nolatom
Contributor
I, who dives fairly seldom, got a couple of dives in during a Florida vacation where we stayed with friends in Palm Beach, and then farther north in Palm City/Stuart. Diving infrequently means I almost always learn or experience something new.
The new thing at Phil Foster was, on a nice sunny Saturday, there are LOTS of divers (and OW instructors, I guess), and NO parking spaces left if you didn't get there an hour or two early (supposedly--all I know is an hour before high water, your car and gear are "orphans", looking for a place to get set down. So I double-parked, unloaded my gear near a beach picnic table, and drove a few blocks east to Singer Island, looking for a curb space, or a lot. A neighbor tipped me off to a free public lot behind the nail salon and the Greater Gator grocery store, which worked fine, and the walk was scenic.
The dive itself, under the high part of the Blue Heron bridge, was surprisingly uncrowded of divers, I'm guessing the classes stayed our in front of the beach? An hour-plus dive, the flag wasn't too much of a PITA, and it was nice, the fish were casual and just going about their business.
Then last Wednesday, a try-for-lemon sharks dive out of Jupiter, on the REPUBLIC VII. I'd seen lemons over the years in groups of one to about four, but Captain Bryan dropped us into what developed to a large school of them, who circled around and through us at about 80' while we drifted mostly above them at about 65-70'. Beautiful animals (plus attached Remoras) on a perfect day. So this was a sorta new experience for me. Plus second dive over the Ledges, very big turtles and grouper. Very good insta-buddies for both dives.
Also good biking (got to see Mar-a-Lago (the Donald's house) from the bike during the week, when he wasn't there) and toodled around Palm Beach, and a couple of coast/A1A rides, nice beach swimming, and good company. Also bad but fun golf in Stuart with affable NY/New England retirees and snowbirds. My wife got to commune with some horsey/equestrian friends and events, so a happy time for us both. Then a long drive back to New Orleans last Saturday.
The new thing at Phil Foster was, on a nice sunny Saturday, there are LOTS of divers (and OW instructors, I guess), and NO parking spaces left if you didn't get there an hour or two early (supposedly--all I know is an hour before high water, your car and gear are "orphans", looking for a place to get set down. So I double-parked, unloaded my gear near a beach picnic table, and drove a few blocks east to Singer Island, looking for a curb space, or a lot. A neighbor tipped me off to a free public lot behind the nail salon and the Greater Gator grocery store, which worked fine, and the walk was scenic.
The dive itself, under the high part of the Blue Heron bridge, was surprisingly uncrowded of divers, I'm guessing the classes stayed our in front of the beach? An hour-plus dive, the flag wasn't too much of a PITA, and it was nice, the fish were casual and just going about their business.
Then last Wednesday, a try-for-lemon sharks dive out of Jupiter, on the REPUBLIC VII. I'd seen lemons over the years in groups of one to about four, but Captain Bryan dropped us into what developed to a large school of them, who circled around and through us at about 80' while we drifted mostly above them at about 65-70'. Beautiful animals (plus attached Remoras) on a perfect day. So this was a sorta new experience for me. Plus second dive over the Ledges, very big turtles and grouper. Very good insta-buddies for both dives.
Also good biking (got to see Mar-a-Lago (the Donald's house) from the bike during the week, when he wasn't there) and toodled around Palm Beach, and a couple of coast/A1A rides, nice beach swimming, and good company. Also bad but fun golf in Stuart with affable NY/New England retirees and snowbirds. My wife got to commune with some horsey/equestrian friends and events, so a happy time for us both. Then a long drive back to New Orleans last Saturday.
