Where to dive in Delray Beach, FL

[Bobby Langley]

Hello everyone,

My daughter and I will be making a trip to Delray Beach, FL the first week of January 2017, and would like to get in a few dives. We are not familiar with the area, so looking for any advice on areas to dive. We have some new dive equipment for Christmas and one place I found was a shore dive to the Wreck SS Inchulva. This is a fairly shallow dive, but would give us a chance to test some of our new equipment before heading for deeper dives. Also, we will be traveling with our Kayaks to potentially get in a few kayak dives. Any info you could share on this area or nearby would be greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas to all!

 

[tekkydiver]

NE winds are the norm so the opportunities for shore diving this time of year are slim. I wouldn't even think about diving off a kayak, just trust me on that one. You could do a little paddling in the ICW. The Delray Wreck is little more than a chunk of boiler and not worth the effort. If you are going to the trouble of coming to Florida, dust off the wallet and go on a cattle boat. I dove (private boat) last week, conditions were perfect off shore.

 

[sportxlh]

Try Blue Heron Bridge for the shore dive. It's in WPB and about 20 miles north of Delray. See the Blue Heron Bridge Trolls thread for info.

If you decide toi boat dive, Boynton Beach is very close to Delray and has nice reefs and a world class wreck dive know as the Castor. I've been out with Underwater Explorers and Splashdown, but there are several other boats as well.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I second the recommendation for the BHB. i taught my kids to dive there and we still shoot some interesting videos.. It looked clear today.

Blue Heron Bridge (Bay Dive) - YouTube

 

[hammet]

Starfish enterprise out of boynton.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Ditto on not diving from the kayaks just yet. Sounds good, but it add a whole new level of what can go wrong/oops we forgot about that/didn't anticipate that now we can't dive... Play with the new gear in the shallows at BHB, and if the winds are favorable, then a shore dive is worth while. I haven't dived the wreck you mention, however, go south a little bit to LBTS for beach diving. It's not my go to, but I live here, and it is fine for visitors first time. You won't be disappointed.
What is favorable winds? Check out the weather apps on your phone, and MagicSeaWeed for surf. If from the east, or NE, if the winds have been blowing, vis is gonna suck, so, it's got to be almost calm to beach dive.
Generally all along the coast is flat, easy gentle slope, then a sand bar. Swim, out a ways (where the light water gets darker), looking back to note where you went in, adjusting for currents, then drop down and enjoy. Also, look at the satellite images so you know if when you hit sand going east if there is a reef within a couple minutes or not. LBTS is an inner reef, sand with a 5 minute gentle swim, then better reef.
Good luck, and don't forget a trip report and photos!