday. If I find it, I'll post a pic/video with the location.

 

[Trigger-F]

I've heard there's a hybrid variation emerging in the Keys and South FL, resistant to diseases/environmental changes, it could be that that's populating the reefs. Enjoy the GoPro.

 

[FLNativeGuy]

Here's a fun webcam from the Windjammer in LBS. It will give you real time visual on sea conditions from the shore. The morning view is looking east; the afternoon view camera looks at the pier.

Windjammer Web Cam - Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Beach Cam

By the way, I started diving of off LBS (Windjammer area) in 1968 and still love diving, but haven't done a shore dive in a really, really long time.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

1968! It would be interesting to see some pictures from that era and compare them to the reef today.

 

[FLNativeGuy]

DeepSea back then the first reef was beautiful....loaded with fish, sea fans and coral.

Then after the dredging to replenish the beach, the sand pretty much killed to reef (that's what we assumed because it changed so quickly). I haven't been on the LBS first reef in years but the first reef & second reef off of Pompano Beach has made a significant comeback.

 

[Trigger-F]

Reef is coming back. Dove on Sat and there's still some bleaching going on but seems the polyps and some stony corals are recovering due to lower temps. That's good news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo3HasbOU2M

 

[bilsant]

If you're a relatively new shore diver and want to try the 2nd reef, a nice intro might be through the Gold Coast Scuba Meetup, which sometimes puts together a dive where the group gets permission to park at Sea Watch early in the morning, surface swims together out to the Copenhagen, and drops and dives along the wreck and dropoff before coming back, getting a fresh water rinse, and changing before they go inside for lunch.

I've also done some night dives where I parked at Hibiscus and my buddy parked at Pine or Washingtonia and we just drifted parallel to the beach from one car to the other.