What's the best way to find out if conditions are good to snorkel in Vero?

[wrlay88]

My fiancee' and I are beginning to get into diving and snorkeling. Last year we went to Vero Beach and just happened to have great conditions to snorkel the reef right off the beach. I live in Lakeland, FL about 2 hours west of Vero and want to know what is the best way of knowing that the viz will be good to snorkel the reefs of the beach of Vero before I actually pack my bags and go? I don't want to drive two hours and find out the bad news when I get into town like I did this Spring Break...

 

[fjpatrum]

Even if viz is bad, a snorkel mask and fins don't really take up much space. Plus, you're still at the beach, enjoy other opportunities if the snorkeling sucks that day.

 

[Scuba_Jay]

Give Deep 6 Vero a call (772-562-2883) and ask for the scuba department. They usually have a good sense of what is going on.

 

[scubajim 1]

Yup call Deep 6 Vero, but if there has been a west wind for a few days the viz is usually good.
I'd also suggest a look at Pepper Park in Ft Pierce. Plan to be there early in the day as conditions are always better in the morning before the sea breeze starts. Here is a link to the bouy off Ft Pierce that will give you an idea of the real time conditions:NDBC - Station 41114
You can also PM me because I live in the area and shore dive here frequently and usually know the viz.
If you don't like the conditions the UDT Seal Museum is right there in the park. BTW Pepper Park is where the Navy developed its tactics for beach assualts for WWII. We used to find all sorts of "interesting" ordnance from the training done there.

 

[wrlay88]

Thanks for the tips guys! I will PM you about the viz for sure scubajim 1! When looking at the weather forecast or the surf forecast for the area what things should I look for when looking for good Viz?

 

[scubajim 1]

look for winds from the west, no storms off shore, a very long wave interval and small waves. While this won't be a guarentee of great shore viz on the treasure coast it will be a pretty good indicator.
Soon we should be getting temp readings from the 41114 bouy and that is nice info to have too.
Let me know if you want to do a shore dive/snorkle wrlay88 and maybe I can show you around.

 

[wrlay88]

Thanks for the help, I'll be in touch! This summer we'll come back to Vero and I'll send you a message about how the conditions will be before we actually go. We want to go back in June. We actually went to Pepper Park but it was super rough on Tuesday so we didn't stay. We would like to snorkel Rio Mar in Vero.

 

[Danielle's_Dives]

Deep six is saying 8-12 feet viz off beach with a sporadic chop.

 

[wrlay88]

how did you find out? I'm was looking for how to find out...

 

[scubajim 1]

You can get put on their Email alert list. It will not only give you viz reports but also fun things and dives the shop is involved with.