Palm Beach Dive Thread

[scubadada]

That’s good!!!

Except for folks harvesting lionfish for commercial purposes. The divers I know in Boynton Beach don't spend any time on the dived reefs, they spend all their time out on the 95 and 105 foot sections east of the main reef, from Boynton Beach north.

 

[NothingClever]

Out with Pura Vida tonight for a blackwater dive.

Saw lots of itty bitty creatures but the type of dive didn’t really stir any emotions. The veteran blackwater divers with crazy camera rigs enjoyed it. I’d be more inclined to spend that kind of money on a primary and back up DPV.

Captain Dean skippered with Andrea and Amber crewing. We drifted 4.5 miles over the 90 minute dive. One of the veteran blackwater divers said they’ve drifted as far as 13 miles before.

 

[NothingClever]

Bath and Tennis and then 4th Window with Kyalami this morning.

Simply brilliant dives today. Turtles are everywhere and we snuck up on a Lemon shark resting in the sand at 11m. Most impressive were the gigantic schools of Atlantic spadefish and Caesar grunts. I love our healthy reefs!

Viz and sea state were stunning today and topped off with another perfect current day - Goldilocks knots per hour.

Captain Zack, Lindsay, Layla and Alec were naturally polished. I strive to need very little as a diver but I can’t help but want to take good care of good crews. On board today was a brand new diver from Oklahoma (first dive since certification) and a single Mom with her two young kids and it was great to see the Kyalami crew zero in on the customers to ensure they had a great experience. Like Pura Vida, Kyalami hires great people with great values.

 

[PBcatfish]

Bath and Tennis and then 4th Window with Kyalami this morning.
...

Those are interesting spots. I've fished there before & caught species that I never see when diving. When I dive there, I see species that never come up on the hook. It seems that the hook & line fish are scared off by the sound of open circuit SCUBA. I'd be interested to learn what people on rebreathers see in that area that is different.

 

[NothingClever]

North Double Ledges today with Captain Jason, Trent and Luka from PVD.

Saw several turtles and a nurse shark.

The sand jump in the first half was a more significant gap than I was expecting but after a leap of faith we found ourselves back on the ledge and we were treated to one more turtle (Hawksbill) and the nurse shark.

After the terrain finally flattened out, a few of us that lingered were treated to the Gulf Stream Express. It was like being on the back straightaway at Road Atlanta (motorsports track) in a full tuck that makes you yell out loud in your helmet, “Holy crap I’m going crazy fast!”

1.5mm WS, good viz.

Second drop was Corridor Wreck Trek. I wanted to save gas for the last part of the dive so I stayed high, hung on to the crow’s nest with one hand and just let the rest of me flutter in the breeze (current). All cleaned up on navigation all the way to China Barge where my dive really began. I shot my DSMB from depth so Captain Jason could track me as the northernmost diver. I wanted to explore Brazilian Docks and that’s exactly what I did. I had buckets of gas left and just kept going and going and going. I could hear Jason powering up to pick up other divers but it got fainter and fainter. I didn’t want to create too complex of a pick up so the 50 min mark came at a good time. I had enough gas left for another 10 minutes and I wasn’t running out of terrain (dock pilings). It’ll be good to plan an extended range with Justin, PVD’s shop manager, to see if we can twinset our way from Ana Cecilia all the way to Spud Barge.

Current was properly Atlantic.

 

[NothingClever]

Saw eight LH, one leatherback turtle and two green Morays out in the open today on Teardrop and 4th Window. On 4th window, the Ceaser grunts were schooling in the hundreds. The first school was pretty impressive but then there was another and another and another…there had to have been close to 2,000, maybe more.

The more remarkable observation today with Kyalami was Emily, a new dry DM. The weather was pretty tough today. You know it’s a strong rain coming down when the UW scene suddenly goes dark and you can hear the rain from 15m. It would’ve been reasonable for the dry DM’s morale to sag a little up top while getting pummeled on the exposed deck. Despite the soaking rain, the overcast sky and the thunder (7 mi away but still), Emily was as chipper as if it were a sunny day smiling, engaging and helping all the customers.

I need nothing on the charters I go on but I gave her and Brandon $40 instead of the usual $20 because they both worked hard like great AmeriCANs.

Captain Mike and Emily crushed their pick ups. Super excited to follow Mike’s trajectory. I’m confident he’ll be driving a private yacht in a few years.

I dived HP100s today. That’s just cheating. I screwed around on the reefs today with total impunity and still came up with 120 bar.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Saw eight LH, one leatherback turtle and two green Morays out in the open today on Teardrop and 4th Window.

A leatherback????!!!! Jealous!!! I’ve still not seen one of those dinosaurs in the flesh outside of baby wash backs at Gumbo Limbo.

 

[scubadada]

Saw eight LH, one leatherback turtle and two green Morays out in the open today on Teardrop and 4th Window.

A leatherback????!!!! Jealous!!! I’ve still not seen one of those dinosaurs in the flesh outside of baby wash backs at Gumbo Limbo.

1350 dives in SE Florida and I've yet to see a leatherback. I'll keep trying.

I was fortunate to see a Kemp's ridley turtle. These photos were taken by David Finch diving off Narcosis at Cross Current Barge in November 2016

 

[NothingClever]

Well, I thought it was a leatherback and so did another diver but my skills in sealife identification are really weak so there’s a high probability it was NOT a leatherback.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Well, I thought it was a leatherback and so did another diver but my skills in sealife identification are really weak so there’s a high probability it was NOT a leatherback.

Let’s just say it was. That’s much more fun!!!