bilsant
Contributor
LBTS is a great dive, but it's not a swimming pool. On a calm day with little current it can seem like one, but...
Sometimes folks who aren't used to shore diving don't realize that there's a bit of a shlep from the car to the water and back in full gear. Not a big deal if you're used to it, but the effort surprises some. Even on the calmest days, exiting the water often involves a nasty little hump in the sand that can trip you just before you get out.
Sometimes the surface looks really calm, but a north or south current will catch you by surprise...and sometimes change from one direction to the other during the course of a dive. This happens especially around sunset. A least once I've dumped gear with my buddy and walked almost a mile back to the parking lot. We've learned to read the marker buoys to gauge the current, and carry cabfare for when we're wrong.
There's a fishing pier that is a block or two away from the entry point. It's very easy if you're not familiar with the bottom or in low viz to get too close...I've been swept all the way under that pier on a night dive by heavy current that came up when viz was low. I didn't get hooked or tangled in line, but others have.
Like any beach dive, LBTS sometimes has surf, surge, rips, and poor viz that is difficult to predict. You'd probably call a dive for any of those conditions, but would you know them if you saw them?
Ocean dives have critters. It's one of the reason they're so much fun, but wherever you go for your first ocean dive it's a nice idea to have someone who can point out which critters that may need extra space. LBTS has lots of baby tropicals, so it's usually a fun dive from that perspective, but also has lionfish, scorpionfish, stingrays, sea urchins, and at least one attack puffer. It's a rarity, but earlier this week it was knee-deep in jellies and MOWs.
Finally, the Town of Lauderdale by the Sea has some of the most dedicated parking enforcement folks I've ever met. The LBTS parking lot at Datura Ave is metered, and they'll ticket you in a heartbeat if you go over your time. Knowing where you can park for free or how much time to put in the meter for a particular dive is "insider" knowledge the locals have obtained through trial and expensive error.
LBTS is a beautiful shore dive - perhaps my favorite. Please try to make it during your trip, but hook up with the Gold Coast folks...I'm willing to bet that if you tell them you're new to ocean diving, they'll go out of their way to ensure someone familiar with LBTS is available to dive with you when you're down, and find a space near their shop where you can park for free.
Sometimes folks who aren't used to shore diving don't realize that there's a bit of a shlep from the car to the water and back in full gear. Not a big deal if you're used to it, but the effort surprises some. Even on the calmest days, exiting the water often involves a nasty little hump in the sand that can trip you just before you get out.
Sometimes the surface looks really calm, but a north or south current will catch you by surprise...and sometimes change from one direction to the other during the course of a dive. This happens especially around sunset. A least once I've dumped gear with my buddy and walked almost a mile back to the parking lot. We've learned to read the marker buoys to gauge the current, and carry cabfare for when we're wrong.
There's a fishing pier that is a block or two away from the entry point. It's very easy if you're not familiar with the bottom or in low viz to get too close...I've been swept all the way under that pier on a night dive by heavy current that came up when viz was low. I didn't get hooked or tangled in line, but others have.
Like any beach dive, LBTS sometimes has surf, surge, rips, and poor viz that is difficult to predict. You'd probably call a dive for any of those conditions, but would you know them if you saw them?
Ocean dives have critters. It's one of the reason they're so much fun, but wherever you go for your first ocean dive it's a nice idea to have someone who can point out which critters that may need extra space. LBTS has lots of baby tropicals, so it's usually a fun dive from that perspective, but also has lionfish, scorpionfish, stingrays, sea urchins, and at least one attack puffer. It's a rarity, but earlier this week it was knee-deep in jellies and MOWs.
Finally, the Town of Lauderdale by the Sea has some of the most dedicated parking enforcement folks I've ever met. The LBTS parking lot at Datura Ave is metered, and they'll ticket you in a heartbeat if you go over your time. Knowing where you can park for free or how much time to put in the meter for a particular dive is "insider" knowledge the locals have obtained through trial and expensive error.
LBTS is a beautiful shore dive - perhaps my favorite. Please try to make it during your trip, but hook up with the Gold Coast folks...I'm willing to bet that if you tell them you're new to ocean diving, they'll go out of their way to ensure someone familiar with LBTS is available to dive with you when you're down, and find a space near their shop where you can park for free.
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