Key Largo vs Jupiter/West Palm Beach area

[SNS-Mike]

Just did Jupiter last Sunday, saw two loggerhead turtles, two nurse sharks, two moray eels, a school of barracuda, and lots of fish and other things. The reefs, Bluffs and Scarface, were spectacular.

Last month, I was diving in Key Largo for a long weekend. As a new diver myself, this was great! The reefs are amazing. We also got to see wrecks, lots of flora and fauna, and one massive fish, a goliath grouper. The best part, especially as a new diver, was being able to stay down for 50 minutes because it's fairly shallow. [I'm really looking forward to improving my SAC rate and getting my nitrox cert.]

Enjoy!

 

[nolatom]

I haven't dived south of WPB, meaning I've done boat dives only in Jupiter and WPB. This is a big generalization, but in general (since you list 0-24 dives), I've found Jupiter to be a bit more "adult swim", a little deeper, and more spearos on the boat, than on the boats out of Riviera Beach and West Palm.

 

[IncreaseMyT]

Love diving the keys. Absolutely amazing water there. You won't have a problem finding sharks, the Goliath can be tougher to find there though, but not impossible.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @laevimanus

You've been given some very good recommendations here. After diving in the northern Keys for about a decade, I ended up buying a home just north of Boynton Beach. I love the drift diving and the reefs have great diversity and numbers of fish and reef creatures. Keep in mind that, particularly during the winter, winds and seas can be up and prevent diving in SE Florida. This was a particularly tough season and many operators lost numerous trips. The inlets are variable in their difficulty in bigger seas with Boynton the toughest, Jupiter intermediate, and West Palm the most forgiving. Sometimes, you can dive BHB even when you can't get out into the ocean. The water is relatively cool in the winter, you could count on the low 70s, and surface conditions can be chilly, especially with wind

Just like @Trailboss123, I use Loggerhead and Starfish in Boynton Beach, but, my favorite operator there is Underwater Explorers Underwater Explorers I first met Pete, @The Chairman, on Kevin's boat nearly 10 years ago. I also use Narcosis in West Palm and JDC in Jupiter.

Your planned visit is during the usual time for Lemon Shark aggregation. My 2 best dives with the Lemons this year were with JDC at Lemon Drop on February 2 and March 15. The latter was probably the best shark dive I've done.

If you're not already, you really should be nitrox certified before your visit. Your stay will be short, not sure I would plan on spending 5 of the dives doing your AOW, perhaps you could take care of it earlier. AOW is not required for most of the dives, I believe Starfish wants it to dive the Castor.

Send me a PM if you have additional questions

Good diving, Craig

 

[laevimanus]

@SNS-Mike, thanks for the report! I guess both sites are okay for beginners, and good to know the reefs and wildlife are in good shape!

 

[The Chairman]

but, my favorite operator there is Underwater Explorers Underwater Explorers I first met Pete, @The Chairman, on Kevin's boat nearly 10 years ago.

He's been stalking me ever since! Yeah, that brings back some great memories. @Scubakevdm is a great operator and an awesome diver. He brings a real passion to every trip and he won't allow spearos on his boat. It's a largish boat for a six pack, so you won't ever be crowded. Great, great op, and you often meet SBers on there. Often. Dang, now I got to plan a trip down there.

 

[PatW]

Key Largo has decent hard corals and plenty of soft corals, gorgonians. Key Largo also has nice fish populations and quite a bit of diversity. Dives range from 20 to 45 feet on shallow reefs to deep wreck dives where you are likely to see large pelagics.

West Palm and Jupiter are all drift diving. West Palm is about 60’ in depth and Jupiter is 80’+. Jupiter is famous for large critters: sharks, Goliath grouper, and turtles. I have seen schooling Goliath grouper at Jupiter. You are to far north for corals at either of these places. You get soft corals at Pompano Beach. Another thing about Jupiter and West Palm is you can dive the Blue Heron Bridge. It is muck diving at 20’ from the shore and only at low tide. It also gets visibility that is prohibitively low at time like less than 10’. But it is famous for a reason. There are fish and critters there that are common that are rarely seen.

 

[The Chairman]

Sharks are scarce in the Keys. Every now and then you'll see a nurse, less often a reefy, once in a fortnight you'll see a hammerhead or other shark. There are Jew Fish in a few places, but not in the numbers you find off of Boynton.

 

[laevimanus]

@scubadada thanks for the information! I will probably PM you as I finalize plans. I really hope weather isn't an issue. I was hoping to go somewhere accessible and tropical before next summer.

@PatW -- so there isn't much coral at Jupiter/WPB?

 

[The Chairman]

@PatW -- so there isn't much coral at Jupiter/WPB?

Corals are down all over, even in the Keys, but there are still corals in the WPB area. Maybe ScubaDada and others can share their pics of both places. These are horrible pics, but I'll still send you to these albums:

Tenneco Towers

Blue Heron Bridge

The Florida Keys