shore dives west palm beach area ?

[idive2]

I am a regular at Blue Heron Bridge but wondered if there is any shore diving at the area. I assume the reef
is a bit further out up here so getting to the reef from a shore dive might be out. My closest shore dive is pompano
which I have done many times but was thinking it would be nice to find something when the tides at BHB are
not convenient.

 

[sportxlh]

Take a look at the 10th post in this thread....
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-conch-divers/406037-shore-dives.html
DanVolker points out several other beach dives in the area: I've never done any of them.

One of the guys at Force E dove the new artificial reefs/breakwater off of Singer Island: the issue he indicated to me was that beach access is along life guarded public beaches or private access. To dive off the public beach, you have to wait until the life guards go home at 6:00 PM.

There is also a nominal beach dive in Jupiter
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...706-bridge-debris-old-donald-ross-bridge.html
But as you'll read in the thread, one diver was struck by a boat as he made the long swim out. Its not far south of the inlet and easy for boaters that are just gunning up their engines to miss a diver and a small dive flag: I'd think you'd want at minimum a kayak at this site.

 

[idive2]

Appreciate the comments. The jupiter shore dive sounds a little beyond my risk tolerance level although it sounds interesting.
I may look into possible day time access to that breakwater area you mentioned. Prefer diving before 6:00 PM but
I suppose with longer days in the summer an evening dive might work. I would prefer something I could do during
daytime hours. If I discover any public access I will post. Thanks again for the info.

 

[idive2]

Is the risk at the donald ross bridge debris of possibly drifting into the traffic coming toward
or out of the inlet ? I did a search and checked a nautical chart to try to locate this debris.
Did a google satellite view as well and did not see anything. Is this north or south of the inlet ?
Any estimates on how far out the debris starts and its general location (north or south) of the inlet ?
Thanks for any additional info anyone may offer.

 

[danvolker]

Is the risk at the donald ross bridge debris of possibly drifting into the traffic coming toward
or out of the inlet ? I did a search and checked a nautical chart to try to locate this debris.
Did a google satellite view as well and did not see anything. Is this north or south of the inlet ?
Any estimates on how far out the debris starts and its general location (north or south) of the inlet ?
Thanks for any additional info anyone may offer.

If you use Google Earth, you can see the artificial reefs off the beach on Singer Island...Directly in front of the Marriot Ocean Palms if you want exact...and Google Earth will show this....depth is about 12 feet. This is north of the Lake Worth Inlet by about 900 yards , and about 250 yards south of the Hilton.
You would want to drag a kayak or a Paddle Board..Pura Vida Dive shop, which is on Singer Island, can give you an inexpensive rental of a paddleboard you could rent...and put the flag on the paddleboard....
So boats don't really care about dive flags, but they don't like ruining their propellers on big paddleboards or Kayaks. Most are not smart enough to think about the problems running a diver over could cause, and are not thinking about divers....but they easily see a kayak or paddleboard from a distance, even at 30 mph.

I had been planning on shooting some video of this reef off the beach, but it will have to wait til we get back from "Beneath the Sea".

 

[idive2]

Thanks for the info Dan. I took a ride down to the inlet area on singer island to get an idea of the area.
Yeah, it seems to be mostly condos and time shares down there with what I assume are mostly private
beaches. The water looked beautiful coming through the inlet in and around the rocks and jettys. I saw
a sandy beach area on the other side (palm beach island ? ) but I assume that is private as well. I'll
check google earth for the reef area, thanks again for the info.

 

[sportxlh]

idive: specific to the Donald Ross Bridge debris...... the debris is located south of the Jupiter inlet and a little over a mile north of the Juno Beach Pier. It is south of the Jupiter Reef Club hotel as well.

Jupiter has changed the numbering on its beach entrances, but I think the site is east of about entrace number 34 or 35 just a few entraces south of Jupiter Reef Club (this used to be entrace 13, 14 or 15 a couple years ago). I believe if you were to look directly east of the blue roofed condo that is just 2 buildings south of Jupiter Key Rd, you'd be looking at the site.

Jupiter Key Road, Jupiter, FL - Google Maps

I've never made the swim and after reading about the experience of the diver(s) in the link I posted earlier, I'm not sure I'd want to without a kayak. Currents can be pretty strong in that area and I suppose could push someone north towards the inlet. But my comments were referencing the boaters that head south of the inlet and are just begining to open up their throttles as they speed off to their fishing sites. It'd be easy for them to mistakenly miss a little flag and a divers head bobbing on the surface (as the diver in the link reported).

Hope this helps

 

[idive2]

idive: specific to the Donald Ross Bridge debris...... the debris is located south of the Jupiter inlet and a little over a mile north of the Juno Beach Pier. It is south of the Jupiter Reef Club hotel as well.

Jupiter has changed the numbering on its beach entrances, but I think the site is east of about entrace number 34 or 35 just a few entraces south of Jupiter Reef Club (this used to be entrace 13, 14 or 15 a couple years ago). I believe if you were to look directly east of the blue roofed condo that is just 2 buildings south of Jupiter Key Rd, you'd be looking at the site.

Jupiter Key Road, Jupiter, FL - Google Maps

Appreciate the info. I may do a little kayak renting this summer and sounds like this dive in jupiter a kayak would
be the way to go. Yeah the current can always be a problem and the heavy boat traffic in and around these inlets is
something I will keep in mind. I've saved the info and will put it on my possible dives list.

 

[buck3647]

When I lived on Palm Beach we would dive Sunset Beach and Delray Wreck

 

[danvolker]

North down the beach from the Boynton Inlet....maybe half a mile or so ( kind of a long walk), there is what must be the BEST Snorkeling shipwreck dive in all of Florida....It is the Loftus, a real shipwreck from around 1895 or so.....was wrecked near the inlet in a bad storm.... Here is a quick Video I shot while snorkeling it myself.
[video]https://youtu.be/8VlSep291t8[/video]

[video=youtube;8VlSep291t8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VlSep291t8&[/video]