Emerald Charters - 3-tank trips?

[diverrex]

Does Emerald Charters run 3-tank trips every day? I will be near Jupiter on a Monday and Tuesday the second week in May and since I will only have two days to dive if I could get 6 dives in those days that would be great. Any comments on Emerald Charters as an op? I know lots of people like JDC but if I can't get in two extra dives that would be better. Would I be able to get tanks from Emerald? How about Nitrox? Seems like a lot of hunters on his trips, would I be out of place as a photographer?

 

[Flea Dog]

Emerald is a great operation. They usually spearfish deep. 80-130 ft., (advanced diving). You can get tank rentals at Scuba-Works, (including any size tank needed and nitrox) and if you can't get or return them Randy will schlep them for you.

 

[Shcubasteve]

Excellent charter for advanced ('good') divers. The deep ledge is the coolest dive in Jupiter and Randy is the man to take you there

 

[Chuckitall]

I'm on the boat a couple of times a week. If you want a little adventure in your diving, this is the boat. Alot of ops go to the main ledge regularly, which can be nice with fish. Emerald usually goes to the deep ledge which can be spectacular with big fish and sharks. He also provides a gourmet lunch each day. PM if you have ???

 

[Amazz]

Yes, Emerald runs every day. I love diving with Randy on that boat. You'll enjoy photography among the hunters. May is prime shark time on the 130 ft. ledge. You'll see sandbar sharks, bulls, and probably a hammerhead or two. It's also a great time to see schooling jacks and bonita.

You can get tanks at Scuba Works. I highly recommend steel 100s for extended bottom time at these depths. Get one 30% and two 36% tanks. Just tell the folks at Scuba Works you are diving with Randy and they will make sure you have what you need. I'll post a report after tomorrow's dive.

www.scubaworks.com
scuba diving jupiter

 

[diverrex]

Thanks everyone for the detailed information. Sounds like of enough of you like this op to give it good credibility.

My plans our still being set. I may also be able to add an afternoon dive on Sunday so I might do JDC's 2 tank afternoon, then two days on Emerald. 8 dives in 3 days, not so bad for a short trip. That's also why I'd like to be on nitrox, and I'd be flying out at 1 PM the next day.

I thought your dive prices were cheaper in FL than ours out here in CA until I realized on ours we only bring one tank and they fill 2X on the boat, yours you need to bring 3 tanks filled. It ends up making it just about the same. Factor in we have 2+ hours run time to Catalina and they feed us breakfast, lunch and snacks and ours are probably cheaper.

 

[diverrex]

Yes, Emerald runs every day. I love diving with Randy on that boat. You'll enjoy photography among the hunters. May is prime shark time on the 130 ft. ledge. You'll see sandbar sharks, bulls, and probably a hammerhead or two. It's also a great time to see schooling jacks and bonita.

You can get tanks at Scuba Works. I highly recommend steel 100s for extended bottom time at these depths. Get one 30% and two 36% tanks. Just tell the folks at Scuba Works you are diving with Randy and they will make sure you have what you need. I'll post a report after tomorrow's dive.

www.scubaworks.com
scuba diving jupiter

I'll be looking for that report, I've read many of yours. If you would please include temp, viz, depths and fish spotted so I can start to get a handle on specifics. Thanks in advance.

 

[Amazz]

It was a mixed bag. We had a wonderful group of people from Tampa and Atlanta on Blue Tang. If they aren't advanced open water card carriers, they should be after today. First dive was Captain Mike's, which is South Juno Ledge area. The surface current was ripping at 2 knots and pushing us to the west. By the time we hit the bottom, we had blown off the reef and landed in 90 feet of sand. So I pulled out my trusty compass and navigated the group sideways over to the reef. It took about 5 minutes. I didn't realize how strong the current was until we had the reef as a reference. It was like an amusement park ride. They were troopers and had a blast. The bottom was stirred up quite a bit because of the strong current and we only had about 30 feet of visibility. A shark darted by and we saw a few turtles. Even the fish looked tired facing into the current. Second dive we did Captain Kurles, just a bit to the north. The current was down quite a bit and visibility increased to about 40 feet. Saw several turtles, goliaths, reef shark, eels, and loads of schooling fish. Much better dive. Warm water has arrived. It was 74 degrees. Depths ranged from 65-90 feet.

I'm out on the Emerald tomorrow to hunt and take pictures. I think visibility is on the upswing. We'll be out in deeper water where it's usually better anyway. I'm going to try to get some bull shark video. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report.

 

[Amazz]

they feed us breakfast, lunch and snacks

I forgot to mention that Randy includes a gourmet lunch on the dives. His fiancee is a caterer to the stars on Palm Beach Island. She provides the box lunch for the divers.

I wish I could join you on the dives. However, I have taken way too much time off from work to play for several months. I swear I almost got fired for taking a week to go play with tiger sharks and lemon sharks in the Bahamas with our friends on Shark Tales.

Keep in touch. My hubby, Chuckitall is retired and would love to dive with you on Emerald in May.

 

[diverrex]

I forgot to mention that Randy includes a gourmet lunch on the dives. His fiancee is a caterer to the stars on Palm Beach Island. She provides the box lunch for the divers.

I wish I could join you on the dives. However, I have taken way too much time off from work to play for several months. I swear I almost got fired for taking a week to go play with tiger sharks and lemon sharks in the Bahamas with our friends on Shark Tales.

Keep in touch. My hubby, Chuckitall is retired and would love to dive with you on Emerald in May.

Thanks for the updates. Sounds like a good day of diving to me, I've only seen two reef sharks in 280 or so dives. And 30 - 40 ft viz is considered pretty good out here in California so I'd take that, though I wouldn't complain if it was 80+.

Does Blue Tang run afternnoon trips on Sundays? The calendar for May isn't up yet. You and your husband seem so friendly I'd rather skip JDC and do my three days with Blue Tang and Emerald. And since I'm flying out at 1PM Wednesday I'm starting to think about doing Blue Tang Tuesday and not push the limits. So if Blue Tang did a Sunday afternoon trip I'd do that, Emerald on Monday, and back to Blue Tang on Tuesday. Still 7 dives on a short 3 day trip, not so bad.