Is there anywhere left in the Caribbean with healthy reefs in 2024?

[Millemar]

We are currently in Little Cayman after a week in Cayman Brac. Between last summer’s excessive water temperatures for an extended period of time, plus the effects of a bad storm in February 2024 that covered a lot of coral with sand, the reefs have very little life compared to prior trips.

We just moved from CA to FL and were hoping to spend more time diving in the Caribbean with easier access, but what we are seeing here is very concerning. Wondering if any Caribbean destinations still have abundant life after Summer of 2023?

 

[rick00001967]

sadly this will become worse in most areas of the world as the years go by.

back around 2010 we were in st lucia. reefs had huge amounts of bleaching. we were shore diving curacao in late 2017. reefs close to shore were in great condition then. and even though st maarten is not known for its diving, i remember the reefs being quite healthy with lots of variety of life.

personally i have not been impressed with the amount of life in the waters around cozumel on our last trips. i never have been really. great formations etc down south though.

i was diving grand cayman around 2013ish?? i seem to remember the reef being in great shape just off shore there. but we did not do any boat diving there at all.

 

[scubadada]

Hi @Millemar

Give Boynton Beach a try when you get home to Florida.

 

[Sea_Jay]

Hi @Millemar

Give Boynton Beach a try when you get home to Florida.

Also Pompano has a nice collection of shipwrecks and healthy reefs

 

[Divin'Papaw]

We are currently in Little Cayman after a week in Cayman Brac. Between last summer’s excessive water temperatures for an extended period of time, plus the effects of a bad storm in February 2024 that covered a lot of coral with sand, the reefs have very little life compared to prior trips.

We just moved from CA to FL and were hoping to spend more time diving in the Caribbean with easier access, but what we are seeing here is very concerning. Wondering if any Caribbean destinations still have abundant life after Summer of 2023?

Palm Beach and Broward counties in Florida offer some fantastic diving. It depends upon what "life" you are looking for, but if abundant fish populations, turtles, sharks, eels, rays, crabs, octopus, squid and Goliath Grouper are on your list, you won't be disappointed. If by "life" you mean abundant hard corals (staghorn, elkhorn, etc, etc), your best bet is the Pacific.

 

[Dan G]

I like diving in Florida, from Jupiter down to the Keys and IMO the best diving are the artificial reefs/wrecks not the reefs which I think are quite beat up. While the Cozumel reefs are not super fishy like they used to be, there are still plenty of fish. There is just not a ton of variety, unfortunately. This week, however, I saw at least one eagle ray each day. I prefer the Cozumel reefs to Florida's by quite a bit, although as was said above, the goliath groupers in Florida are quite impressive (size of a compact car) and there are loggerheads that will blow your mind (didn't know they got that big).

A day of good viz in Florida would be fairly average in Cozumel and the surface conditions in Florida are typically rougher compared to Cozumel. Bring your sea legs to Florida!

Again, I try to get to Florida every year because I enjoy it and all I want to dive are the wrecks and there are plenty within rec limits. For reefs, I would chose elsewhere.

 

[Millemar]

Thanks to all for the comments. We live in SW FL but could easily make a trip to the SE coast for diving. We had a very bad experience with a dive shop in W Palm years ago. They took us to the wrong area where we swam for 10-15 minutes looking for the dive site. They turned us around, we swam back to the boat, and they left my husband and me on the transom fully geared up with tanks and weights and took off for the correct site. Very unsafe and exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't remember the name of that dive operation. Can anyone recommend a good dive shop and tell me where they are located? Thanks!

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Thanks to all for the comments. We live in SW FL but could easily make a trip to the SE coast for diving. We had a very bad experience with a dive shop in W Palm years ago. They took us to the wrong area where we swam for 10-15 minutes looking for the dive site. They turned us around, we swam back to the boat, and they left my husband and me on the transom fully geared up with tanks and weights and took off for the correct site. Very unsafe and exhausting.

Unfortunately I don't remember the name of that dive operation. Can anyone recommend a good dive shop and tell me where they are located? Thanks!

I too live in SWFL (Bonita Springs). I travel to the Palm Beach/Jupiter area to dive one weekend a month. I consider that area my diving ‘home’. I never grow tired of it.

Not sure who you used years ago but there are many very good operators today from Boynton Beach north to Jupiter. Just off the top of my head I can think of close to a dozen I would gladly dive with.

To name a few charter operators that are all top-notch:
Boynton Beach ... Starfish and Loggerhead
Palm Beach/Riviera Beach area ... Pura Vida, Narcosis, Walkers
Jupter ... Jupiter Dive Center, Kyalami/Jupiter Scuba Diving

In terms of dive shops, you have Force-E (Riviera Beach, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton plus two locations in Broward County), Pura Vida (Singer Island), Jupiter Dive Center and Scuba Works (Jupiter).

All of these companies have websites. You can easily find them via a web search.

 

[tursiops]

Wondering if any Caribbean destinations still have abundant life after Summer of 2023?

Need more specifics to your question. Do you mean fish, hard coral, soft coral, what? and what means "abundant"? If you are looking to dive in the 1990 Caribbean you will not find it anywhere.

 

[Millemar]

I too live in SWFL (Bonita Springs). I travel to the Palm Beach/Jupiter area to dive one weekend a month. I consider that area my diving ‘home’. I never grow tired of it.

Not sure who you used years ago but there are many very good operators today from Boynton Beach north to Jupiter. Just off the top of my head I can think of close to a dozen I would gladly dive with.

To name a few charter operators that are all top-notch:
Boynton Beach ... Starfish and Loggerhead
Palm Beach/Riviera Beach area ... Pura Vida, Narcosis, Walkers
Jupter ... Jupiter Dive Center, Kyalami/Jupiter Scuba Diving

In terms of dive shops, you have Force-E (Riviera Beach, Boynton Beach, Boca Raton plus two locations in Broward County), Pura Vida (Singer Island), Jupiter Dive Center and Scuba Works (Jupiter).

All of these companies have websites. You can easily find them via a web search.

Thanks. I knew I could find shops via a web search but a personal recommendation means a lot from someone who has actually used them.