Palm Beach Dive Thread

[DiveFlag = Target]

Nice meeting both of you. I would give an update but I think you covered everything. Hoping tomorrow is just as good.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

A few screen grabs from my videos from today. Unfortunately I wasn’t close enough to any of the bull sharks to get a decent photo from the video.

 

[h2o_hamilton]

Went out with Pura Vida on Marin this morning with Capt. Jason and the crew included Ambar, Quinn and Tom (in training). Had the pleasure of meeting two other ScubaBoarders I'd not yet met in person ... @NothingClever and @DiveFlag = Target. Great to meet and dive with both of you!

It was a chilly morning with air temps in the low 50s and winds out of the NW at 15-20 mph. Seas started out pretty calm at maybe 1-2' but built throughout the morning. After our 2nd dive we surfaced to 3-5' roughly.

We did Teardrop first dive which is where they saw a juvenile humpback whale yesterday. We have 30-40' of viz that improved to 40-50' as we moved north. Water temps were 75-76 F. We got to Ron's Rock, Middle Earth and crossed into south Flower Gardens. We saw all the usual tropicals in large quantities plus a bull shark that seemed to be hanging with the group, coming and going a few times. Unfortunately, no humpback whale.

We did Elevator Shaft on the second dive. Viz was even better at 50-60' of beautiful blue water. Similar water temps. We saw a number of huge schools of snapper/grunt as well as a school of atlantic spadefish. While on the surface we looked down to see another bull shark.

By the time we got back to the dock it was sunny, temps in the mid-60s and much more pleasant.

This was my first time using Pura Vida since they moved the boats to the south side of Lake Park Marina due to the construction on the northside of the Marina. As expected, Pura Vida had worked out the logistics and while not ideal, it worked better than I had anticipated. Kudos to the crew as the new location means more work for them. I spoke to Jason and at this point they aren't sure how long they will be at this location. They are at the mercy of the huge condo high rise they are building next to the Marina.

It was a beautiful couple of dives! Looking forward to two more tomorrow.

It’s a shame that condo is going to force its way into that marina and make all the locals to relocate or go out of business.

That marina land was donated to the city of Lake Park.

 

[Johnoly]

... at this point they aren't sure how long they will be at this location.

@NothingClever & @Divin'Papaw ,,Thanks for the conditions, picts & reports !!

It's going to be a while for the changes. Just the marina expansion, including digging further east into the ICW, is a 2 year project. And the conservation groups are lining up to collect dollars & delays{manatees/eagle rays/endangereds, etc}. The project when done will be impressive. but it's not free and dock fees are going to change.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

@NothingClever & @Divin'Papaw ,,Thanks for the conditions, picts & reports !!

It's going to be a while for the changes. Just the marina expansion, including digging further east into the ICW, is a 2 year project. And the conservation groups are lining up to collect dollars & delays{manatees/eagle rays/endangereds, etc}. The project when done will be impressive. but it's not free and dock fees are going to change.

View attachment 877604

WOW! I hadn’t seen the full extent of those plans. It’s going to be challenging for the charters using the marina to operate through all those changes.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Here is one of the huge mixed schools we saw.

Holy Frijolies! That's a lot of spadefish!

 

[tekkydiver]

Here is one of the huge mixed schools we saw.

Looks like the Lionfish eradication is working! Nice vid

 

[MrChen]

I joined the Pura Vida SB invasion today by invite from my good dive buddy @Divin'Papaw and got to meet @NothingClever and @DiveFlag = Target. They took a photo of the 4 of us, I hope it gets posted on their FB page so we can share it.

We dove Flower Garden and Elevator Shaft.

Other divers reported seeing a hammerhead shark, several lemons, and a green turtle.

Jim and I took our sweet time and lagged way behind the group and unfortunately missed all sharks and turtles.

Vis was around 50ft. Seas were pretty calm. There was a light East to West surge which masked the slight north current. Water temp was 76 to 77, but felt cooler. Surface temp was chilly. My daughter got me a boat coat for Xmas and it was awesome to wear.

The new parking and dock situation for PV was honestly an improvement over where the boat used to dock. There was plenty of parking and gear was brought back and forth in a golf cart.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

They took a photo of the 4 of us, I hope it gets posted on their FB page so we can share it.

I had Todd text me the photo of our impromptu meet-up.

L-R: @NothingClever, @DiveFlag = Target, @Divin'Papaw, @MrChen

 

[NothingClever]

Great diving and great people!

What a treat to meet you guys !

Long drive home then fell asleep on the couch.

Back to the reality of Tampa traffic this morning .