Palm Beach Dive Thread

[Divin'Papaw]

I've been out on Diversity many times in the past. Any idea who Tony sold his boat to and if they are running a dive operation? I emailed him but didn't hear back.

No, I don't know the answer to either question. Sorry!

 

[Pavao]

The times I used them they went south out of the Hillsboro Inlet. They are quite close to the Boca Inlet, but it gets so shoaled up plus it is small. I would think a big boat like that would have a really hard time getting out of the Boca Inlet, at least as the inlet is now.

When the dive sites were south, closer to Hillsboro inlet, we would go out of Hillsboro inlet, otherwise we’d use Boca inlet. There has been times when we had gone out of Boca inlet and forced to come back through Hillsboro inlet due to rising seas, same as up in Jupiter when seas are big and we were forced to use WPB inlet, but Boca and Hillsboro inlets are much closer together than Jupiter and WP, hence why Dixie could use either inlet on the regular.

Worth noting too that the issues with the inlets (both Boca and Jupiter) are really only at play when we have big seas, I mean, it still sucks they have a shallow sandbar in front, but captains can navigate it just fine in calm seas, but when it gets big it gets gnarly real quick, remember green boat at Jupiter this winter?

The shallow spot in the Boca inlet been like that for a long time, if I’m not mistaken, Capt Tony from Diversity was the guy who put a beach chair and set on it right outside the inlet as a sort of protest to show how shallow and dangerous it was, calling attention to the issue.

I used to work for Dixie back in 2008/10, but like I said, it’s been just about that long since I last dive with them.

 

[Johnoly]

, remember green boat at Jupiter this winter?

45° LOL!!. But that's why it's the only dive boat with a roll cage installed and they run when others won't. That style of boat will never turtle because so much weight is below the water line.

 

[tekkydiver]

Are there any operators going out the Boca Inlet and diving reels from Delray to Hillsboro? I used to dive with a couple of them a while back but now that I am back into diving regularly, I can't find any.

Capt. Tony (Diversity) finally gave up. Tougher than ever to come out ahead. The Lady Go is still around, not sure where they keep the boat though. Don't know any other operators out of Boca.

 

[tekkydiver]

The times I used them they went south out of the Hillsboro Inlet. They are quite close to the Boca Inlet, but it gets so shoaled up plus it is small. I would think a big boat like that would have a really hard time getting out of the Boca Inlet, at least as the inlet is now.

A stiff east wind on an outgoing tide produces standing waves, less frequent is the opposite, a hard west blow on the incoming. Most issues come from unqualified boat operators

 

[NothingClever]

Super presentation about coral tonight by The Reef Institute.

Pura Vida organized the informational and educational event and we (customers) toured The Reef Institute’s new facility that promises to be a huge leap forward for quality and quantity of work they do.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

@NothingClever and I along with another buddy from the Orlando area got out yesterday morning with Pura Vida. It was a very full boat but the crew included Capts Jason & Chris, Quinn, Delany, and Luka. They did a great job handling the masses! Given the crowded boat and calm, sunny weather, we grabbed 3 spots at the stern, which worked out very well.

Seas were maybe 1', sunny and very warm topside, slight north current, surface water temps were 79-80 with 75-76 on the reef. The viz varied a good bit. We had spots with milky blue water with maybe 40' but other areas with a much better 50-70'.

We did Dive-o-Rama 1st dive, then on the 2nd did Tear Drop to Ron's Rock to Middle Earth to South Flower Gardens. Both were great dives! All the usual fish species in large quantities, a few yellowheaded jawfish just past Ron's Rock, garden eels between Middle Earth and South Flower Garden, a few loggerheads including one momma sacked out on top of the reef and a bull shark off in the distance as I was ending dive #1.

 

[NothingClever]

Couple of highlights for me.

I don’t know what was cooler - the sharptailed eel being so casually docile while exposed surveying his little garden area or your dive buddy being perfectly motionless just an inch off the deck to capture the up close footage. If he has any footage to pass, I’d be grateful.

The differential between the bottom and top current was really impressive. After your buddy and I lazily drifted off from the group (up front where we got first dibs on sighting sealife ), I thought nothing of shooting my DSMB to mark the leading edge of divers for the crew. Holy cow, I got surprised getting whisked away like Charlie Chaplin!

 

[MrChen]

There was definitely a faster current in the top 25ft. As I was ascending, at 27ft, I could see shimmering above me and as I got to my SS depth, the DSMB stopped pulling at an angle. I had 73 degrees at depth this weekend.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Short video of two very fishy dives from Sunday May 18 with Pura Vida & @NothingClever