I'm planning a trip to West Palm

[mohave_steve]

I thank all of you for all your great responses.
Wow, what a welcoming commitee!
Now I just have to plan my trip.

U jus gotta luv gettin' on the inside with SB!

I have made two trips to the area and found the dive community to be the most hospitable group I have ever encountered. Fantastic people!!

I dove Jupiter with JDC the first trip and Boynton with UE the second. Both top notch operations.

Have fun!!!

 

[Splitlip]

When drift diving you do not shoot a bag. (but the experience will be helpful)

What you do is unwind a tether as you descend. When you level-off at 5 feet above the bottom, you drag the surface float-n-flag behind you. When you ascend, you slowly wind in the tether.

Once you get the hang of it, drift diving is an excellent form of diving in my opinion. It eliminates the anchored boat and the need to descend an ascend an anchor line.

If you go in a group, the leader of the group will handle the flag. You will be required to stay with the leader.

If you dive in teams of 2, then you may be elected to handle the flag.

In theory, but not always in practice. Every charter I've been on North of Boynton , somebody shoots DSMB.

Some ops do like people to stay with the DM and the float, but not all. Not a great idea when people are hunting.
Even the ops that like you to stay with the DM, are not going to thumb everybody's dive when one person needs to surface because of lack of gas or RBT. You will spend about 7 minutes making your accent, drifting further and further from the surface marker. (I or a buddy normally send our DSMB's as soon as we are ready to come off the bottom.) Even if I am able to stay with the DM, somebody else has sent a marker for himself.

The Scuba Club is one of those ops who require you to stay with the DM (particularly if they don't know you.) Even then, they have several guides in the water who often spend the dive shooting their own DSMB's and escorting small groups to the surface.

Boynton and South they have different protocols. They will break up the group into small parties and give each a float. It is up to you to make your plans with the others.

I have some stills of my sausage relative to the boat, but I cant't seem to upload them. I'll bore you once more with this video. It is not as scary as it looks, because I deployed the marker while relatively close to the guy with the surface float which allows the boat crew to mark my position a full 6 or 7 minutes ahead of my surfacing.

JDC032.flv video by mm2002_bucket - Photobucket

And Eric, I know for a fact that Jupiter Dive Center, Scuba Works and the Scuba Club all rent steel tanks.

 

[sportxlh]

While I am not as experienced as some on this board, most of it is drift diving in the area (or shore dives) and I agree with Slitlip: when the currents are robust or visibility is bad, it is easy to get separated from the DM who carries a reel connected to a surface float/flag. Photographers routinely get separated from the DM. If separated from the DM, I, or a dive buddy, always shoot up a safety sausage tethered to a finger reel when we are ready to ascend. Shooting up a safety sausage will ensure other boats know divers are in the area and will be coming to the surface. It also helps the dive boat determine how scattered the divers have become over the reef.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

One other quick question.
Will I get thrown out of Florida if I bring my double hose?
Are there any charters that let you dive however you want, or do they babysit you?

Not that I'm a fanatic or anything, I can certainly use regular stuff, but I just thought it might be fun for a dive or two.

 

[Chuckitall]

Yes, in Jupiter Emerald Charters and Blue Tang.

 

[moneysavr]

One other quick question.
Will I get thrown out of Florida if I bring my double hose?
Are there any charters that let you dive however you want, or do they babysit you?

Not that I'm a fanatic or anything, I can certainly use regular stuff, but I just thought it might be fun for a dive or two.

Some will let you dive your own thing,but do get your first or several dives in to get a idea of the reef's.

My pal dove vintage if that's what your asking on double hose, a week of diving he was never asked for a C- card but was told to have his body back on the boat within a time frame!

Asked if he would do it again he used a bit more air diving vintage and dove with a conversion kit that gave him low pressure port's and HP gauge all for safety he would not, The locals in Florida have seen it all!
I dive vintage too and love my old DA Aqua Master
Have a blast!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Some will let you dive your own thing,but do get your first or several dives in to get a idea of the reef's.

My pal dove vintage if that's what your asking on double hose, a week of diving he was never asked for a C- card but was told to have his body back on the boat within a time frame!

Asked if he would do it again he used a bit more air diving vintage and dove with a conversion kit that gave him low pressure port's and HP gauge all for safety he would not, The locals in Florida have seen it all!
I dive vintage too and love my old DA Aqua Master
Have a blast!

Yeah that's what I was asking, I was just being a smart ass
I have a DA Aquamaster (that I adore) but I don't have a Phoenix.
I would have drain off little air from the tank to get it down to 2600 or so then I could hook up my DH.
I would have to use a banjo fitting because I doubt they have any tanks with J valves & rods.
If they made me use a BC then I would just put the wing on and orally inflate it if I needed to. Otherwise it would be on just for looks.

 

[luthierlady]

FYI to the OP...
A FL fishing license is not required to "acquire" Lionfish