St. Lucie County Florida

[jbd]

One of my wifes work colleagues brought her a brochure from this county in Fla. There is a section on the brochure that mentions 11 dive sites. Can any of you Fla folks comment on what the diving is like in that area. I will be diving with my daughter who will be 12 by then and was OW certified last Sept. I am looking for some easy dives to 40' with something for her to see anad maybe take some point and shoot photos.

On the brochure it looks like Ft. Pierce is the city closest to these dive sites.

 

[DennisW]

jbd,

I am from Melbourne, a few miles north of Ft. Pierce. I've never dove from a boat out of Ft. Pierce, but I have gone out of Jupiter. Jupiter is just south of Ft. Pierce. I would expect the conditions to be similar. The diving is pretty good, not a lot of hard coral, mostly some rock lines and small ledges with soft corals, sponges, etc. Lots of fish, turtles and other good sea creatures. The viz is not as good as it is further south because the Gulf Stream is further offshore the further north you go. I'm not sure what the Ft. Pierce brochure had for dive sites. Any wrecks? I have done some beach dives off Ft. Pierce. Had a great time. Try Pepper Park for a shore dive. Lots of rock ledges and many, many urchins. A lot of juvinile fish. Viz is variable from 4 ft to 40 ft depending on the conditions. There are some other shore dive areas around the area. Post your report.

 

[jbd]

DennisW--there are 2 wrecks listed on the brochure. One is the Urca de Lima Wedge. The other is simply called paddle wheeler wreck. Most of the dives a re beach dives.

One of the dive sites is called Old South Bridge.

There are some other wrecks listed but they are in the 80' to 100' depth range.

Pepper Park, Inlet Park and Jaycee Park are mentioned.

Thanks for the info

jbd

 

[JamesK]

here is some info I found on the net at the places you discuss.

http://www.scubadiving.com/US/flawrecks/#urca (Urca De Lima) I am going to say that there proabably ain't much left of this wreck since it sank in 1715. In the 1920's they wre already removing artifacts from it.

"The "Treasure Coast" is named for the wealth of gold and silver coins and historic artifacts deposited along the coast by shipwrecked Spanish galleons. At Fort Pierce, an interesting part of underwater history is the Urca de Lima, now an underwater archeological preserve. The ship was part of the 1715 Spanish merchant fleet struck by a fierce hurricane. The wreck lies offshore in 10 to 15 feet of water. Lying 100 yards off the beach is the remains of a Civil-War-era paddle-wheeler wreck. The ship is easily seen on calm, clear days in water 15 to 20 feet deep. Other area dive sites include the Old South Bridge in 30- to 40-foot-deep water, the Hasley Wreck in 80-foot-deep water, and several other beach and deep-water sites. All historical or archeological sites in submerged bottomlands are protected by Florida laws, which forbid unauthorized disturbance, excavation or removal of artifacts. "

http://www.visitstluciefla.com/ This is probably the same as your brochure.


I hope any of this info is somewhat useful.

 

[scubabear]

Hey jbd,

If possible I'd bring your daughter down to Key Largo. It's an easy 4 hour drive. Many dive sites are under 40', vis. is usally pretty good, and it's hard to beat the protected reefs for fish life.
Here's an address that might be usefull. www.paradisecharters.net

 

[jbd]

Big James--Thanks for the info. I thought there might not be much left of the Urca simply by the depth. The historical info is good though to help my daughter have a starting point of what happened and what we are looking a in current times.

I really appreciate your help. Thanks.

Scubabear--We plan on making it to Key Largo. I'll look into the link you provided. Thanks.