Palm Beach Dive Thread

[bluechub]

Dove with Pura Vida today, Capt. Dean, Crew Amber, Luca and Quinn.
Ocean conditions were benign on top, pretty flat. First dive was on Ron's reef, second one North Flower Gardens. Viz was 40ft max on the first dive, very variable 25-40ft on second dive. Current was variable from brisk to gentle. Water temp was around 78-79, I was comfortable in my 5mm as I hate coldish water. Saw a big fat lemon, 4 loggerheads (one super friendly), one really big stingray and the usual crowd of reef fish. At the end of the second dive other divers also saw a reef shark.

 

[Johnoly]

Viz was 40ft max on the first dive, very variable 25-40ft on second dive. Current was variable from brisk to gentle. Water temp was around 78-79,

Thank you for the conditions & dive report !! We love them !

 

[oldschool45]

Dove Scubaworks this morning. Guide Darryl with Andre. Captain and crew were excellent but I have a goldfish memory for names. First drop was Area 51. My Garmin showed colder than the Florida Springs below the thermocline. My wife and I weren't wearing wetsuits so we stayed above it. 2nd drop was just north of Palm Beach Inlet much more comfortable temps, brisk current and saw a few turtles. Floated over a fairly flat wreck with a ton of schooling fish.
Edit. Visibility was around 30~40 feet and somewhat cloudy on both sites.

 

[MrChen]

I dove with Stuart Scuba on Saturday. We had 2 ft seas, 82-84 degree water temps, 40ft dirty vis, and a very strong north current.

 

[oldschool45]

Dove PuraVida Sunday afternoon. Capt Dean, Delaney and Brent. Storms brewing on shore. Hit Danny's first, low to mid 80's temps and fair visibility no thermocline. Saw a shark ( black tip reef probably) a lot of baracuda and a few Goliath Grouper.
Found I had a leaky octo on the surface interval. Delay for me swapped out with a loaner before the next dive! ...I had everything but a BCD inflator hose in my reg bag. Drop 2 was on Ana Cecelia. Temps still in the 80's no thermocline. Visability was great ( overcast cut down on how far we could see). Ton of GG's with moderate north current. & my wife completely her AOW with the 2nd dive. Her instructor Juan was phenomenal!

 

[Pipehorse]

Went out on Pura Vida's Aurelia yesterday afternoon for the purpose of helping those on the trip do REEF fish surveys. Chris was the captain, Ian and Quinn were the divemasters. Andrea from Pura Vida was there as well to help with REEF surveys. All eight divers aboard did REEF surveys on both dives, we even managed to get Quinn to do a survey on the dive she guided. First dive was Bath and Tennis. Second dive was on Ron's Rock.

Most of the divers aboard were new to doing surveys. Without a classroom session before hand it is somewhat difficult to have divers concentrate on more than a couple of species of fish. I pointed out to everybody diving that two species, Bicolor Damsels and Bluehead Wrasse are present in the thousands on every reef at the depths we were diving. Bicolor Damsels stay close to the reef never coming into the water column. Bluehead Wrasse usually swim 3-10ft above the reef.

After the first dive everybody agreed, those species are everywhere, but somehow not noticeable until one takes the time to look. The most notable species was observed on Ron's Rock, a Black Brotula at the mouth of a small crevice in the reef. Black Brotula are one of those semi-common but rarely observed species. They usually hide way back in the shadows and around the corners of ledges making them difficult to see. For whatever reason the specimen from yesterday has been staying near the front of the crevice where it is very easy to observe, especially with a flashlight or video light.

Pura Vida has Andrea and I scheduled on July 27th afternoon trip to help with another round of REEF Fish Surveys.

Below are video of the Black Brotula and Rosy Razorfish.

Edit: Black Brotula video was scheduled for wrong day, now open. Sea temp 83f, slight north current, perfect for Fish Surveys.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

First video set to private..

 

[MrChen]

I've never noticed a black brotula before. Thanks for sharing!

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Pipehorse

Great video of the black brotula. Several years ago in Boynton, I found a pair of them in a hole on the inside reef. I must have stayed there at least 10 minutes watching them.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I've never noticed a black brotula before. Thanks for sharing!

I've yet to see one..