The continuing sagas of the Blue Heron Bridge

[jimw]

If you arrive at the park/BHB 2 or 2 and a half hours before high tide--you will find a lot of folks to give you a briefing or to dive with. Come on down!! You could even make it Friday, if there's a scrub; as high tide is 3pm. Sat hi 4:05pm, Sun 5:11pm. West side is open and the east will be soon as the guard rails on the new bridge are installed now.

Here's a general plan. Get in an hour early(before hi tide)and fiddle around under the boats south off the beach, head NW toward the bridge sometime before slack hi tide, possible a half hour or so, use the small current to your advantage. enjoy the pillars or look for octos, etc south of the bridge as you work your way west to the channel wall--do the wall on the channel side as slack hits. At the "wall" exit kick NE to the fishing pier. great fishy spot is the rubble on the N edge of pier about half way down. When the current reverses- ride it back to the entry...................This will make for about a 90-120 minute dive.:cool2:

 

[scuba70]

Many thanks to the lady diver who showed me the very small nudibranch yesterday afternoon. She motioned me over in earnest as we were passing by. Clearly excited by the find. I was diving with my two sons, this being only my youngests second dive at the bridge. It was under the west span. I would love to have a copy of the photos you took of it.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

New digs!

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/fl...645-blue-heron-bridge-trolls.html#post5939809

If you arrive at the park/BHB 2 or 2 and a half hours before high tide--you will find a lot of folks to give you a briefing or to dive with. Come on down!! You could even make it Friday, if there's a scrub; as high tide is 3pm. Sat hi 4:05pm, Sun 5:11pm. West side is open and the east will be soon as the guard rails on the new bridge are installed now.

Here's a general plan. Get in an hour early(before hi tide)and fiddle around under the boats south off the beach, head NW toward the bridge sometime before slack hi tide, possible a half hour or so, use the small current to your advantage. enjoy the pillars or look for octos, etc south of the bridge as you work your way west to the channel wall--do the wall on the channel side as slack hits. At the "wall" exit kick NE to the fishing pier. great fishy spot is the rubble on the N edge of pier about half way down. When the current reverses- ride it back to the entry...................This will make for about a 90-120 minute dive.:cool2:

Many thanks to the lady diver who showed me the very small nudibranch yesterday afternoon. She motioned me over in earnest as we were passing by. Clearly excited by the find. I was diving with my two sons, this being only my youngests second dive at the bridge. It was under the west span. I would love to have a copy of the photos you took of it.

For everything but bitching, we moved

 

[mntlblok]

West side is open and the east will be soon as the guard rails on the new bridge are installed now.

Dove the east side last Sunday, as did several others. Still have limited experience at the bridge, but I like the plan you laid out for the west side better than seeing what I saw on the east side.

Kevin

 

[Aggie Diver]

If you arrive at the park/BHB 2 or 2 and a half hours before high tide--you will find a lot of folks to give you a briefing or to dive with. Come on down!! You could even make it Friday, if there's a scrub; as high tide is 3pm. Sat hi 4:05pm, Sun 5:11pm. West side is open and the east will be soon as the guard rails on the new bridge are installed now.

Here's a general plan. Get in an hour early(before hi tide)and fiddle around under the boats south off the beach, head NW toward the bridge sometime before slack hi tide, possible a half hour or so, use the small current to your advantage. enjoy the pillars or look for octos, etc south of the bridge as you work your way west to the channel wall--do the wall on the channel side as slack hits. At the "wall" exit kick NE to the fishing pier. great fishy spot is the rubble on the N edge of pier about half way down. When the current reverses- ride it back to the entry...................This will make for about a 90-120 minute dive.:cool2:

Thanks Jim. Atlantis launched today, so I plan on being there tomorrow.

I've read that you need a dive flag at the site. Will Force-E or someone rent those in addition to tank/weights?

 

[Aggie Diver]

If you arrive at the park/BHB 2 or 2 and a half hours before high tide--you will find a lot of folks to give you a briefing or to dive with. Come on down!! You could even make it Friday, if there's a scrub; as high tide is 3pm. Sat hi 4:05pm, Sun 5:11pm. West side is open and the east will be soon as the guard rails on the new bridge are installed now.

Here's a general plan. Get in an hour early(before hi tide)and fiddle around under the boats south off the beach, head NW toward the bridge sometime before slack hi tide, possible a half hour or so, use the small current to your advantage. enjoy the pillars or look for octos, etc south of the bridge as you work your way west to the channel wall--do the wall on the channel side as slack hits. At the "wall" exit kick NE to the fishing pier. great fishy spot is the rubble on the N edge of pier about half way down. When the current reverses- ride it back to the entry...................This will make for about a 90-120 minute dive.:cool2:

Jim, thanks for the dive plan. Is there anywhere people meet up in particular, anyone to look for, etc.? Or just general show up and dive?

 

[danvolker]

There are so many dive flags at the site already on weekends I can't be bothered with this nonsense of towing one more flag....All you have to do is stay within 300 feet of a flag to be "legal", and the reality is, the only boats that are ANY risk to you are :

1. run by boaters so stupid/ignorant of boating practices that they do not know what aa dive flag means, or care, and they will often run right over a flag. any protection you think the flag offers you is really a dangerous false sense of security.....your sense of hearing( for boat motors) and awarness when you have to ascend ( scanning visually for oncoming boats) are the TRUE protections you have, other than just staying in areas we don't usually see boats in...
2. Sheriff, coast guard and marine patrol boats will often run close to us, looking for revenue opportunities by ticketing divers for not following an ordinance they MUST know is practically useless. They could run over you, so they are a potential threat, as they look for divers to ticket. Do they EVER ticket boaters running through the dive flags near the beach, in the swimming area? Not that we have seen, and this happens EVERY WEEKEND. Clearly, if diver safety was on their minds, ticketing the boaters near BHB would be common....instead, all we see are no-wake violations and life jacket harrassment of boaters--both revenue tools unrelated to diver safety.

 

[danvolker]

Who will be at the BHB today? Sandra and I are heading there for the afternoon dive....I had my morning bike ride rained out, so freediving BHB becomes the best way to reclaim the day

 

[jimw]

Jim, thanks for the dive plan. Is there anywhere people meet up in particular, anyone to look for, etc.? Or just general show up and dive?

Basically show up and dive--most everyone is now down toward the west site as the east is still sorta closed unless that's changed in the last few days. Park somewhere around the playground and you will see most of who's available. I think we are going Monday evening--hi tide is 6:13pm.
Happy Diving!!:cool2:

 

[Aggie Diver]

Thanks again Jim. One last Q. Dive flag - will a SMB work in lieu of a proper dive flag?