Thoughts on Jupiter vs West Palm vs Boynton vs LBTS for Weekend Trip

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I know you mentioned BHB may be out because of only 1 tank, but keep it as a backup because the dive would be much longer, 90 mins to over 2 hours. Depending on the tide time it could even be done after boat diving although for me that's a lot.

One of the things I learned after moving to Florida is to move past my ‘must do at least two dives a day’ mindset. I am more than happy to do a 2 to 2 1/2 hour dive at Blue Heron Bridge and call it a day! After all that’s as much or more bottom time than most cold divers get in three dives or more.
 
That makes sense to me, given that a dive at BHB might last as long as 2 deep dives. Let me ask a follow-up then, since I have limited experience with tide-based diving schedules: is there a certain time that one should plan to be out of the water (example: 3 hours after high tide, etc.) to either not get pulled into a high-traffic area or be caught in bad viz?
 
That makes sense to me, given that a dive at BHB might last as long as 2 deep dives. Let me ask a follow-up then, since I have limited experience with tide-based diving schedules: is there a certain time that one should plan to be out of the water (example: 3 hours after high tide, etc.) to either not get pulled into a high-traffic area or be caught in bad viz?
Checkout the Blue Heron Bridge trolls section of SB for tons of good advice for this dive. Generally about 90 minutes before high tide until 90 after high tide will given you the best visibility and least current. Good luck and be safe
 
That makes sense to me, given that a dive at BHB might last as long as 2 deep dives. Let me ask a follow-up then, since I have limited experience with tide-based diving schedules: is there a certain time that one should plan to be out of the water (example: 3 hours after high tide, etc.) to either not get pulled into a high-traffic area or be caught in bad viz?

Lots of info already on SB Florida forum about diving BHB. Here are a couple very useful websites:



I would also highly recommend the Reef Smart Guide for Palm Beach. It covers BHB quite nicely.

 
That makes sense to me, given that a dive at BHB might last as long as 2 deep dives. Let me ask a follow-up then, since I have limited experience with tide-based diving schedules: is there a certain time that one should plan to be out of the water (example: 3 hours after high tide, etc.) to either not get pulled into a high-traffic area or be caught in bad viz?

Another suggestion. Since you aren't paying for a charter, it might make sense to hire a guide for your first dive at the bridge. That's what I did and it was money well spent. Both Force-E Riviera Beach and Pura Vide Divers have very experienced guides you can hire. Those are the two shops closest to the bridge ... one just east of it and the other just west of it.

After that first guided dive you will be perfectly suited to do future dives alone. I have hours and hours and hours of diving at the bridge, both with buddies and solo. It never gets old!! But having a guide that first time was very helpful
 
As an update, the bad news is my weekend of diving in March didn't pan out. The good news is that now I'll be going in about a week for a week-long trip. Looking at the tide charts for April 11-15, I'm thinking boat dives somewhere not too far from West Palm in the morning, and then afternoon/twilight/night dives at BHB. Any tips or tricks for parking and/or unloading for BHB given the late afternoon/early evening high tides?
 
As an update, the bad news is my weekend of diving in March didn't pan out. The good news is that now I'll be going in about a week for a week-long trip. Looking at the tide charts for April 11-15, I'm thinking boat dives somewhere not too far from West Palm in the morning, and then afternoon/twilight/night dives at BHB. Any tips or tricks for parking and/or unloading for BHB given the late afternoon/early evening high tides?
Hook up with Force-E guide for your first time...Juno ledges was nice...Ana Cecelia wreck was nice...Goliath grouper, Sailfish, sharks, turtles and host of other fish...that was with Stuart Scuba out of Riviera Beach...Narcosis is great as well...get NITROX certified
 
As an update, the bad news is my weekend of diving in March didn't pan out. The good news is that now I'll be going in about a week for a week-long trip. Looking at the tide charts for April 11-15, I'm thinking boat dives somewhere not too far from West Palm in the morning, and then afternoon/twilight/night dives at BHB. Any tips or tricks for parking and/or unloading for BHB given the late afternoon/early evening high tides?
Likely too late this time but if you are ever in the area again and are looking for non-drift diving, you can try Pompano beach, an hour drive south of Jupiter. There are a number of wrecks and reefs and the currents are low, the gulf stream being further out I guess. I dove the Okinawa wreck last month with the dive boat moored to the wreck. This was a good dive, no current, 50 feet to the deck, easy penetration. We are doing the Copenhagen this Saturday, a shallow wreck that was used for target practice by the Navy so not in good shape but great for new divers. Try South Florida Diving Headquarters if you are in Pompano.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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