Jupiter Dive Thread

[Johnoly]

Palm Beach Inlet?............... I am just looking for a second operator as an option.

Kyalami does not appear to require nitrox,

I dove today with Kyalami Too (aka Kyalami/ScubaClub and their 2nd dive boat departs from the WPB/Riviera Marina which is just on the other side of the bridge where PuraVida departs from. I just wanted to backup and confirm what @scubadada wrote.......

On our Kyalami/ScubaClub boat today we had about 8 air divers including 2 girls (16ish?) who were doing their 1st ocean dives after they were OW certified 3 weeks ago. Their dad was also on the boat with them and the girls had a great time. Depths for them were 60ft on top of both reefs. The only time one of the girls teared up was when her dad stood up and made the entire boat sing Happy Birthday (which we did). Otherwise, they were smiling ear to ear because they saw their first bull shark at a distance cruising by.

 

[tekkydiver]

No, Air divers were a nightmare for pickup off the JDC boats, now they are gone.

If they had a Nitrox certification would it have made a difference? I'm just saying Nitrox just changes the tables. We dive 34% I like that it increases bottom time and decreases or eliminates surface intervals

 

[scubadada]

If they had a Nitrox certification would it have made a difference? I'm just saying Nitrox just changes the tables. We dive 34% I like that it increases bottom time and decreases or eliminates surface intervals

I think so. Jupiter is relatively deep. First air dives were limited to a bottom time of 25 min. Second air dives were dictated by NDL. It was not uncommon for air divers to overstay the 1st dive and have a very short 2nd dive. They would randomly pop up and require pick up from both dives.

The nitrox bottom time is 45 min. When everyone dives nitrox, the pickups are considerably easier with much less concern of someone overstaying their NDL on one of the dives.

 

[CosbySweater]

would you recommend any of these operators in the Palm Beach Inlet?
1. Brownie's
2. Calypso
3. Deep Obsession
4. FSC
5. FSD
6. Ocean Quest
7. Walkers

We dove with Pura Vida and it was awesome. I am just looking for a second operator as an option.

Add Narcosis and Walkers to this list.

 

[tekkydiver]

I think so. Jupiter is relatively deep. First air dives were limited to a bottom time of 25 min. Second air dives were dictated by NDL. It was not uncommon for air divers to overstay the 1st dive and have a very short 2nd dive. They would randomly pop up and require pick up from both dives.

The nitrox bottom time is 45 min. When everyone dives nitrox, the pickups are considerably easier with much less concern of someone overstaying their NDL on one of the dives.

What I am saying is that Nitrox should be available to and all divers with Open Water or Advanced Open Water Certification. No special skills are required and the entire course can be covered in a short period of time.

 

[CosbySweater]

What I am saying is that Nitrox should be available to and all divers with Open Water or Advanced Open Water Certification. No special skills are required and the entire course can be covered in a short period of time.

I agree on principle. But there is time and effort required on the part of the agency and shop to develop and administer the required knowledge. Hence, in its current format, the nitrox course can’t just be given for free.

Nitrox should be integrated in to open water course work. This would make the most sense from the students perspective, as like you said, no additional skills are needed and the additional knowledge requirements are modest.

However, the recreational scuba industry is just that, an industry. Industries like to make money and will come up with all sorts of creative ways to do so….

 

[CosbySweater]

Got out on Saturday morning 12/30 with JDC. My last dives of 2023. In total I tallied 119 dives this year, 98 of which were in South Florida.

We did Scarface/Kirle’s and Tunnels this morning. 60 feet of viz on Scarface and 30ish on Tunnels. The better water was definitely south. Saw a few Loggerheads, a pair of reef sharks, and I scored a handful of big bugs.

76-77 degree water and low 60’s air temps. Thank goodness for the hot water hose on JDC’s boat. It’s a nice feature this time of year. Bring your boat coats if you plan on diving this weekend/next week! I thermos with hot coffee/tea/water/tequila is also recommended.

Happy new year everyone!

 

[MrChen]

Got out on Saturday morning 12/30 with JDC. My last dives of 2023. In total I tallied 119 dives this year, 98 of which were in South Florida.

We did Scarface/Kirle’s and Tunnels this morning. 60 feet of viz on Scarface and 30ish on Tunnels. The better water was definitely south. Saw a few Loggerheads, a pair of reef sharks, and I scored a handful of big bugs.

76-77 degree water and low 60’s air temps. Thank goodness for the hot water hose on JDC’s boat. It’s a nice feature this time of year. Bring your boat coats if you plan on diving this weekend/next week! I thermos with hot coffee/tea/water/tequila is also recommended.

Happy new year everyone!

Nice. I was out the day before on a private boat lobstering, water temp 75 and vis 50ft. We limited 6 divers on lobster, good times. BTW: It was freezing out of the water, even with a lava core vest, sharkskin jacket, and 3mm wetsuit.

I finished the year with 115 dives, all in FL except the 19 in Bonaire.

 

[MrChen]

Nice. I was out the day before on a private boat lobstering, water temp 75 and vis 50ft. We limited 6 divers on lobster, good times. BTW: It was freezing out of the water, even with a lava core vest, sharkskin jacket, and 3mm wetsuit.

I finished the year with 115 dives, all in FL except the 19 in Bonaire.

I forgot to add, we caught 3 spanish lobsters too.

 

[Johnoly]

I forgot to add, we caught 3 spanish lobsters too.

Back 15yrs ago, there a couple of girls who dove 'low & slow' with us. Every dive they would come up with slippers and spanish lobsters. So often these 2 types are upside down gripping the top of ledge or rock hole and they are so well camouflaged / still , that it's really hard to spot them if drift diving. About the only time I can spot them is right at sunrise and shining my light so their eyes glow. So few are caught they are almost unregulated by the FWC (except eggers) and you can catch them even during closed regular bug season.