Jupiter Dive Thread

[CosbySweater]

I recently relocated from Northern VA to Jupiter, FL. I'm an SSI divemaster with most of my experience in the Keys and Caribbean, although I learned to dive and have done a significant amount of training in the cold, dark quarries of the mid-Atlantic.

I'd like to use this thread to share some of my experiences diving off Jupiter, in hopes of both better learning the area myself and to help others who are interested in diving in the area. This will be a running thread in which I'll share some details and photos about my dive trips and where others are welcome to contribute.

Hopefully this will prove to be an entertaining and useful thread!

I did my first trip this past Sunday (10/11) with Jupiter Dive Center. We dove Captain Kirle's and Tunnels. Water temp was 84, moderate north-northeast current, and 50 foot visibility. I found JDC to be professional, efficient, and safety conscious. I particularly like that they analyze nitrox in the shop, off the boat, (surprisingly, that's not something I'm used to). I feel like it makes the boat loading and gear set up process go a little smoother when tanks aren't being analyzed on the boat. Captain, mate, and guide were all proficient and personable. I'll dive with JDC again.

Captain Kirle's is supposedly a shallower dive in the 60-75 foot range (I don't have a sample size to compare it to, though). We saw several large angel fish in the queen, grey, and French varieties, a large green moray, an aloof green sea turtle, and plenty of yellow-head jawfish in the sand. This was a good shakedown dive for me as I had been out of the water for nearly 3 months. max depth = 76 ft (in the sand). Dive time = 52 min.

Tunnels was more of the Jupiter dive experience that I've read about. Similar depth profile but much more wildlife. We saw several resident goliath's, several reef sharks atop the reef and cruising in the sand, likely the largest nurse shark I've seen (6+ feet), another green sea turtle, and all the usual reef critters.

Overall, it was a great day. Topside conditions were nice with low winds. I'm glad the rain waited until the afternoon. I'm looking forward to more exploring next weekend.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Congratulations on the move.

 

[drrich2]

Sounds good. I'll post links to my old trip reports to Jupiter; really enjoyed both, but very different trips (and they were intended to be):
Jupiter 2014 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/491927-jupiter-trip-report-9-7-14-9-11-14-a.html
Emerald Charters Trip Report 2017 - Emerald Dive Charters Trip Report
My first trip I used Jupiter Dive Center and was quite impressed with them. I assume they still rent the big 120cf steel tanks. What I recall from 10 dives with them was this general scenario:

90 Feet to the sand, flat bottom, near square profile dive (staying near bottom, not much multi-level), drifting along beside the edge of a rocky plateau with reef growth (in other words, a ledge) or hanging out around a wreck (Esso Bonaire) or wreckage (the MG-111 looked like someone blew up a Mayan ruin). Diving is drift; when exiting the boat, it's one after the other, don't screw around, if you put your regulator on without unbungeeing your tank and will take time to get things fixed, you're probably missing that dive. We descended and dove as a guide-led group, 30 minutes for air divers and 45 for nitrox divers.

I'll be interested to see if that's consistent with what you see now. It's been 6 years! I also liked Jupiter topside; large enough to be interesting with some variety, small enough getting around wasn't overwhelming. I'd like to get back there one of these days.

 

[CosbySweater]

Sounds good. I'll post links to my old trip reports to Jupiter; really enjoyed both, but very different trips (and they were intended to be):
Jupiter 2014 - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/491927-jupiter-trip-report-9-7-14-9-11-14-a.html
Emerald Charters Trip Report 2017 - Emerald Dive Charters Trip Report
My first trip I used Jupiter Dive Center and was quite impressed with them. I assume they still rent the big 120cf steel tanks. What I recall from 10 dives with them was this general scenario:

90 Feet to the sand, flat bottom, near square profile dive (staying near bottom, not much multi-level), drifting along beside the edge of a rocky plateau with reef growth (in other words, a ledge) or hanging out around a wreck (Esso Bonaire) or wreckage (the MG-111 looked like someone blew up a Mayan ruin). Diving is drift; when exiting the boat, it's one after the other, don't screw around, if you put your regulator on without unbungeeing your tank and will take time to get things fixed, you're probably missing that dive. We descended and dove as a guide-led group, 30 minutes for air divers and 45 for nitrox divers.

I'll be interested to see if that's consistent with what you see now. It's been 6 years! I also liked Jupiter topside; large enough to be interesting with some variety, small enough getting around wasn't overwhelming. I'd like to get back there one of these days.

Thanks for posting those links! Super helpful for myself and others.

In my very limited exposed to Jupiter drift diving, your description seems accurate. A couple that appeared relatively new to drift diving was on our boat yesterday. While I'm sure they were proficient, they weren't ready for the pace of the entry and ended up having to thumb the dive as the guide went down and they missed him. The chances of them finding the reef on their own were slim so they made the right call. Moral of the story is that you should be ready to go underwater as soon as you stand up. If you waste time bobbing around you're going to miss the reef.

It's a very fun and relaxing way to dive if you do it right.

 

[PoolsOpen]

....Moral of the story is that you should be ready to go underwater as soon as you stand up. If you waste time bobbing around you're going to miss the reef.

It's a very fun and relaxing way to dive if you do it right.

I agree that u need to be ready but...

I had the misfortune of blowing my tank's oring just as the dive dive dive alert was given while diving in Jupiter. Guide and all divers deployed.
I thought for sure I missed the dive. Well, the Kyalami crew quickly changed my oring while I leaned forward, then they maneuvered the boat near the flag carried by the guide. I just followed the line down from the flag and there was the group and reef!!

So, if you miss the drop to not being ready or minor equipment issues, don't worry, the good boats will take care of you!!

Maybe the couple you referenced just thumbed the dive not knowing they could be re-dropped or maybe since crew didnt know them and they thumbed the dive they just honored the couple's wishes

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

Thanks for posting those links! Super helpful for myself and others.

In my very limited exposed to Jupiter drift diving, your description seems accurate. A couple that appeared relatively new to drift diving was on our boat yesterday. While I'm sure they were proficient, they weren't ready for the pace of the entry and ended up having to thumb the dive as the guide went down and they missed him. The chances of them finding the reef on their own were slim so they made the right call. Moral of the story is that you should be ready to go underwater as soon as you stand up. If you waste time bobbing around you're going to miss the reef.

It's a very fun and relaxing way to dive if you do it right.

Was making a negative entry mentioned during the pre-dive briefing? If not...you (they in this case) don’t know what you don’t know.

I agree completely. I can’t wait to go drift diving again.

 

[CosbySweater]

Was making a negative entry mentioned during the pre-dive briefing? If not...you (they in this case) don’t know what you don’t know.

I agree completely. I can’t wait to go drift diving again.

It wasn't a negative entry. We all entered, grouped up and went down together. I don't know the details of the couples issue, but they didn't make it down to the reef and later mentioned that they were working out an equipment issue on the surface and drifted off the reef. Stuff happens and it's all part of diving. Their equipment issue may or may not have been avoidable but it drives home the need to be as prepared as you can be when you stand up - this is true for all types of diving, but particularly so for drifting. Not sure if the captain gave them to option to be redropped or not.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

It wasn't a negative entry. We all entered, grouped up and went down together. I don't know the details of the couples issue, but they didn't make it down to the reef and later mentioned that they were working out an equipment issue on the surface and drifted off the reef. Stuff happens and it's all part of diving. Their equipment issue may or may not have been avoidable but it drives home the need to be as prepared as you can be when you stand up - this is true for all types of diving, but particularly so for drifting. Not sure if the captain gave them to option to be redropped or not.

I’ve seen that kind of thing happen a few times. Sure...stuff happens, they may be diligent about gear upkeep, and they might have just had some bad luck that day, but I would be surprised if the average recreational diver looks over their gear more than once a season.

I’ve run into people that I know for a fact: 1. Don’t even do that, and 2. Only look over a piece of equipment if they experience a failure.

 

[CosbySweater]

I’ve seen that kind of thing happen a few times. Sure...stuff happens, they may be diligent about gear upkeep, and they might have just had some bad luck that day, but I would be surprised if the average recreational diver looks over their gear more than once a season.

I’ve run into people that I know for a fact: 1. Don’t even do that, and 2. Only look over a piece of equipment if they experience a failure.

Agreed. It's an unfortunate reality that many believe that if it worked fine last time that it'll work fine this time. You may get away with that 99 times out of 100, put it only takes one failure to ruin your day or worse. There's really no excuse for being ill prepped. I don't think the divers in my case we're ill prepped. I just think they weren't ready for the pace of the entry. No harm no foul.

 

[CosbySweater]

Snuck out for a trip this morning aboard Kyalami. The weather looked pretty grim early this morning with scattered thunderstorms just about everywhere in SE Florida. Forecast was calling for an 80% change of thunderstorms through the morning. Luckily, nothing materialized over us so we had a good morning/afternoon of diving. Winds were probably around 5-10kts but were building throughout the morning. Seas ~3 feet. This was my second trip out of Jupiter - first on Kyalami.

A couple observations about the Kyalami operation. Check in is done right in front of Square Grouper. They have an online waiver system which you could fill out ahead of time which was nice. The boat is located at the end of the T-dock behind Square Grouper. They advertise themselves as a "valet" charter so they carried gear from the check-in spot to the boat - a good thing if you're in to that but I prefer carrying my own stuff. The captain, mate, and dive guide were all very friendly and professional. They do put a guide in the water with the group. You can choose to follow them if you want, but there's no obligation to. I did because I'm still new to the Jupiter dive scene and I don't know any of the sites, nor did I have a trusted buddy to explore with. Overall I thought they were safe and professional. Cost is about the same as everywhere else in the area.

3/4 of the divers on the boat were hunters. Not a problem for me but I felt it was worth mentioning as other have their own specific preferences. It seemed like a close knit group of divers which was cool. I'm hoping to find a solid group like that to dive with myself. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the regulars on this site were on the boat today. The crew split the drop so the hunters went in first and the nerds like me who weren't hunting went in a minute or two later. I think there were 20 divers on the boat. A little crowded for my liking.

The diving itself was good. 60 feet of viz and almost no current. Low light conditions from the cloud cover so a light came in handy today. First drop was on a site near Gary's. Saw a couple of big green morays. Normal reef critters and a small nurse shark. Depth was about 80-90 feet with about 50 min of bottom time on EAN36. Water temp was 83.

The second drop was Julie's (I think). Shallower dive at 65 feet. Almost no current again. Saw a nice big green sea turtle. He was particularly agreeable and let me film him up close.

A quick note on exits. I seems like the norm is to have divers hang off the swim platform once the boat backs down and is in neutral. I guess the idea is that it keeps the group together at the boat and you wont float away while others doff their fins and climb the ladder. That's going to take some getting used to for me. I've done a decent amount of drift diving in Roatan and the Keys but I've never seen this done (although those aren't real drift diving destinations). I'm a little averse to the practice because I had to make a rescue on someone who found themselves under the platform with a BCD full of air so I've conditioned myself to believe, that on the surface, the boat is the most dangerous thing in the water. This isn't a criticism, it's just not something I'm not used to.

Overall a good day on the water. Winds are looking to pick up this weekend and in to next week as a front moves through the area. Fingers crossed for next weekend.