Fishhy
Contributor
Went this past Saturday for a 3 tank dive off of Jacksonville with Nautical Divers.
I've never dove with them before, or off Jacksonville, so I wasn't sure what to expect going out.
The boat (RV Explorer) was nicely equipped for diving and had plenty of shade and even some AC in the cabin.
The boat also had a couple other tricks up its sleeve - a lift on the back (no climbing ladders), and a pizza oven (yes, you read that right).
The trip out was quite long as the cruising speed is about 16kts and you start a few miles inland on the intercoastal (great location for me!).
After about a 2 1/2 hour trek we arrived at the first location; "Aquarium Barge" aka Aqua Barge- (Max Depth about 65')
We chained up to one of the ballards on the barge and descended down the line.
Visibility was a slightly green-ish 15-20 feet. There was a LOT of life on the wreck and schools of the "endangered" red snapper.
After about 45min underwater we returned to the boat and made way to the next stop - "Maxi" (Max Depth about 70')
The visibility here was slightly better with about 25ft visibility.
We were greeted with large schools of spadefish and some of the largest barracuda I've ever seen.
This wreck also had some of the healthiest SPS coral colonies I've seen off florida.
The third dive set us further south to the Navy Barge. (Max depth about 75')
Visibility fluctuated here and we had close to 40-45 feet visibility for a short time before dropping back down to about 30 feet.
This one was sadly extremely covered in fishing line and my buddy was entangled pretty badly at one point.
More huge red snapper and some "booming" which sounded like a Goliath (though I never saw one).
Also came across some cardinal fish as well as lots of lawnmower blennies.
On return to the boat, they had hot pizza waiting and a cold beer to welcome us, nice touch!
The crew and captain were great, and if you haven't been off shore Jacksonville, and you live here or are visiting, it's worth a trip.
I've been told August is the best for visibility and it has started to drop off a little, but I was overall pleasantly surprised.
No thermocline at any of the sites, with about 85F top to bottom.
Here's a video comprised of the clips from the dive.
I've never dove with them before, or off Jacksonville, so I wasn't sure what to expect going out.
The boat (RV Explorer) was nicely equipped for diving and had plenty of shade and even some AC in the cabin.
The boat also had a couple other tricks up its sleeve - a lift on the back (no climbing ladders), and a pizza oven (yes, you read that right).
The trip out was quite long as the cruising speed is about 16kts and you start a few miles inland on the intercoastal (great location for me!).
After about a 2 1/2 hour trek we arrived at the first location; "Aquarium Barge" aka Aqua Barge- (Max Depth about 65')
We chained up to one of the ballards on the barge and descended down the line.
Visibility was a slightly green-ish 15-20 feet. There was a LOT of life on the wreck and schools of the "endangered" red snapper.
After about 45min underwater we returned to the boat and made way to the next stop - "Maxi" (Max Depth about 70')
The visibility here was slightly better with about 25ft visibility.
We were greeted with large schools of spadefish and some of the largest barracuda I've ever seen.
This wreck also had some of the healthiest SPS coral colonies I've seen off florida.
The third dive set us further south to the Navy Barge. (Max depth about 75')
Visibility fluctuated here and we had close to 40-45 feet visibility for a short time before dropping back down to about 30 feet.
This one was sadly extremely covered in fishing line and my buddy was entangled pretty badly at one point.
More huge red snapper and some "booming" which sounded like a Goliath (though I never saw one).
Also came across some cardinal fish as well as lots of lawnmower blennies.
On return to the boat, they had hot pizza waiting and a cold beer to welcome us, nice touch!
The crew and captain were great, and if you haven't been off shore Jacksonville, and you live here or are visiting, it's worth a trip.
I've been told August is the best for visibility and it has started to drop off a little, but I was overall pleasantly surprised.
No thermocline at any of the sites, with about 85F top to bottom.
Here's a video comprised of the clips from the dive.
