West Palm Beach in July...Need Advice

[guyharrisonphoto]

++++1 on the nitrox for your OW diver. That diver should be able to do these dives, but without nitrox they will be missing out on a lot of bottom time.

Be aware that almost everything in this area is drift diving and currents can be strong. That is absolutely no problem for the reefs, as you just descend and drift along. The wrecks are also done by drifting in to them and drifting away from them when you are ascending. Those dives mean more discipline on the descent (in the water and down quickly with no fiddling around on the surface) and maybe the ability to follow a compass bearing to hit the target once you are down. It also means (for all dives) holding your safety stop while drifting and without a visual reference or line to hold on to, unless you deploy your smb at the stop. A good OW diver can do all of these dives, but I just wanted to let you know.

 

[MrChen]

I am very excited to hear about the turtles! I LOVE turtles and have yet to see on in the wild.

Turtles and sharks are really cool to see on dives. Neither seems to care that you are there. Well, the sharks are skittish if you get too close, they'll take off. The turtles will swim right by you and not panic.

 

[lilnik10]

I believe she is going to try to get her Nitrox cert before we go. But, her boyfriend/dive buddy thinks that Nitrox is a waste of money if you stay above 60 feet. I really don't know what her experience is, but he is about the same level as my husband and me. So, they can do whatever they want as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on my diving! I do know her instructor is one of the best ones from our LDS, so she should be good to go.

I know these will be drift dives. Our only other drift experience was in the Rainbow river in March. Wasn't my favorite dive, but I'm expecting this trip to go better. I am planning on using my SMB for my safety stop.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I believe she is going to try to get her Nitrox cert before we go. But, her boyfriend/dive buddy thinks that Nitrox is a waste of money if you stay above 60 feet. I really don't know what her experience is, but he is about the same level as my husband and me. So, they can do whatever they want as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on my diving! I do know her instructor is one of the best ones from our LDS, so she should be good to go.

I know these will be drift dives. Our only other drift experience was in the Rainbow river in March. Wasn't my favorite dive, but I'm expecting this trip to go better. I am planning on using my SMB for my safety stop.

Her boyfriend is RIGHT.. Too bad NONE of your dives is going to be less than 60 feet (except maybe trolling under the bridge)..

 

[lilnik10]

Good news...our companion just signed up for Advanced Adventure and Nitrox today. Got reservations made at JASA and Underwater Explorers. All that's left is scheduling a night dive and Jupiter dives. Thanks again to you all for your advice!

 

[uncfnp]

Should be a great trip! You'll have to post a dive report when you get back!

 

[lilnik10]

I will! It will be my first ever dive report posted on here so I hope it will be a good one!

 

[TSandM]

You will LOVE Abernathy's boat. We dove with them one day when we were in WPB, and the service was fantastic and the boat was excellent.

We really liked the Mizpah, and we also did another dive that had like three wrecks in a row, and that was a very fun dive, too. I think you'll be delighted with the WPB reefs. I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the diving there!

 

[iluvtheocean]

one thing to mention too -- most if not all of the boats especially for a drift dive require an SMB - you won't necessarily deploy it at all.. but part of the required safety gear.

I would also put in my vote for Governor's Walk in west palm -- that was fun and all 4 wrecks are within easy distance of each other.

i didn't try the fish tacos at the tiki but i would recommend eating there after a dive -- it's hard down here to find Baja style mexican food -- too many of them are cuban blended. (not dissing it - just i prefer baja style having grown up eating it!)

 

[lilnik10]

We always carry an SMB. Haven't ever used it yet, but we plan on taking a couple of trip to the quarry before our trip so we can practice our safety stop with them.

I love trying new food and prefer to try local fare where ever we travel!