Palm Beach Dive Thread

[Divin'Papaw]

No way. I (used to) travel long distances to dive (on my vacations from work prior to retirement) and didn't have the option to wait for better weather and extend my trip. Anyway that was before I retired and lived far from good diving destinations.

Nowadays I don't have that sort of high pressure schedule, and living in Europe makes the flights a lot shorter and cheaper but generally speaking, regardless of the forecast weather, if there's a boat headed to a dive site, I'll be on it.

You make it sound like no one else has to deal with traveling long distances and getting blown out. I used to drive long distances to dive all around the Great Lakes or to NC for wreck diving. I was regularly blown out 30-50% of the time on those trips. A group of buddies and I once drive 15 hours to NC for a 4-day wreck diving trip. We never splashed once. It happens. I will always happily find something else to do onshore than take risks to go out when the vast majority are not running. YMMV.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't give a rat's ass about how anyone else plans and execute their dive vacations.

Man you're just in a pissy mood. I was simply sharing that weather happens to everyone. But I'm done with the banter. Stay safe.

 

[Pavao]

Absolutely it raised questions I figured the conditions would be rough, but as we had traveled quite the distance to get there it was worth a try..

No way. I (used to) travel long distances to dive (on my vacations from work prior to retirement) and didn't have the option to wait for better weather and extend my trip…


… generally speaking, regardless of the forecast weather, if there's a boat headed to a dive site, I'll be on it.

I can sympathize with the situations you may find/have found yourself in, but I gotta say, it’s heartbreaking reading this, “worth a try”.
It isn’t about comfort, while bouncing boats aren’t all that fun and some of us can tolerate that better than others, or may HAVE to endure that while others needn’t do so, there’s a limit of how rough it is doable to go out on a dive boat, not from a comfort perspective, but from safety, and when the scales tip towards unsafe, how can we deem it “worth a try”?

Not only the risk for injury increases, but if an incident were to happen, and I don’t mean an incident related to rough seas, any incident we expose ourselves to on any given dive, you now will find yourself in a situation made a lot worse because of the conditions, if picking up divers in rough seas are hard enough, imagine rescuing an unconscious diver when the boat platform is bouncing 6ft up from the water, just to give one example.

 

[Pavao]

Well that’s good I guess.

Dive report yesterday: 60 ft vis below 50 ft, maybe 35 ft vis above 50 feet ; in 90-130, slightly cool, strong current. Few lobsters again

A lot of people saying that, but idk man, I’m seeing a lot of lobsters, and I’m just generally going on a straight line given I’m carrying the float ball, this past weekend current was screaming, I saw about 20 lobsters on first dive, at least 1 person got his limit on that dive. Second dive I personally snared 5 and we didn’t even make it to what the actual lobster spot was, due to the strong currents.

 

[scubadada]

Back to Palm Beach diving

I've been diving Boynton, Palm Beach, and Jupiter for 16 years now, year around. When my primary charter cancelled due to conditions, usually this was Boynton, I would scramble and try to book with another operator. Sometimes I could get a ride in Jupiter, more often this was in Palm Beach. Sometimes seas were not as bad as predicted, sometimes they were, or worse. I've been ejected off the ladder or hit by the ladder several times. I've maneuvered around the boat, risking life and limb on the bouncing deck.

This might nearly always work out OK for younger, strong and fit divers. Unfortunately, I am not as young, strong and fit as I once was and no longer take those risks. Now, when my primary charter cancels due to conditions, I simply thank them for assuring my safety. This gives me the opportunity for a nice bike ride with a stop at the Boynton inlet to check sea conditions. I frequently see large, breaking swells before continuing my peaceful ride.

 

[tekkydiver]

Man you're just in a pissy mood. I was simply sharing that weather happens to everyone. But I'm done with the banter. Stay safe.

Not unlike many Yankees who come to Florida and piss and whine on Dive and Fishing Boats, stores and restaurants and act like they are all owed...

 

[johndiver999]

A lot of people saying that, but idk man, I’m seeing a lot of lobsters, and I’m just generally going on a straight line given I’m carrying the float ball, this past weekend current was screaming, I saw about 20 lobsters on first dive, at least 1 person got his limit on that dive. Second dive I personally snared 5 and we didn’t even make it to what the actual lobster spot was, due to the strong currents.

You have a nice way of saying "you suck" LOL... I am constantly coming up with lighter bags than others. LOL,

 

[Pavao]

You have a nice way of saying "you suck" LOL... I am constantly coming up with lighter bags than others. LOL,

Lol I can see that, but wasn’t my intention. In fact I’m saying because a lot of experienced hunters are saying that, makes me curious if I’m just being this lucky to always be on the few or only “lobster line” out there now.

 

[MrChen]

You have a nice way of saying "you suck" LOL... I am constantly coming up with lighter bags than others. LOL,

It's obviously not that black and white. The lobsters move around.

 

[scubadada]

Also it should be stated that you're right there, your second home is almost right on top of the marina. So a lost dive day isn't nearly as big an issue as it would have been for me, with a short week off from work and a flight from NY to Florida with a rather limited schedule.

Point well taken. However, I still live in the Philadelphia area and get down to my townhouse just north of Boynton Beach an average of 5 or 6 times per year for a week or so.

The difference for me is that I was 54 years old when I started coming down to SE Florida and now I am a bit beat up 70 years old. I'm no longer willing to take the risks of going out in sporty conditions to get a few more dives in. Rather, I do what I can to ensure that I will be able to continue diving into the future. In the last few years, I have missed as many as 60-80% of planned dives on a visit, especially in winter. When people ask me, I generally tell them that late fall, winter, and early spring often have big seas and unpredictable diving. It's just how it is.