Palm Beach Dive Thread

[NothingClever]

But when you see 50-100 GG's stacked on top of each other, it's SO WORTH IT !!!

I can’t hardly imagine that.

I thought I had achieved the rank of Florida Atlantic Diver First Class seeing 16 stacked on top of each other in twos and threes on MG111 last year (and that was with the help of a scooter).

 

[scubadada]

I can’t hardly imagine that.

I thought I had achieved the rank of Florida Atlantic Diver First Class seeing 16 stacked on top of each other in twos and threes on MG111 last year (and that was with the help of a scooter).

Back in its day, the Castor in Boynton Beach was the preeminent goliath grouper aggregation site. With a brisk north current, huge groups would stack up in front of the bow and in front of the stern structure. In a south current, they would gather behind the stern. When the current was mild, you could find large groups off the port bow and stern.

Unfortunately, the Castor has been battered by hurricanes over the years. Hurricane Sandy knocked the stern structure off and to the starboard in October of 2012. This did not adversely affect the GG aggregation. Then, in October 2016, Hurricane Matthew knocked the bow off and to the starboard. For reasons I don't fully understand, this change very adversely affected the GG aggregation and it has never been the same since. Hurricane Irma pushed the bow further toward the sand in September 2017.

I only started diving the Castor in 2009, it was sunk in 2001, and I did about a dozen dives a year on it through 2014. Outside of aggregation, the Castor has always had an endemic population of GG. 2015 and 2016 were peak years for me with 21 and 33 dives, most during aggregation. What great memories diving with Kevin Metz off Underwater Explorer.

I have only done about 4-6 dives per year on the Castor since 2017, several during aggregation each year. It's still a nice dive but nothing like the old days . I'm very grateful for having discovered Boynton Beach and the Castor when I did.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Back in its day, the Castor in Boynton Beach was the preeminent goliath grouper aggregation site. With a brisk north current, huge groups would stack up in front of the bow and in front of the stern structure. In a south current, they would gather behind the stern. When the current was mild, you could find large groups off the port bow and stern.

Unfortunately, the Castor has been battered by hurricanes over the years. Hurricane Sandy knocked the stern structure off and to the starboard in October of 2012. This did not adversely affect the GG aggregation. Then, in October 2016, Hurricane Matthew knocked the bow off and to the starboard. For reasons I don't fully understand, this change very adversely affected the GG aggregation and it has never been the same since. Hurricane Irma pushed the bow further toward the sand in September 2017.

I only started diving the Castor in 2009, it was sunk in 2001, and I did about a dozen dives a year on it through 2014. Outside of aggregation, the Castor has always had an endemic population of GG. 2015 and 2016 were peak years for me with 21 and 33 dives, most during aggregation. What great memories diving with Kevin Metz off Underwater Explorer.

I have only done about 4-6 dives per year on the Castor since 2017, several during aggregation each year. It's still a nice dive but nothing like the old days . I'm very grateful for having discovered Boynton Beach and the Castor when I did.

This was from a good year but not some of the stellar years @scubadada is referring to. I wasn’t shooting video in those prior years.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

What great memories diving with Kevin Metz off Underwater Explorer.

Wow! There's a name I have not heard in a long time. Wonder whatever happened to him. I heard some unsavory rumors, but whoever was trying to spread them was mostly silenced here on the board. Kevin had some really good support here.

 

[MrChen]

I went out this morning with Pura Vida on Aurelia for their shallow 2-tank trip. I had the pleasure of finally meeting @Pipehorse at the dock. He was on Marin for their deep 2-tank trip. Always good to meet other regulars!!

On Aurelia we had Capt Jason and crew Quinn and Ethan. We only had 9 divers on the boat which was just awesome! The crew did a great job as usual.

Topside it was sunny, hot and very calm. Seas were maybe 1'. It was a beautiful morning!

We did Flower Garden first dive. Current was north and pretty light, viz was in the 40-50' range with a good bit of particulate.

We did Elevator Shaft to Fourth Window second dive. Current was still north and had picked up a bit. Viz improved too to around 60-70'.

Water is the warmest I recall in Palm Beach. I had a low of 86 with an average of 87-87.5 F.

I will post some stills and video below here in a bit. At the end of Fourth Window by the Cave I ran into Shadow the resident small Goliath Grouper. Literally ... he about ran right into me! He acted like a dog who runs up to say HI to a stranger walking past his yard. He loves divers!!

I was on Shellback/Neptunus on the same sites. Our boats were next to each other

 

[tekkydiver]

In just Jupiter the GG's largest groups traditional gathering spots & sand depths are:

Hole in the Wall - 130ft
Jupiter Wrek-Trek – 90ft
Beginning of Tunnels reef – 80ft
MG111 – 70ft

They will usually hover 15ft above the sand. In Jupiter, the big groups of GG's move every day or 2 to a different spot. Or a large group of 50 will split in half. Also depending on currents & viz, they may only move 750-1000 ft infront or behind the above listed 4 sites and you need to search for them. That's why local captain knowledge in Jupiter is so critical. A great captain will not only be on the phone with other local captains to get reports, but also using his bottom finder to clearly see the “herd” before/after/on top of the dive site cause they show up on the screen. If I dive a site, I'll jump & instantly kick into the current and get to the sand. Then just be silent and listen for booms or look for bait balls with feeding jacks and which way they are going from the site. You may have to do some underwater rock/sand crawling to see the big group that everyone else missed. I've seen 200 all together at the Hole and then I've been burned & seen only 3 at the popular wrek trek cause they moved. Throw in a hurricane storm and they'll move again. Local knowledge and a great captain is key to finding the GG's. But when you see 50-100 GG's stacked on top of each other, it's SO WORTH IT !!!


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And you wonder why you're not seeing many lobsters. LOL