This was a trip to accommodate all members of the family, with me being the only one diving.
First, about the diving. I went with Pura Vida Divers on three trips, two boat drift trips and one trip to the Blue Heron Bridge. To save packing space, I rented the BCD and regulators from the shop. The BCD was an Atomics BC1 with a SMB without a spool, and the regulators were from TUSA with a console with a SPG, compass, and puck computer. I brought my mask, snorkel, wetsuit, skin, computer, boots, fins, light, trilobite, shears, and spoil with dSMB. I ended up not using the wetsuit, using the skin for one trip, and diving in shorts and rash guard for the other two trips. Because I was diving solo, to make my spouse more comfortable, I hired a guide for all three trips.
The first trip was a boat drift dive to shallower reefs, Teardrop and Flower Gardens. I rented HP100 with the shop standard 34% nitrox. Both dives were about 55 minutes at 55 feet with lowest water temperature 83 degrees. Visibility was between 30-40 feet with a strong northward current. We were really flying and it was a lot of fun for me. Not a lot of opportunity to look for smaller hidden reef life, but turtles, schooling fish, a salp. Some divers were uncomfortable with the speed and sat out the second dive.
PVD was very orderly in getting two groups in on live drops and the staff very helpful and anticipated and solved problems very quickly. The boat safety and dive site briefings were done in very good detail, and pickup was organized with all divers understanding what to do because of the dive briefing. Both dives my guide and I were separated from the main guide carrying the ball and flag, so we shot our dSMB and did our safety stop and pickup separately. The surface interval was about an hour and there was cold filtered water, cans of pop/soda, and small bags of chips and crackers for those that wished to eat or drink.
My next trip was a dive at the Blue Heron Bridge with a PVD guide that was an underwater photographer. We explored the west side of the bridge for 70 minutes. Maximum depth was 15 feet at the edge of the boat channel with the majority of the dive being around 10 feet. Water temperature 85 degrees. I rented an HP100 with air, mostly for the weighting, not for the gas, as with the BC1, HP100, and skin/rash guard and shorts, I need no additional weight. Because my guide was a photographer, we moved really slowly and he was able to spot a lot of things that I would have completely missed. It was like being in an aquarium. I don’t remember everything, but my favorites were the crazy stone crab running around with a fish friend as well as the decorator urchins that chose to decorate themselves with a dead urchin shell. The guide timed the tide so we drifted with the incoming tide to the north of the bridge and drifted back with the outgoing tide, as visibility changed from 50 feet to 30 feet.
My last trip was another boat drift trip to Bath and Tennis, and then Teardrop again. HP100 with 34% nitrox, run times of 60 minutes, depth 50 feet and 60 feet, water temperature 86 degrees, surface conditions smoother, current much lighter. Visibility on first dive was 50-60 feet and 30-40 feet on second dive. The first group had a diver that had trouble descending and PVD picked her up again and gave her more weight and redropped her with her group to stay with her spouse, no muss, no fuss. This time, because of the gentler current, we were able to stay with the guide with the ball and were able to look for more hidden stuff. Eels, lobster, blennies, shrimp, more eels. And sleeping turtles. No dSMB needed as we stayed with the ball, pickup done very orderly.
I dove with PVD last year, again this time, and would dive with them again. If you rent equipment from them, you can pick it up from the shop an hour before the boat leaves. The dock is located a ten minute drive from the shop. The crew wants you to board and disembark with both hands free and they will bring your equipment on and off the boat. They have an analyzer on the boat and their shop mix is 34%. You are responsible for getting rented equipment back to the shop after the trip, rinse it off in a rinse tank outside to the left side of the shop building, and have a staff member sign it back in. The parking lot is not very big, but there is a parking lot across the street that I have used. If you are going to as BHB guided dive, the guide will have the rented tank in their car at the BHB. Both times I’ve done this I’ve walked to the BHB from the shop, about 3 blocks, so I can’t comment about parking.
I know there are several other highly recommended dive operations in the Palm Beach area, and I would like to dive out of Jupiter, but because this was a vacation with some diving, rather than a dive vacation, PVD was the most convenient in terms of accessibility, as we stayed on Singer Island and my family dropped me off at the shop on the BHB dive day, did their own thing, and then picked me up.
First, about the diving. I went with Pura Vida Divers on three trips, two boat drift trips and one trip to the Blue Heron Bridge. To save packing space, I rented the BCD and regulators from the shop. The BCD was an Atomics BC1 with a SMB without a spool, and the regulators were from TUSA with a console with a SPG, compass, and puck computer. I brought my mask, snorkel, wetsuit, skin, computer, boots, fins, light, trilobite, shears, and spoil with dSMB. I ended up not using the wetsuit, using the skin for one trip, and diving in shorts and rash guard for the other two trips. Because I was diving solo, to make my spouse more comfortable, I hired a guide for all three trips.
The first trip was a boat drift dive to shallower reefs, Teardrop and Flower Gardens. I rented HP100 with the shop standard 34% nitrox. Both dives were about 55 minutes at 55 feet with lowest water temperature 83 degrees. Visibility was between 30-40 feet with a strong northward current. We were really flying and it was a lot of fun for me. Not a lot of opportunity to look for smaller hidden reef life, but turtles, schooling fish, a salp. Some divers were uncomfortable with the speed and sat out the second dive.
PVD was very orderly in getting two groups in on live drops and the staff very helpful and anticipated and solved problems very quickly. The boat safety and dive site briefings were done in very good detail, and pickup was organized with all divers understanding what to do because of the dive briefing. Both dives my guide and I were separated from the main guide carrying the ball and flag, so we shot our dSMB and did our safety stop and pickup separately. The surface interval was about an hour and there was cold filtered water, cans of pop/soda, and small bags of chips and crackers for those that wished to eat or drink.
My next trip was a dive at the Blue Heron Bridge with a PVD guide that was an underwater photographer. We explored the west side of the bridge for 70 minutes. Maximum depth was 15 feet at the edge of the boat channel with the majority of the dive being around 10 feet. Water temperature 85 degrees. I rented an HP100 with air, mostly for the weighting, not for the gas, as with the BC1, HP100, and skin/rash guard and shorts, I need no additional weight. Because my guide was a photographer, we moved really slowly and he was able to spot a lot of things that I would have completely missed. It was like being in an aquarium. I don’t remember everything, but my favorites were the crazy stone crab running around with a fish friend as well as the decorator urchins that chose to decorate themselves with a dead urchin shell. The guide timed the tide so we drifted with the incoming tide to the north of the bridge and drifted back with the outgoing tide, as visibility changed from 50 feet to 30 feet.
My last trip was another boat drift trip to Bath and Tennis, and then Teardrop again. HP100 with 34% nitrox, run times of 60 minutes, depth 50 feet and 60 feet, water temperature 86 degrees, surface conditions smoother, current much lighter. Visibility on first dive was 50-60 feet and 30-40 feet on second dive. The first group had a diver that had trouble descending and PVD picked her up again and gave her more weight and redropped her with her group to stay with her spouse, no muss, no fuss. This time, because of the gentler current, we were able to stay with the guide with the ball and were able to look for more hidden stuff. Eels, lobster, blennies, shrimp, more eels. And sleeping turtles. No dSMB needed as we stayed with the ball, pickup done very orderly.
I dove with PVD last year, again this time, and would dive with them again. If you rent equipment from them, you can pick it up from the shop an hour before the boat leaves. The dock is located a ten minute drive from the shop. The crew wants you to board and disembark with both hands free and they will bring your equipment on and off the boat. They have an analyzer on the boat and their shop mix is 34%. You are responsible for getting rented equipment back to the shop after the trip, rinse it off in a rinse tank outside to the left side of the shop building, and have a staff member sign it back in. The parking lot is not very big, but there is a parking lot across the street that I have used. If you are going to as BHB guided dive, the guide will have the rented tank in their car at the BHB. Both times I’ve done this I’ve walked to the BHB from the shop, about 3 blocks, so I can’t comment about parking.
I know there are several other highly recommended dive operations in the Palm Beach area, and I would like to dive out of Jupiter, but because this was a vacation with some diving, rather than a dive vacation, PVD was the most convenient in terms of accessibility, as we stayed on Singer Island and my family dropped me off at the shop on the BHB dive day, did their own thing, and then picked me up.
