Trip Report Florida 25 #3

[scubadada]

I haven't been down to Florida since April. My wife and I had a great 2 week trip to Bonaire in May

Flew down from Philadelphia yesterday, completely uneventful

I did a two tanker with Jupiter Dive Center this morning. I was supposed to do a 3 tanker, including Deep Ledge, but there were not enough divers signed up. Went out with Capt. Ryan, guide Brandon, and mate Teriq. Seas were very flat, less than a foot. That's where the good conditions ended. Water was 72-73 degrees and visibility was 20-25 feet with a mild north current. They told me the water temp yesterday was in the 60s.

We dived Scarface and Bluffs. Several goliath grouper, a couple of reef sharks, a couple of nurse sharks, a green and a loggerhead turtle, big free swimming green moray and a small spotted moray, many lobster feeling safe until the end of the month, big school of bermuda chub, big school of spadefish and most of the other usual reef fish.

I was quite cool in my 3 mm full suit and 5/3 mm hooded vest but not as cold as many of the other divers on the boat. Tomorrow it's my 5 mm full suit, hopefully the water is getting warmer.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Thanks for the report!

Sounds like the summer upwelling is here. BRRRRRR!!!!!

 

[Johnoly]

... They told me the water temp yesterday was in the 60s.

Thats cold BUT......thats what we want to hear. We are still 3 weeks out til mini-season(lobster) and we are not seeing the dark red colored bugs on the reefs, just the brown tan ones. If it's in the 60's on the 85ft reefs then it's into the low 50's in the 200ft deep reefs. That cold water does not have enough dissolved Oxygen (dO2) for the lobsters to be comfortable. They they should start walking from those 200's up to the 85 deeps. If we could throw in a ?(near-miss) tropical storm with some 15ft tall waves that will be just more of a push to move the bugs up into the shallows. In the last month of scouting reports and pre-counting bugs off Juno Pier area,,,well lets just say we're behind from this time last year.

We love your conditions & sightings reports and topside seas look really good for the next 7 days!!

 

[scubadada]

Thats cold BUT......thats what we want to hear. We are still 3 weeks out til mini-season(lobster) and we are not seeing the dark red colored bugs on the reefs, just the brown tan ones. If it's in the 60's on the 85ft reefs then it's into the low 50's in the 200ft deep reefs. That cold water does not have enough dissolved Oxygen (dO2) for the lobsters to be comfortable. They they should start walking from those 200's up to the 85 deeps. If we could throw in a ?(near-miss) tropical storm with some 15ft tall waves that will be just more of a push to move the bugs up into the shallows. In the last month of scouting reports and pre-counting bugs off Juno Pier area,,,well lets just say we're behind from this time last year.

We love your conditions & sightings reports and topside seas look really good for the next 7 days!!

Hi my friend. I'm glad that this is good news for you though I wouldn't mind a little warmer water but can easily dress for the lower temperatures.

Though I really don't look for them, I generally do not see many lobsters on the main Jupiter reefs. Today, there were many on both dives. I didn't pay much attention to their color or size.

More reports to follow

 

[Divin'Papaw]

If we could throw in a ?(near-miss) tropical storm with some 15ft tall waves ...

Oh now you stop!!!

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I did a two tanker with Jupiter Dive Center this morning. I was supposed to do a 3 tanker, including Deep Ledge, but there were not enough divers signed up.

I really like the JDC 3-tanker ... BUT ... this is a perennial issue. Getting enough divers booked for the trip to run. I've moved away from booking the 3-tanker because of this, except for during GG aggregation. I'm booked on the 3-tanker 8/23-24 and one day is already full and the other is close.

 

[scubadada]

I really like the JDC 3-tanker ... BUT ... this is a perennial issue. Getting enough divers booked for the trip to run...

Ha, I did a very interesting 3 tanker with JDC today. It was scheduled to go with 5, there was 1 no show, it went with 4.

Republic VII with Capt. Phil, Brandon (2 dives) and Amy (1 dive). It was a nice, warm, sunny day with seas around 2 feet. We got back in the afternoon just before a big thunderstorm. The drive home was hair raising.

The first dive was on the Ana Cecilia and the Corridor. We got down on the Ana Cecilia and it was cold. I got a low of 67 degrees. I'm very glad I had my 5 mm full suit today. There was a moderate to brisk north current and the visibility was a bit better than yesterday, 30 to maybe 35 feet. The really good news was the sea life on the Ana Cecilia. There were many southern rays, from medium to very large in size. It was difficult to count them as they swam around for the whole dive and often settled on the deck. There were many, many goliath grouper from small to giant. Several smallish reef sharks swam around most of the time. Lastly, there was a school of large, beautiful barracuda. The rest of the Corridor was fine, mostly usual reef fish.

We drove down to Palm Beach for our 2nd and 3rd dive, first time I've been there with JDC. Our first dive was from Tear Drop and the second from Elevator Shaft. Water temp on the 1st was 81 degrees, started at 81 degrees on the second and dropped to 77. Fairly brisk north current and visibility 30-35 feet. On both dives saw a couple of nurse sharks. Elevator Shaft had many, many loggerhead turtles, a lemon shark, a goliath grouper and the usual suspects.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Ha, I did a very interesting 3 tanker with JDC today. It was scheduled to go with 5, there was 1 no show, it went with 4.

Republic VII with Capt. Phil, Brandon (2 dives) and Amy (1 dive). It was a nice, warm, sunny day with seas around 2 feet. We got back in this afternoon just before a big thunderstorm. The drive home was hair raising.

The first dive was on the Ana Cecilia and the Corridor. We got down on the Ana Cecilia and it was cold. I got a low of 67 degrees. I'm very glad I had my 5 mm full suit today. There was a moderate to brisk north current and the visibility was a bit better than yesterday, 30 to maybe 35 feet. The really good news was the sea life on the Ana Cecilia. There were many southern rays, from medium to very large in size. It was difficult to count them as they swam around for the whole dive and often settled on the deck. There were many, many goliath grouper from small to giant. Several smallish reef sharks swam around most of the time. Lastly, there was a school of large, beautiful barracuda. The rest of the Corridor was fine, mostly usual reef fish.

We drove down to Palm Beach for our 2nd and 3rd dive, first time I've been there with JDC. Our first dive was from Tear Drop and the second from Elevator Shaft. Water temp on the 1st was 81 degrees, started at 81 degrees on the second and dropped to 77. Fairly brisk north current and visibility 30-35 feet. On both dives saw a couple of nurse sharks. Elevator Shaft had many, many loggerhead turtles, a lemon shark, a goliath grouper and the usual suspects.

It’s very interesting that JDC has started going so far south on their 3 tanker.

 

[Johnoly]

Ha, I did a very interesting 3 tanker with JDC today......We drove down to Palm Beach for our 2nd and 3rd dive, .....Our first dive was from Tear Drop

DANG,,, That's pretty cool !!