Pompano Beach wrecks—ones you have loved

[Catito]

Hi:

I cannot find the previous thread on the best Pompano Beach wreck dives and operators. Repeat please?

By the way, the water in Key Largo was FLAT over Thanksgiving. I had my best dive ever at the Speigel.
The Duane was very cool with 6 Bull sharks circling closer to the sand.
It was heaven.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

try google - type => "scubaboard.com and what you are looking for" example - scubaboard.com pompano beach wrecks

 

[boulderjohn]

I am not familiar with the thread you are talking about, but if it was last year, things have changed. The wrecks are the same, but some operations have changed. Pompano Dive Center is gone. ScubaTyme has changed ownership and its characteristic diving. (It used to do mostly shallow reefs with lots of lobster hunters, but it has even done some tech dives recently.) A bit north, Dixie Divers has changed ownership, and I don't know what impact that has had on their typical plans, which usually stayed to the north. Force E in Pompano Beach has started offering trimix. South Florida Diving Headquarters moved into the old Pompano Dive Center location. (That is a very sore subject, since that move is what forced Pompano Dive Center to close and has led some to boycott SFDH.)

I pretty much know all the wrecks in the the area, but I will be watching this thread for new information on operators in preparation for my annual snowbird visit.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Tagging along because we're heading there later this month or January for a few days.

I'd like to get out once or twice.

 

[RyanT]

For wrecks, the Lady Luck is probably my favorite in recreational depths. It's big enough and deep enough to do a serious deco dive on, but is also accessible to recreational divers. It's been down long enough now that it is developing nice marine growth. The Captain Dan is another favorite in the deepish recreational range (110'); I find the wreck itself interesting and it has a cool swim through in the broken hull. For a shallow dive, the Tracey is hard to beat, lots of tropical fish and good bottom time with the sand at 70'. For technical depths, the Hydro Atlantic is a perennial favorite, and I also really like the Lowrence. The sheer size of the Lowrence is awesome!

@boulderjohn, I'm certainly one of the folks with hard feelings about PDC. One charter I found in Pompano beach is MissConduct charters. Here's the good and bad... It's a 6-pack boat with an easy pick up at the public launch. It's a little tight with 6, but Capt. Conrad will run with just two people. My buddy and I had his boat to ourselves a couple of times. It was truly awesome to have a wreck all to ourselves! The downside is that it's a one man show, so you have be quite self sufficient. This means hot dropping to the wreck, no DM etc. I didn't mind that, so for the self sufficient diver, it's a pretty neat operation.

Dive Sites | Missconduct Charters

 

[RyanT]

Just to add to my previous post, I really hate the Sea Emperor. It's an easy shallow dive and a lot of folks like if for all the "awesome critters on it." I've dove it twice and I didn't see anything I haven't seen on other wrecks. The wreck itself is a big square barge with some concrete culverts next to it. You can swim from compartment to compartment inside, but even that was pretty unexciting. Apparently lots of folks like it though. YMMV.

 

[boulderjohn]

Just to add to my previous post, I really hate the Sea Emperor. It's an easy shallow dive and a lot of folks like if for all the "awesome critters on it." I've dove it twice and I didn't see anything I haven't seen on other wrecks. The wreck itself is a big square barge with some concrete culverts next to it. You can swim from compartment to compartment inside, but even that was pretty unexciting. Apparently lots of folks like it though. YMMV.

About 15 years ago, the Sea Emperor was a bit better because you could go inside it, but it is pretty much full of sand now. I think it is popular because it is easy to access and shallow enough for the typical recreational diver. It is also to the north a bit, so it seemed like it was the only place Dixie Divers was going back when I stayed in that area. The other reason it is popular is that some of the other formerly popular wrecks in that depth range are disintegrating.

IMO, winter diving in that area presents a challenge these days for dive shops. I have been going there in the winter for 20 years, and things are very different now, starting about 6-7 years ago. The first big difference is that there are a lot fewer dive days because it is so windy windy windy windy all the time. It really didn't used to be that way. The second big difference is that there are simply fewer divers. A couple years ago I was frustrated because on the days it wasn't windy, the boats weren't running because there weren't enough divers scheduled. I talked to someone in the business, and he said the dive business everywhere in south Florida was absolutely dead then. Consequently, the dive operations have to appeal to as many divers as they can for the days they are actually running. That means they are less likely to do the dives that are more challenging.

 

[NothingClever]

...but Capt. Conrad will run with just two people. My buddy and I had his boat to ourselves a couple of times. It was truly awesome to have a wreck all to ourselves! The downside is that it's a one man show, so you have be quite self sufficient. This means hot dropping to the wreck, no DM etc. I didn't mind that, so for the self sufficient diver, it's a pretty neat operation.

Shoot, that sounds perfect to me.