Palm Beach Dive Thread

[Johnoly]

Do any of the local shops/boats in the area offer trips that don’t include killing things? Do they have something like a no-take day?

Pura Vida Divers would be the best boat for you. They don't allow spearguns but do allow lobster & lionfish cleanup removal. Also Kyalami Scuba Club is similar on certain weekend days but harvest is allowed on designated trips. Both boat's websites contain calendars that you can see activities offered on any day. The only boat I know that is 100% full time, every day, no take, no harvest, no lobster, no lionfish, no weapons, but camera friendly is { CLICK HERE }.

@Divin'Papaw has frequent dive reports from his Pura Vida trips.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Pura Vida Divers would be the best boat for you. They don't allow spearguns but do allow lobster & lionfish cleanup removal. Also Kyalami Scuba Club is similar on certain weekend days but harvest is allowed on designated trips. Both boat's websites contain calendars that you can see activities offered on any day. The only boat I know that is 100% full time, every day, no take, no harvest, no lobster, no lionfish, no weapons, but camera friendly is { CLICK HERE }.

@Divin'Papaw has frequent dive reports from his Pura Vida trips.

@Johnoly is spot on.

@mattfish I believe you would like Pura Vida. Their owners have a strong conservation ethos. Lionfish cleanup and occasionally lobster is all you will see taken on their trips. On the majority of trips with them you won't see anything being taken. Check them out here: https://www.puravidadivers.com/

 

[Jake 10]

@Johnoly is spot on.

@mattfish I believe you would like Pura Vida. Their owners have a strong conservation ethos. Lionfish cleanup and occasionally lobster is all you will see taken on their trips. On the majority of trips with them you won't see anything being taken. Check them out here: Pura Vida Divers : Discover South Florida SCUBA Diving - Florida SCUBA Diving at its BEST!

I concur, have dive with Pura Vida several times and they are grrrrrrrrreat ! <-- like Tony the Tiger will say

 

[MrChen]

How deep were the bugs?

90-100ft

 

[mattfish]

Thanks y’all! I appreciate the tips. I’ll put Pura Vida at the top of my list

 

[tekkydiver]

Do any of the local shops/boats in the area offer trips that don’t include killing things? Do they have something like a no-take day?

You could always book a six pack and invite like minded divers

 

[Redfoot]

Looking to book a trip for later this month or March 11-15 or so-
Do any shops do guaranteed (i.e even with xx # of divers) morning and afternoon dives?
Traveling solo and I like to get in as many dives as possible on my short escapes.
Thanks!

 

[Johnoly]

.... March 11-15 .....Do any shops do guaranteed ..

Well the good news is that weekend is traditional College Spring Break for all the states that start with vowels. If you break down on the highway, you can easily thumb a ride by holding up a bunch of Red Bulls and a car packed with students will pick you up on the way to Florida.

Weather is usually good and a great time for dolphin's riding the bow wakes, plus the tiger sharks are in town. Morning boats are no problem but afternoons are tricky. The Multi-Vessel, bigger ops have the best chance at (4sure) afternoon runs. JDC, PuraVida will most likely run afternoons because they have college groups each year. If you keep checking the online calendars, you'll see sudden 'spikes' in their passenger counts and that most likely a group confirming for that boat. Those are the ones that are going to run.. As an example the 3/10 JDC AM trip has just a couple of seats available at 6 weeks into the future (that doesn't happen usually)

 

[Redfoot]

Ahhhh crap. Forgot about the spring breakers!

 

[MrChen]

JDC requires 4 divers to run the afternoon trip. I had one canceled a few weeks ago, there were only 3 of us. I offered to pay for the 4th seat and they said no.