Jupiter Diving with Emerald Charters and JDC

[FishBoy05]

Heading down to do a 3 tank with Emerald Thurs, 3 tank with JDC on Friday, 2 + 2 JDC on Sat and hope to have enough left for another 3 with Emerald Sun before coming back home and to work.

Have you done these trips and what should I expect water temp wise ? Saw the Brrrr post by DiverAmy and was a little surprised. I'm used to deeper diving in the keys this time of year with just shorts.

I'm hoping for a good show on Randy's boat and eager to do the dives. Anyone with recent exp I'd love to hear.

I love looking thru the post you guys do to find new dive spots in FL!

 

[sportxlh]

JDC is a great operator: enjoy your trip! I've never been out w/ Emerald, but between the two, you'll have several nice full days of diving. You Should see plenty of Goliaths and hopefully sharks too.

Usually the temps are high 70's or low 80's this time of year. I'm going out Saturday and will wear 3MM full wetsuit but will bring a 2MM vest along just-n-case.

 

[islanddream]

I've been out with Randy and JDC. They are two completely different experiences. Randy does awesome shark dives (which you already know). You really need to be a good, independent diver if you want a great experience on the Emerald. You must know how to set up your equipment because nobody is hired to help you. However, we found that if we had an issue, Randy or one of the other divers would help us out. Most of the divers that we've been on the boat with have many, many dives under their weight belts. On Randy's non-shark dives, you are expected to dive with your buddy (if you aren't solo), monitor your air, understand the current, and be good at navigation since there isn't a DM in the water with you. Make sure you have a DSMB and know how to use it. When we were on the Emerald this time last year, we hit thermoclines where the water was 69-70 degrees. Brrr! The surface water was in the mid-80's. We went diving with JDC in May of this year and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They are well organized dive shop. Their boats are comfortable and they send a DM with the group on all dives. Our DMs were great. No complaints about JDC, in fact, we'll probably be diving with them next week.

Have a great time!

islanddream

 

[wspalding]

I've never been diving with Emerald Charters, but my brother-in-law really likes the shark dives. I always dive with JDC when I am there, and I think you'll enjoy the dive sites they take you to.

 

[mscott556]

While JDC is on my do-not-dive list, Emerald is fantastic if you are an experienced/independent diver. Check out my shark thread for an idea on what you can expect to see while diving with Randy.

I would highly recommend Capt SL8R Charters over JDC.

 

[djtimmy77]

I have been on Emerald twice and they are on my do-not-dive list. I highly recommend JDC and Sl8r over Emerald.

 

[FishBoy05]

I am a confident independent diver and have been all over the shark addicts on you tube. Also love the sharks of Palm Beach Thread. Looking forward to see large groups of Goliaths. One of the best dives I've done was on the Thunderbird off Marathon where I thought seeing 8-10 together was a treat.

I'm just the kind of guy who prefers flip flops and shorts and don't even own a pair of shoes or long pants. So wearing my full 3MM is still a pain.

 

[mscott556]

I have been on Emerald twice and they are on my do-not-dive list. I highly recommend JDC and Sl8r over Emerald.

If he's booked on Emerald, he obviously wants to see sharks. You will not see sharks like that on either JDC or SL8R so why bother posting?

 

[djtimmy77]

He is also booked on JDC, so why bother posting what you did?

 

[FishBoy05]

Hey guys no worries. I like to hear everyone's opinions on who they prefer to dive with. That's kind of how I choose who I did. Emerald is purely for the shark diving, JDC was because it seems to have a good rep and I wanted to do a triple on Fri then two doubles on Sat.

I thought about SL8R but on a vacation like this where I'm diving every dive available, I prefer a bigger boat to relax on during surface intervals.

Good to know that Emerald doesn't always put a DM in the water. Not a problem that hopefully all the divers are capable and understand what there in for.