Need some advice

[Kirkwt]

My son and I were going to head to Venice next Monday through Wednesday to go diving for fossils. The captain emailed me and told me that the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate.

We both just got recieved our open water certifications late last summer and have been on about 8 dives so far.
Would appreciate any suggestions as to any areas/dive operations that we should try. Driving down from Wilmington, NC and I am open to go anywhere in Florida. Went snorkeling in the Crystal river area last year and thought that would be one option.

We may hit the Peace River, but since we are new at this will probalby just rent a canoe and bring our screens and shovels.

Thanks,

Kri

 

[Chugwhump]

Come east to Broward or Palm Beach County.

Sunday looks good.
West winds lay it down here.


[SIZE=+1]SATURDAY[/SIZE]
SOUTH WINDS 12 TO 15 KNOTS ALONG THE COAST TO SOUTH 14 TO 19 KNOTS IN THE GULF STREAM. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. [SIZE=+1]
SATURDAY NIGHT[/SIZE]
ALONG THE COAST...SOUTH WINDS 11 TO 14 KNOTS BECOMING SOUTHWEST 9 TO 12 KNOTS. IN THE GULF STREAM...SOUTH SOUTHWEST WINDS 14 TO 19 KNOTS. SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A LIGHT CHOP. [SIZE=+1]
SUNDAY[/SIZE]
ALONG THE COAST...WEST NORTHWEST WINDS 12 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON...SEAS 2 TO 3 FEET BUILDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. IN THE GULF STREAM...WEST NORTHWEST WINDS 17 TO 20 KNOTS BECOMING NORTH 21 TO 26 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON...SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET BUILDING TO 6 TO 8 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON. INTRACOASTAL WATERS CHOPPY. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

 

[Kirkwt]

Thanks. The Captain in Venice recommended Emerald charters out of Jupiter. Holding out hope for Wednesday dive in Venice and if needed will fill in the time at the Peace River.

 

[Kirkwt]

More I look into it, Emerald charters may be way above our skill level. Open to any suggestions for new divers.

 

[DiverAmy]

Narcosis in West Palm sends out a DM on every dive, I think some other operations do too...

 

[Scubadreaminn]

Jim Abernathy's

Bill Walker

Pura Vida

Are nice operations in WPB, weather looking crummy for mon-wed, just my 2psi..

 

[PatW]

You might try Pompano Beach. It is a bit farther south than Jupiter and West Palm. It does have some reasonably shallow dives that you might be more comgortable with.

 

[deepstops]

My son and I were going to head to Venice next Monday through Wednesday to go diving for fossils. The captain emailed me and told me that the weather did not look like it was going to cooperate.
We both just got recieved our open water certifications late last summer and have been on about 8 dives so far.
Would appreciate any suggestions as to any areas/dive operations that we should try. Driving down from Wilmington, NC and I am open to go anywhere in Florida. Went snorkeling in the Crystal river area last year and thought that would be one option.
We may hit the Peace River, but since we are new at this will probalby just rent a canoe and bring our screens and shovels.
Thanks,
Kri

I think folks missed the part about your trip being Monday through Wednesday
The current forecast isn't very good for Monday and Tuesday on the east coast (Wednesday will come out at 4pm today)
NDBC - NWS Forecast
MONDAY NORTH NORTHEAST WINDS 14 TO 19 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET ALONG THE COAST AND UP TO 5 TO 7 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM. INTRACOASTAL WATERS A LIGHT CHOP.
MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 20 TO 25 KNOTS. SEAS 6 TO 8 FEET. INTRACOASTAL WATERS ROUGH IN EXPOSED AREAS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

I'm going to suggest diving Blue Heron Bridge in Palm Beach. You'll see an amazing variety of life there. Go slow if you want to see what's really there.

More I look into it, Emerald charters may be way above our skill level. Open to any suggestions for new divers.

Emerald Charters is a great operation for serious advanced diving but they will *not* be suitable for someone with 8 dives.

 

[Lee Taylor]

If you are willing to go a little more distance, Key Largo, will put you on some wonderful 40-60 foot dives with reefs. Easy divin!

 

[sportxlh]

Sounds like you are driving down rather than flying.... on your way down to south Florida, you can stop at Devil's Den in Williston and dive on Monday. I've made two dives there and had an enjoyable time. The rock formations are interesting and there are a number of swim throughs: Devils Den Springs Scuba Diving Resort

Then as Deepstops suggested, come on down to WPB and dive Blue Heron Bridge. By Wed., maybe the marine conditions will be decent: if not, dive BHB again.

In addition to the ops mentioned by Scubadreamin, I'd add The Scuba Club: they are very patient and attentive towards newer divers: Welcome to The Scuba Club, America's Only Country Club For Scuba Divers in West Palm Beach, FL Unfortunately, they also do a lot of single tank dives. One other option is SB member Kevin who runs Underwater Explorers: he's in Boynton which is 25 minutes south of WPB. He'll have a DM in the water if you want one.... https://securec7.ezhostingserver.com/diveboyntonbeach-com/indexs.cfm

If the marine conditions look bad on Wed, you can always drive back up to Williston and try Devil's Den again or try Blue Grotto (I enjoy Devil's Den much more than Blue Grotto which is why I did not intially suggest Blue Grotto on day 1 or your trip). <<<DiveBlueGrotto.com>>>

EDIT: one more option is the Dive Quest at Disney: here's a thread with some info on it. Its worth doing once in my opinion, though as you'll see in the thread, some SB'ers have dove it and enjoyed the experience multiple times http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/412194-dive-quest.html