Trip Report Florida Dive Trip June 27 to July 7, 2020

[Trailboss123]

Well, the first day is down and in the books. We set out to do 3 dives out of West Palm Beach with Walkers Dive Center. Best Scuba Diving in Florida - Palm Beach - Walker’s Dive Charters

Things got off to a later start due to our tanks not being there, but everything got sorted and off we went. Seas were mostly in the 1-2 foot range. Getting on and off the boat was quite easy. Water temps were 78-79 and visibility was a but murky/hazy and in the 50-60 foot range.. We dived quite a ways north at Jolly Jack, then Spadefish and lastly at Shark Canyon. Caribbean reef sharks and Nurse sharks were seen on each dive. Lots of green morays, lots of lionfish were killed, prolific amount of Loggerhead Turtles and some really huge ones. The Spadefish dive sight is aptly named with lots of large schools of spadefish.

Although the seas were mild, I had a horrible bout of motion sickness that derailed part of the day and I sat out a dive with lots of nausea. Air temp was a sunny 89 degrees and mild breezes. Flying to West Palm Beach international from Portland, OR via Dallas was very eery. Not many people in the airports and most shops and restaurants closed. We had 10 divers on the boat and keeping a safe distance was quite easy and roomy. Which was good since 1/2 of the divers never wore masks.

Tomorrow we are off to Boynton Beach to do a couple of morning dives with Loggerhead.

 

[scubadada]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the report of your first day. Sorry to hear of your motion sickness.

Look forward to hearing about your second day with Loggerhead. Where are you staying, Airbnb? Cooking most of your own meals?

 

[AdivingBel]

Thanks for your report. Sometimes it takes one to get your sea legs back after being dry for awhile. Be safe and have fun. Wish I was divin'...

 

[Trailboss123]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for the report of your first day. Sorry to hear of your motion sickness.

Look forward to hearing about your second day with Loggerhead. Where are you staying, Airbnb? Cooking most of your own meals?

Some friends have a Marriott Vacation Club timeshare apartment in West Palm Beach that we are staying in and doing our cooking here. Beautiful location on the waterfront not far from Blue Heron Bridge. Hopefully tomorrow goes better for me. I am sure it will.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Some friends have a Marriott Vacation Club timeshare apartment in West Palm Beach that we are staying in and doing our cooking here. Beautiful location on the waterfront not far from Blue Heron Bridge. Hopefully tomorrow goes better for me. I am sure it will.

Right there on Singer Island? Ocean Point or Oceana Palms? I’ve stayed at both. Great location!

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Good Times!

 

[Trailboss123]

Right there on Singer Island? Ocean Point or Oceana Palms? I’ve stayed at both. Great location!

We are at Ocean Point

 

[jeffsky29]

Aside from the terrible heat, you picked a great week to be diving. Light winds most days. Viz should be good.

 

[drrich2]

You mentioned staying not far from Blue Heron Bridge; not planning to hit it? I've only dove there once, and would like to go back. Wish it were practical to hit more than once a day, though the roughly 1 1/2 hour dive time partially makes up for that.

Glad you got to see the loggerheads; 2 trips with a total of 17 dives for Jupiter, FL, and I've seen one loggerhead sea turtle there (the only one I've seen in the wild). And glad I saw that. Strange how one can miss things on a given trip.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

You mentioned staying not far from Blue Heron Bridge; not planning to hit it? I've only dove there once, and would like to go back. Wish it were practical to hit more than once a day, though the roughly 1 1/2 hour dive time partially makes up for that.

Glad you got to see the loggerheads; 2 trips with a total of 17 dives for Jupiter, FL, and I've seen one loggerhead sea turtle there (the only one I've seen in the wild). And glad I saw that. Strange how one can miss things on a given trip.

He shared his itinerary on a separate thread. I do believe they are hitting the bridge at least once next week if I remember correctly.

Regarding turtles the time of year is important. We are at the peek of nesting season currently which runs from Mar-Oct roughly. There are a huge number of loggerheads and a large number of greens on our reefs as a result. Perhaps your dives in Jupiter were outside of nesting season?