Lemon shark dives: Jupiter or West Palm.

[scubadada]

Well not really. I wasn’t asking because of a fear factor. I was asking more for advice for a new shark diver. Since I don’t fully know what to expect with the different types of sharks I’m asking the question to people who have done them. Are lemons good to start with over tigers, hammers, bulls etc etc.

You're a fish?

 

[SomeGuy509]

I have not been on any specific shark dives however I have encountered them a couple of times on my dives from Jupiter and WPB. So far they mostly have kept to themselves and I would not have considered them threatening. Same applies to the other sharks I've seen so far. They mostly keep to themselves.

My goal isn't necessarily to go on a specific shark dive but more to get to see a bunch more of them.If I wanted to see some more "craziness" I would probably be going out with Emerald.

 

[scubadada]

Lemon Drop with JDC is not a fed dive, but it is in the same location used by Emerald, as is Deep Ledge and Wreck Trek, the Esso Bonaire.

 

[drrich2]

I was asking more for advice for a new shark diver. Since I don’t fully know what to expect with the different types of sharks I’m asking the question to people who have done them. Are lemons good to start with over tigers, hammers, bulls etc

I can only tell you my opinion, which won't be valid for everyone. My first sharks were Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks, a good way to start. Some reef sharks get pretty big, but most I've seen weren't so much. Unless you're spearing or handling speared fish, highly unlikely to be a problem.

When you want to 'move on up,' I don't recommend jumping to tiger sharks! Bull sharks in high viz. water where you're not spearing might not be problematic I suppose, but they have a reputation as potentially dangerous, and can get big, so not my vote for 'next.'

I chose diving with sand tiger sharks on off-shore wrecks out of Morehead City, NC, to advance toward diving with tiger sharks (and lemons) with Emerald Charters.

The NC dives weren't shark feeding and my lemon exposure with Emerald was, so I'm not sure how the lemons would behave without feeding/baiting. The sand tigers were like diving in a cow pasture; medium-large spooky looking animals with no interest in bothering me. The lemons were similar in size, some larger, and milled around us (again, baited/fed).

The bull sharks I dove with weren't nearly as large as they get, it was fed dives, and they were more stand-offish than the lemons. The only hammerheads I dove with were scalloped in the Galapagos, not the great hammerheads sometimes fed out of Jupiter, FL and the Bahamas.

My advice: start with reef, then visit sand tigers or lemons, or a destination where you're viewing hammerheads at a distance (e.g.: Galapagos, Cocos Island), before you get in the water with sharks with a rep. for periodically eating people (e.g.: especially tigers).

 

[sportxlh]

Jupiter Dive Center also goes to Tunnels, a site that has a group of reef sharks that live on it year round. I've only seen them get aggressive if some one is spear fishing a shoots a fish or spears a lion fish. The site also has a school of goliath grouper that live on it year round. It's a good second dive on a two tank trip.

I've never seen Lemons get aggressive on the dives I've done with JDC. Some of the sharks are fairly large, so they're a bit intimidating the first time you see them. I've only had a few get up close and personal....most of the time they have stayed five feet away or so. Close enough for a good GoPro video.

 

[Flotsam]

I did three dives with JDC on the Lemon Drop last weekend and it was excellent! We had about 9 Lemon sharks drift with us, and a couple very chonky Reef sharks. They will brush up against you, nothing aggressive, and it was a wonderful experience. The site is around 100ft, so I was happy with my hp100s, to get the full time down with them.

I want to give special shout out to JDC Captain Tim and the crew, who made sure it was a great trip. After an awesomely shark morning dive, the first afternoon dive had no sharks until 32 min into the dive. The majority of the divers had already surfaced and didn't see any sharks. Seems another dive charter was chumming nearby and pulled all the sharks away. To make sure we had a successful second dive, the captain extended our surface interval until the other boat's divers were back up from their 2nd dive, and the sharks were happy to come back and hang with us for the whole 40 min. The crew could have stuck to "the schedule", but were instead willing to get back in later, so we could have the best dive. Had a boatload of very happy divers

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Awesome guys! I'll give PVD a call and see what they are doing.

12in is probably a bit too close for my comfort. Maybe keep it to at least 1 body length

It depends on the site and circumstances. As stated previously, it's common for the dive charters that don't bait for sharks to drop on the same sites and possibly right after Emerald, Miss Jackie, or Lazy Daze. I haven't done a non-baited dive up that way in a while; without a treat box in the group they probably won't get right in your face but they will get within about a body length just to see what's going on.

Are lemons good for a first time shark dive? I’ve been around sharks on dives plenty but not specifically a shark dive

My only reservation about calling the Jupiter lemons a good first-time shark dive is related to the conditions rather than the sharks; between depth and the potential for strong currents that area can be a bit of a jump for a new diver and I don't like inviting anyone out who is not AOW and nitrox-certified. As for the sharks themselves, they are big and they can bite, so don't think of them as totally harmless ... but they're a lot more relaxed than say a reef shark and don't have the damage potential of a bull or tiger. So long as you aren't flapping your hands all over the place, I wouldn't worry much about them.

 

[SWiggs]

Did the Lemon drop with JDC. Great time all day, will be back after this damn flu is over!!!!. Not 100% but it looked like the Lemons were hoping we had some fish sticks for them. I even had the pleasure to have 3 hang out on my saftey stop. I actually starting laughing trying to keep an eye on all of them. Truly made my day.

 

[scubadada]

Did the Lemon drop with JDC. Great time all day, will be back after this damn flu is over!!!!. Not 100% but it looked like the Lemons were hoping we had some fish sticks for them. I even had the pleasure to have 3 hang out on my saftey stop. I actually starting laughing trying to keep an eye on all of them. Truly made my day.

I hope to be doing this dive on Friday, looking iffy.

I've had the Lemons follow us up past the safety stop and have floated around with them on the surface

 

[PoolsOpen]

+1 for JDC. I went out with them on lemon drop January 15 and we had about 6 to 8 lemons hang out with us all thru the dive including the safety stop. The Capt even took some video and posted on their facebook. Shows the divers getting back on the boat and several lemons on the surface!!

As others have said, its not a baited dive and nitrox is recomended