I was able to get out diving this weekend. Here is a quick summary for those watching for condition updates.
Sat 13 Nov, AM charter with Pura Vida. Dive Sites: (1) Paul's Reef and (2) Flower Garden. Seas were almost flat! Just a gentle, rolling 1' or less. Water temp was uniformly 80 degrees throughout. Very minimal current. Visibility wasn't great. 30' average, 20' in spots, 40' in others. I had a very cool squid encounter on Flower Gardens (you all know I love squid!). Also saw a large bull shark off in the murk near the end of Paul's. I saw a tiny juvenile smooth trunkfish. Those are so cute! I also saw a cornetfish. Those aren't as common as the similar trumpetfish and are always a treat to see! Of course all the usual tropicals common to the Palm Beach reefs.
Sun 14 Nov, AM charter with Jupiter Dive Center. Dive Sites (1) Bluffs and (2) Bonnies. Seas were up a bit but not bad. 2-3' approximately. Water temp was still uniformly 80 degrees throughout. Even less current than yesterday in Palm Beach. Visibility was also not great. Similar to Palm Beach the day before or maybe a bit worse. I saw one of the resident hawksbill turtles, a large reef shark with an entourage of 5-6 jacks following it everywhere, a guy in the group speared a nice gag grouper, and the usual tropicals were all present. I was lucky enough to be on the boat with Banjo (golden retriever assistance dog) and his owner with a disability that has rendered him paralyzed from the waist down. What an impressive duo those two make!!! Very, very impressive.
All in all a great weekend of diving, nice and relaxing which I absolutely needed as work has been crazy!
I'll post a few video clips that I've downloaded and colorized in another post.
Sat 13 Nov, AM charter with Pura Vida. Dive Sites: (1) Paul's Reef and (2) Flower Garden. Seas were almost flat! Just a gentle, rolling 1' or less. Water temp was uniformly 80 degrees throughout. Very minimal current. Visibility wasn't great. 30' average, 20' in spots, 40' in others. I had a very cool squid encounter on Flower Gardens (you all know I love squid!). Also saw a large bull shark off in the murk near the end of Paul's. I saw a tiny juvenile smooth trunkfish. Those are so cute! I also saw a cornetfish. Those aren't as common as the similar trumpetfish and are always a treat to see! Of course all the usual tropicals common to the Palm Beach reefs.
Sun 14 Nov, AM charter with Jupiter Dive Center. Dive Sites (1) Bluffs and (2) Bonnies. Seas were up a bit but not bad. 2-3' approximately. Water temp was still uniformly 80 degrees throughout. Even less current than yesterday in Palm Beach. Visibility was also not great. Similar to Palm Beach the day before or maybe a bit worse. I saw one of the resident hawksbill turtles, a large reef shark with an entourage of 5-6 jacks following it everywhere, a guy in the group speared a nice gag grouper, and the usual tropicals were all present. I was lucky enough to be on the boat with Banjo (golden retriever assistance dog) and his owner with a disability that has rendered him paralyzed from the waist down. What an impressive duo those two make!!! Very, very impressive.
All in all a great weekend of diving, nice and relaxing which I absolutely needed as work has been crazy!
I'll post a few video clips that I've downloaded and colorized in another post.