Palm Beach Dive Thread

[MrChen]

I dove today with Shellback Scuba on Neptunus. Capt Luke was at the helm with Eric and Drew on deck. Eric is the constant joker. Luke used to drive for Kyalami and did a short stint with Stuart Scuba before buying his own boat. Eric left Kyalami to crew for Luke. Drew crews for both. Luke is super laid back, loves playing music, and is hunter friendly.

We did South Double Ledges and Mid Reef. Seas were 2 - 2.5 ft. Bottom temp of 80 degrees. Moderate to strong north current at depth. Ripping north current on the surface. Visibility 30 to 40ft. I could see 40ft but was super hazy. Lots of seaweed in the water column. Top 25 ft was noticeably warmer.

 

[Johnoly]

Neptunus. Capt Luke

Capt Luke is one of the top captains in WPB. He has been in some wicked seas and trusts his bearing & distance to always be near his divers when they pop up.

There are hundreds of Island Hopper boats in Florida. But is his boat the former Diversity dive boat?
Thanks for the conditions report & glad the temps are back up.

 

[Catito]

BRRRR!!!! This is awful early for an upwelling. I've run into mid to upper-60s in the past in Palm Beach County, but those are typically in July. I last experienced it in July 2023. I'm still thawing.

Hopefully it'll be gone by this weekend. These upwellings typically only last a few days to a week. Fingers crossed that we see 80 top to bottom again here very soon!

Saturday with Pura Vida on 4th window my computer read 80F. Felt nice (in my 5mm)!

 

[tekkydiver]

Not Palm beach but.. conditions were unbelievable off Stuart yesterday. 2 foot vis on bottom at 90 feet, cold and black and I am not exaggerating. I just kept going down hoping the vis would open up under a dirty layer.

Dove in 70 feet in that areas 4 days ago and had 60 ft vis below the top of a dirty layer at the top of the thermocline.

Next tried in 47 ft on an artificial and had 5-8 ft vis - which is not worth trying to spear fish in (got one lion and a snapper). Drove south to the loran tower, and had 5-7 ft vis in 74 feet -- top water looks blueish and not that bad. Still not worth diving.

Fished the beach of there Friday. From the the House of Refuge to the Power Plant, schools of huge Jacks, tight lipped Tarpon and Bonito were on the move. Water on the morning incoming tide was cold and clear.

 

[PBcatfish]

Fished the beach of there Friday. From the the House of Refuge to the Power Plant, schools of huge Jacks, tight lipped Tarpon and Bonito were on the move. Water on the morning incoming tide was cold and clear.

King mackerel were in the area too. Getting bait past the Jacks can be a bit of a trick.

 

[MrChen]

I dove Monday to participate in the Apex Predator Memorial Mayhem Lionfish tournament. Stuart Scuba was the exclusive shop to run divers, but one boat had an engine failure 2 days prior. Ben @ Stuart Scuba made things happen, got divers on other boats, and ran the remaining boat in the PM as well.

I was on the PM trip. We dove Mid Reef and Zimms. I'm not familiar with Zimms, but I have a fairly good idea where we dropped because I pulled my phone out when they called 10 min and looked where we were. It looked west of Black Rock.

We had 2 ft seas. It wasn't as bad as the forecast. I had 81 degrees at depth, 1 degree warmer than yesterday. Capt Mark was at the helm of Down Deep. Before our first drop, he blessed us by wearing a speedo and calling everyone's attention up to him. I'm having trouble unseeing it .

Monday's current was stronger than Sundays. I successfully located Spearmans barge. On the west side of it, as the current hit the barge, I could feel my mask start shifting. The other side, I could get out of the full strength of the current, but it was still strong.

As for Lionfish, I didn't see a single one. I mainly focused on north facing structure, looking under the ledges with my flashlight. Some were luckier than others. Some reported finding some at the end of their dives and they had half a dozen to prove it. I suggested we drop back where they were finding fish, but with the currents, Capt Mark had no idea where to precisely go.

Zimms was mostly sand and algae. If anyone knows more about Zimms, please share. I lost structure in my zig zagging (using my Tusa) and couldn't find it again. I ran into divers on fins, so I know I wasn't far off, and I could hear the boat engine nearby.

Visibility was 50ft on Mid Reef and 30ft on Zimms. You know how you can see the green/blue line on the surface? We dropped just on the inside of the green. The further west I went, the worse the vis got.

I finally saw some nice hogs, but with the current, I couldn't get close enough for a clean shot. I took a hail Mary shot on one after crawling on the bottom for minutes to get closer. I missed it by a hair. It was probably 25 inches long.

 

[Johnoly]

Zimms was mostly sand and algae. If anyone knows more about Zimms, please share.

We call it a different name, but it's about 90 ft depth inside of Black Rock. It also gets both 'covered & uncovered' with shifting sand movements so that's why it's tough to stay on it. 2 tips when going to dive it. (1) The boat's sonar will blast thru the thin loose sand on top and show you a reef, but when diving it, you can't see the hidden rock under the covered sand. Yes look for the sonar reef, but don't stop until you see actual fish on the sonar> that's an open hole you can find/see. (2) When we do dive it, the best way to find the 'uncovered' spots is the just follow the fish since they will run to the open parts if you chase them. If I watch my depth gauge I can somewhat find the high spot of the covered reef and then work the side areas as the slope gets deeper and then stay on that sand slope until it gets 'uncovered'. We have been productive on it. But it's a high-current area and changes alot. Thank you for the sweet conditions, hoping to get out this weekend so I can get onto the FWC LF standings board.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

To all you lionfish hunters ... THANK YOU!! Hunting is not my thing, but I sure appreciate all your efforts in keeping the lions under control. You really make a difference!!

 

[NothingClever]

@Johnoly - perhaps I’m just a noob and easily impressed but you seem like a hunting wizard!

 

[Johnoly]

@Johnoly - perhaps I’m just a noob and easily impressed but you seem like a hunting wizard!

30 years of mistakes, wrong turns, sand drops, & lost gear. But nothing hurts more than riding home 2hrs with an empty dry cooler.( or a flooded camera)