Intrepid cub exploration

[divad]

Has anyone done an exploratory drift dive on the 1st or 2nd reef around Commercial Pier? I've drifted to Publix from the pier on the second reef but we burned a lot of air going under water between the pier and the mooring balls. Same old ledge, but shorter. I'm thinking it would be cool to go south,
when the current is reversed, just to see what's there in private-beach-land.
Maybe............... never mind.

 

[MikeJacobs]

Has anyone done an exploratory drift dive on the 1st or 2nd reef around Commercial Pier? ...SNIP

IME the best place at the balls is around the Palms, just north of Fort Lauderdale Beach. The drop-off is all broken up in that area and there are some beautiful formations with a lot of life.

If you kayak (that's the way to do it), go to the first bouys just south of the break in the bouy line out from Palm Avenue or just a little north. If you can get a couple of hours out of your tank, you can get there and back underwater with about 30-45 minutes at the outer bouys. Depth is no more than 25' or so at the bottom of the dropoff and occasionally the current can be surprisingly strong.

There's really no downside to exploring south of the pier. As you put it, the "same old reef" is pretty good here as long as you take it slowly, observe, and learn the signs. Diving with one of my buddies, the time flies - he finds all kinds of stuff I never see without him on the FIRST reef. Of course, it seems that everything has taken sabbatical for a while during the Winter. A neighbor saw the first dolphin (porpose) the other day, though, and manatee should be heading north again in a couple of months.

 

[divad]

IME the best place at the balls is around the Palms, just north of Fort Lauderdale Beach. The drop-off is all broken up in that area and there are some beautiful formations with a lot of life.

If you kayak (that's the way to do it), go to the first bouys just south of the break in the bouy line out from Palm Avenue or just a little north. If you can get a couple of hours out of your tank, you can get there and back underwater with about 30-45 minutes at the outer bouys. Depth is no more than 25' or so at the bottom of the dropoff and occasionally the current can be surprisingly strong.

There's really no downside to exploring south of the pier. As you put it, the "same old reef" is pretty good here as long as you take it slowly, observe, and learn the signs. Diving with one of my buddies, the time flies - he finds all kinds of stuff I never see without him on the FIRST reef. Of course, it seems that everything has taken sabbatical for a while during the Winter. A neighbor saw the first dolphin (porpose) the other day, though, and manatee should be heading north again in a couple of months.

Thanks. I can walk that and drift home. "Same old ledge" was a poor choice of words. Didn't mean to insult your reef, just that it peters out a little north
of the pier. As for the first reef, that's where I always see the nurse sharks.