Palm Beach Dive Report

[baitedstorm]

Ok, so I'm a total slacker and didn't post the trip report from Wednesday nights dives.

Water conditions were awesome with a viz around 40 feet, flat seas and nice warm water around 83f. First dive with the newly AOW Belle Glade Fire Department was on the Corridor. The current was ripping through there, but everyone was on their game. we got to see one very large goliath group and a nice size southern stingray (as well as all the regular little neighbors).
Second dive of the evening was on Mid Reef, same water conditions only a bit clearer with the nice full moon beaming down on us. Saw a few snakes (note to self..."must watch Firefighters more closely, they like to pull way to many pranks"...hehehehe) tons of lobsters hanging out, and again, all the normal species as well.


Today's dive 7-22-05
first dive was out on the Flower Garden. Seas were completely flat, very mild North current with TOP TO BOTTOM visibility. I was so excited about the clear water when I started going down that I actually came back up and shouted it out to the boat. It's been a long while since we've had days like this. This sight is still banging with legal size lobsters just waiting for Wednesday to come around. Saw a 4-6 foot shark out in the distant, I think it might have been a lemon shark (I'm positive it wasn't a nurse or a bull shark).
Dive 2 Same exact weather conditions. We hit Breakers South and finished up the dive in the Trench were two very large female loggerhead turtles were sleeping. I counted about 6 lobster (3 looked legal) inside the actually Trench. We also saw one big ol' green moray eel right before we went into the Trench.

The day was absolutely fabulous. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be the same.

 

[baitedstorm]

Hey Hey ya'll, another gorgeous day in paradise. The seas were flat again today with a nice warm 86 degree(forgot how to make that little circle thingy Jenny taught me...lol) bottom temp. Lots of little babies swimming around so the viz looked a little funky, we still had a good 30-40 feet. The boat was full, wish I could say the same about our lobster bags, I must say I AM the only one from the Minnow who went home with a bug (wink wink Eric)

As for critters, they were plentiful. I saw the biggest hog fish I've ever seen before (I was thinking dinner). I saw two very nice size lobsters that "got away" from the hunters and several shorts. 2 or 3 spotted eels out swimming and showing off for our viewing pleasure. I was joined by my partner in crime Orlando Eric and also MDColson down from up north.

I know Mark doesn't have access to the Internet right now so wont be able to chime in, but I'm sure Mr. Troublemaker will post what he saw today soon.

Going out with Standrod out on the Blue Tang tomorrow. Will be a first for me on that vessel and very much so looking forward to it. I'll post my trip report when I get back

 

[Scuba_Dad]

ScubaKat11 and I went out on the morning dive with Pura Vida Divers and the Down Under Dive Club. You couldn't ask for a nicer day.

After we got our equipment loaded on the boat, I noticed Vickie was over on the Minnow. I went over to say HI, but they were in the middle of the dive briefing.

Our departure got delayed, because one of the DMs, Russ, tore up his hand on a nail that was in one of the pilings. He tore it up pretty good and went to the ER for stitches. So, they had to get another DM. We also had a diver on the boat who was having a real bad day with regulators... So, we were about an hour behind schedule.

Our first dive was on Cardinals. That was the first time I dove that reef. I'll have to request that reef again. It was full of life. I took my fish ID slate and my Nikonos V. So, I ID'd fish and took a lot of pictures. About half way through the dive, my fumble fingers dropped the pencil. Note to self: stuff extra pencils in the pockets. Fortunately, I have a lot of pictures to remind me of the fish I ID'd. The water temp never got below 85. We had top to bottom viz. So, we had at least 60'.

Our second dive was on 4th Window. That's another great reef. Unfortunately, one of the divers in my group was slow going down, and we ended up on the top of the reef. The current on the top of the reef was ripping, so we never made it to the ledge. As hard as I tried to angle the group towards the ledge, we never made any progress. We covered a lot of distance though. I hit some cooler water on this dive... It got down to 80. The viz had dropped down a bit... It was probably 40-50'. The highlight of the dive was the HUGE nurse shark. I wish I had a measuring tape. It was huge. I didn't realize it until after the dive that Kaytlin (12 yr old) had never seen a shark, and she was hoping to see one this year. This was her last dive for the year, cuz she's heading back up to Maine... so.. getting blown away from the ledge turned out to be a good thing.

When we got back in, the Minnow was in the middle of the dive briefing and heading back out again. Maybe next time, Vickie.