west palm beach info

[Strima77]

Looking to dive off West Palm Beach. Any suggestions for operators? No spearfishing. Thanks.

[danvolker]

Looking to dive off West Palm Beach. Any suggestions for operators? No spearfishing. Thanks.

Palm Beach has a diversity in it's diving sites unlike any other you are likely to have visited. You have shallow macro( 6-18 feet), you have coral reefs from 40 feet to 60 feet deep with spectacular colors--and with offshore ledges and offshore rubble getting to deeper than 90 feet.

Palm Beach has great wreck diving from depths beginning at around 65 feet, to 90 feet ( about a dozen great wrecks like this), and then another dozen spectacular wrecks whuch are much deeper, and good for tech divers. Palm Beach wrecks are known for huge amount of fish populating these wrecks, including the largest concentrations of Goliath Groupers in the world.


Palm Beach also has the deeper ledges of the Juno and Jupiter areas, which are massive structures, covered with more big fish and goliaths...And with plenty of real sharks ( Bulls, black tips, lemons, hammers, and some tigers)....I am not counting nurse sharks which it obviously has too. Juno does have plenty of sea turtles, but the highest concentrations for sea turtles in all of Florida will be Breakers Reef, just off the island of Palm Beach...This is a 40 to 60 foot coral reef dive.
You can see all of this in stills and videos on www.sfdj.com and their is a "Find a Boat" tab on the toolbar, which includes all of what I consider to be the best charter boat operations in Palm Beach ( from Jupiter , to South as far as Boynton/Delray). Any not included, were not included due to issues which have us considering them "less than ideal" for out of town dive tourists.

Only a few boats allow spearfishing....and this is easy to handle when you call to book. If you give me a few of the major things you are hoping to experience, I could suggest a boat operator for you.

[debersole]

Dan was wonderfully "politically correct". I agree there are lots of great operators in West Palm. My personal favorite, however, is Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures (www.scuba-adventures.com). Just my 2 cents.

Doug

[sportxlh]

I've been out with Jim Abernathy, Narcosis and the Scuba Club. All are good ops.

If I am looking for a Friday afternoon two tank dive, I go with the Scuba Club. The biggest negative to the Scuba Club is that they run a lot of one tank dives, but they are about the only game in town for a regularly scheduled Friday afternoon two tank dive trip. If I can't go out with Jupiter Dive Center on the weekend because they are booked, Jim Abernathy Scuba Adventures is on the top of my back up list.

I know that the Scuba Club does not allow spearfishing, I'm not sure about the others.

[Strima77]

Thanks all for the replies. I checked out the sfdj site and its helpful.

[Chugwhump]

OK
no need for me to weigh in as you guys handled it pretty good for STrima77.

I was going to suggest Emerald Charters due to their low key approach and overall oneness with nature style of diving.

They are like a bunch of Granola eatin' tree huggers up there.

Chug

[Dan G]

I hope no one considers this a highjack since I think it is related:

Any recommendations for taking the Rescue Diver Course?
I am open to ops/ instructors from the Ft. Lauderdale area down to the Keys.

Any thoughts on booking through a dive op who has a school vs. indi instructors?

Agency recommendations for this course?

[danvolker]

I hope no one considers this a highjack since I think it is related:

Any recommendations for taking the Rescue Diver Course?
I am open to ops/ instructors from the Ft. Lauderdale area down to the Keys.

Any thoughts on booking through a dive op who has a school vs. indi instructors?

Agency recommendations for this course?

Pura Vida Dive Shop on Singer Island( West Palm Beach) , has a great instructor for Rescue...Jerry..This would be PADI......The BHB Marine Park is virtually in their back yard, about 300 yards away, so the training program is very easy to implement well here. There are many great rescue situations ideally created at BHB, and without the need for a boat, this gets even more attractive in price.

[sportxlh]

I hope no one considers this a highjack since I think it is related:

Any recommendations for taking the Rescue Diver Course?
I am open to ops/ instructors from the Ft. Lauderdale area down to the Keys.

Any thoughts on booking through a dive op who has a school vs. indi instructors?

Agency recommendations for this course?

I did my AOW class with the Scuba Club and was very happy. I've watched them conduct Rescue Diver Class drills and they seemed very professional.

However, for my Rescue Diver Class, I used Gold Coast Scuba in Lauderdale by the Sea. They have several good instructors. Much of the in-water training was done as beach dives at LBTS and Tiger Lake. I was happy with the instruction and the cost was fairly low compared to most others (given the beach access).

[Planeguy]

I will be in Palm Beach for business the last weekend in June and will have June 30th and July 1st available to dive. I am newly certified (February) and would like to buddy up with anyone looking for someone to go diving with that weekend. One tank or two is ok with me.