Safe to Snorkel off beach with no boat???

[dsculley]

Lots of good advice already. About the only thing I would add is to get some boogie boards, surf boards or a kayak to increase safety. These will make you more visible, as well as giving you a good place to rest if need be. Plus, they can be used to carry gear and support your flag. If you each have a boogie board, you can deploy multiple flags and these are easy to tow behind you on the swim out/in if you decide not to ride them.

As for Biscayne Bay, there was a good episode of Speargun Hunter that featured the bay. There was a lot of marine life there, and lots of holes for fish, eels and lobster.

 

[spectrum]

We used to do a lot of shore based skin-dives here near home. Since it's nice to keep a nice view of the bottom this usually meant tracking along some sort of shoreline unless traversing a cove or heading to a ledge. My definition this usually meant we were in places boats avoided. Of course as the water gets clearer this is less the case.

You will want all of the color you can muster and the flag is not a bad idea.

Pete

 

[Madcowz181]

One thing me and my brother would do in areas where boat traffic is high was paying attention to noise. Noise from boats will be easy to hear while snorkling/diving. When snorkling in Rocky Point, Mexico the banana boats are a constant danger. After a while you learn when to look up, but it's not a bad idea to look up every time you hear a boat to make sure you know where it is and where it's heading. I can't tell you how many times I have avoided a boat by 1-5 feet. Most of which would have hit me had I not looked up.

Looking up regularly will also allow you to know your location and distance from the beach. So if a current is pulling you away from where you want to be, you can adjust before it's too late.

One other thing is to make sure you never get too far from your buddy.

 

[Dave C]

One thing me and my brother would do in areas where boat traffic is high was paying attention to noise. Noise from boats will be easy to hear while snorkling/diving. When snorkling in Rocky Point, Mexico the banana boats are a constant danger. After a while you learn when to look up, but it's not a bad idea to look up every time you hear a boat to make sure you know where it is and where it's heading. I can't tell you how many times I have avoided a boat by 1-5 feet. Most of which would have hit me had I not looked up.

Looking up regularly will also allow you to know your location and distance from the beach. So if a current is pulling you away from where you want to be, you can adjust before it's too late.

One other thing is to make sure you never get too far from your buddy.

Madcow, this is off-topic, but how is the snorkeling in Rocky Point? I know that it is not fantastic, but I've heard people say it was a total waste of time, while others say it was worthwhile. The big tides probably make for limited visibility and currents, and I assume it would be better to snorkel at low tide to be closer to the bottom and see much subtidal stuff. Are there many fish?

 

[JohnniG]

rip currents can kinda be a good thing they will take you out from shore where you wont have to swim as hard heading out. We use them at times for surfing to pull us out past the break then paddle out of them to start surfing. I would try shorter distances where the reef or some coral formations are closer to shore to get the hang of everything a little more. I would recommend heading on to some other areas of florida though so you can get the hang of swiming out and learn your limits a little more. Pompano has a fairly close reef line. Mcarthor park has a close shallow coral head. I dont know what all is further south of lauderdale by the sea area from shore, but there deffinatly is some exploring you can do up north.

to give you an idea of rip currents i was on the west edge of breakers reef(30ft) in palm beach off a boat with a new diver and got pulled out further, ended up stuck on the east edge getting pushed in a kinda circular pattern(the end of the rip) from about 50-60 feet of depth. we were off a boat so it wasnt an issue but we woulda had to try swimming like crazy to get out of it

yikes. Sounds dangerous

 

[Madcowz181]

Madcow, this is off-topic, but how is the snorkeling in Rocky Point? I know that it is not fantastic, but I've heard people say it was a total waste of time, while others say it was worthwhile. The big tides probably make for limited visibility and currents, and I assume it would be better to snorkel at low tide to be closer to the bottom and see much subtidal stuff. Are there many fish?

Well, It is not the best place in the world to snorkel/spearfish, but it isn't the worst. There is plenty of fish, but it's not going to be as beautiful and colorful as other places. We have been going there for almost 20 years, so it's just where we ended up snorkeling and spearfishing most of the time. I wouldn't suggest going way out of your way to go down there and navigate the banana boat filled waters, but if you are already down there, it's definitely not a waste of time at all.

On a side note, It is dangerous to dodge banana boats, but it's not like the entire coast is covered in them. You can find some pretty good spots where the boats are non-existent. We just had no other choice. Well, the only other choice was to not go in the water....but that's no good at all.:cool2: