Palm Beach Dive Thread

[NothingClever]

23*C / 73*F but I was totally comfy in my 1mm today.

 

[DiveFlag = Target]

Yep, until the high rise construction is done.

I find using my yacht cart to be easier than the golf cart and PVD lets me lock it up in the storage trailer to avoid extra walking. You’re welcome to use it, too.

Looks like the second boat is back from annual services in time for the peak season.

Yeah, that could be a while. I appreciate it.

 

[MrChen]

Why did you select roller guns for scuba? I think I would choose simplicity when scuba hunting? Glad you like the gun, just curious why you selected that option? Especially if the roller band is popping off the underside of the barrel after a shot; that would aggravate me. Perhaps shortening the roller band would help, I'm not really sure?

The koah is more like a hybrid. It has one standard band and a roller band. I know some people who have the koah roller on scuba and they liked it. The thing is laser accurate. The roller band doesn't always pop out and only takes seconds to put back in. I get the power of 3 bands without trying to manage that mess.

On my RA, I had put it back to a standard muzzle instead of roller because it was a pain. My koah roller is easier to load than 2 standard bands on the RA.

 

[NothingClever]

So, if I understand correctly, you got one wreck dive and one reef dive but only paid half price. Is that correct?

 

[NothingClever]

…when I spoke to Stuarts the day before to confirm the trip was going to run, they said they were juggling things around and to accommodate another group doing reefs they were adding a 3rd reef dive and not charging me for it.

They didn't do me any favors. After diving for about 25 minutes on the first lackluster reef dive, I sat out the 3rd reef dive.

I understand.

 

[johndiver999]

That's correct, I got one of the two wreck dives I had booked 1.5 months in advance and did a second reef dive that I had no interested in doing, and was subsequently refunded for it.

To further clarify- when I spoke to Stuarts the day before to confirm the trip was going to run, they said they were juggling things around and to accommodate another group doing reefs they were adding a 3rd reef dive and not charging me for it.

They didn't do me any favors. After diving for about 25 minutes on the first lackluster reef dive, I sat out the 3rd reef dive.

If I interpret the tone of your post correctly, you're suggesting that because I ordered a hamburger but was given only half a hamburger and a half a hot dog, being refunded for half a hamburger somehow makes it ok and I've got nothing to complain about.

Perhaps you should ask for a partial refund from the tour boat captain, as well? LOL.

Seriously, the reef dive was so bad you could only do half of it and skipped the third? I would have been disappointed with the change of venue, but I myself probably would have just blown bubble rings or something, plus watching new divers flail around underwater has to provide some level of amusement?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

They didn't do me any favors. After diving for about 25 minutes on the first lackluster reef dive, I sat out the 3rd reef dive.

I cut my teeth the first 10 years as a diver diving A LOT of inland quarries and lakes in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin. We would regularly do 2-3 dives a day in a frequently green flooded quarry, reservoir or lake in 2-5' of viz just to be diving. Nothing but wet rocks and an occasional bluegill. The idea of skipping a dive in Palm Beach County because it happens to be a on "lackluster" reef is pretty crazy. But hey, that's me. I'm pretty darn easy going. You clearly are not. To each their own.

Now the fact that they seemed to have promised you two wreck dives according to your accounts, which we have no reason to doubt, I can understand your frustration and the request for a refund.

But to skip a dive to just sit on the boat for an hour??? Just doesn't compute for me. YMMV.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @gamon

Your experience is also hard for me to understand. I dive frequently in Palm Beach. Most of the reef dives are quite good with an array of sea life. In general, I would rather dive the reefs than the Corridor or Governor's. Do you happen to know the two reef dives that Stuart Scuba did the day of your trip? Most of the Palm Beach dives have a dive time of an hour, were yours 45 min?

I did a reef 3 tanker in Jupiter today and had a very good time. I am doing 2 tankers in Palm Beach tomorrow through Thursday and will report back.

 

[johndiver999]

What does the tour boat have to do with any of this?

Sorta a joke in reference to all those spensive houses on Peanut Island.

As for the bubble rings, this was your chance to learn!

 

[Pipehorse]

There is a website called inaturalist where individuals can upload observations they have made of any species on earth. To date there are over 236 million observations(mostly photos), 515,000 species documented, and over 8.6 million people signed up and making those observations.

I joined inaturalist on Oct 11, 2021. Since then I have made 1,792 observations of 1084 species. Most of my observations are underwater in southeast Florida. Some of the projects with my observations include but are not limited to, The Blue Heron Bridge Project, Sea slugs of Florida, and Marine Fishes of the Caribbean. (Bluebell Tunicate Left)

Any member can make a "project". The projects are a method to organzie a set observations. It can be for a given place, a given time, a given taxonomic classification, a given set of individuals making observations, or some combination of the preceeding. A project particularly apropo to this thread would be the Reefs Of South Florida&the Florida Keys (I have about 600 observations here). This project was started July 2, 2018 has 11383 observations, 974 species documented, 315 observers, 791 identifiers, and 142 members. This project does not require membership in order for observations to be added, some projects do require membership for observations to be added.

Here is a rough break down of species in the Reefs Of South Florida&the Florida Keys project;

Ray Finned Fish	360
Elasmobranchs	12
Mollusks	220
Cnidarians	92
Crustaceans	92
Sponges	57
Echinoderms	42
Plants	32
Segmented Worms	21
Bryozoans	5
Turtles	4
Tunicates	13
Mammals	2
Flatworms	3
Horseshoe Worms	1
Kelp, and Diatoms	2

Juvenile Short Bigeye Below

When I do a REEF survey of one hour duration on a reef in south east Florida, a low count would be 55 species, a high count would be >100 species. That is just for ray finned fish and elasmobranchs. If I did a survey of anything I could positively identify the species count would max out in the 160-180 species range. NOT because the species are limited, but because my ablitiy to look, recognzie, and record is limited. I would not be able to duplicate count in one hour on any terrestrial habitat on the earth.

Coral Reefs are considered to be the highest biodiversity ecosystems on the planet. The reefs in southeast Florida illustrate this magnificently.

Longjaw Squirrelfish right






Bluelip Hamlet Below