Thinking of a quick trip to Florida this summer. Any recommendations?

[Hoag]

I am just finishing off a new U/W Camera set-up. I got a Sony A6000, a Nauticam Housing, and Sea&Sea YS-03 strobes. My dome port for my 10-18mm f4 lens is on order and should be here in a week or so to finish off the package.

I am booked on a Live aboard in late October, but it has been a while (about a year) since I have dove, and I would like to do a quick trip (2-3 days of diving) to knock the rust off and to check out my new camera gear.

I will be shooting (almost) exclusively wide angle.

I live in Ontario and Florida is easy to get to so I thought that would be an ideal location for a couple days of diving this summer (July-ish). I have dove in the Key Largo area, and I was certified in Panama City, so I am familiar with those areas, but I have never dove in the Palm Beach / Jupiter area.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good place to go mid summer and if so, what I can expect to see? (Looking for wide angle subjects: sharks, rays, Goliath Groupers, wrecks or walls.)

Thanks.

 

[PatW]

At Key Largo, you have a choice of diving. You can dive shallow reefs which are mainly coral ridges about 7' with sand channels in between. You will have a large variety of soft and hard corals. You will also have good fish populations. The reefs are shallow generally 30' to the bottom and usually no current. There are also deep wreck dives that you can do there. I have not done the deep wreck dives but they would offer more deep pelagics than the reefs. Some shallow reef dives would offer very limited wide angle possibilities. Others would be quite nice. The Benwood would be a good dive for wide angle. I have been there when you have large schools of small fish being attacked by bar jacks, yellow tailed snapper, grouper and even a nurse shark. A dramatic subject for wide angle. Generally, a trip does 2 dives. You could do a deep wreck dive which would be great for wide angle followed by a shallow dive which might offer some good shots and might not. I don't recall ever seeing a turtle in Key Largo, I am sure that they are there but I have never seen one. I have seen goliath groupers there.

At Palm Beach, you have dives in the 60' range. At Jupiter, the ledge is about 80+ feet but it is famous for large critters: sharks, turtles, and so on. I dove there once in August and saw schooling goliath groupers which is pretty impressive (yeah the schools were small 4-6 fish each for a total of 20+ individuals). But seeing fish the size of appliances schooling at all is a novel sight. They do that when they gather to mate.

So you have very different experiences.

 

[DiverAmy]

There are many options of dive operators and dive shops in the West Palm Jupiter area. I go out with many of them: Jupiter Dive Center, Walkers Dive Charters, Narcosis Dive Charters, Little Deeper, Kyalami Dive Charters. Force-e scuba in Riviera Beach books a lot of dive boats if you don't want to find one and book it on your own. In the summer there are too many options to go into on where to stay. If you need assistance, give us more information about what kind of accommodation you would be looking for, but using Google, Expedia, Trip Advisor, etc. you should find an accommodation without any trouble. On weekdays, you'll generally find 2 tank morning dives. On Fridays you can find a few three tank deals. On Saturdays and Sundays generally, you can find 2-tank morning and 2-tank afternoon dives. It pays to book weekends a week or two in advance at the least. Weekdays, its easier to find a last minute spot. Most charters can supply tanks, so can a few dive shops including Force-e. You can get gear to rent, too from a lot of sources.

You can expect sharks, Loggerhead and green turtles, GGs, and plenty of other fish, hard and soft coral, sponges, etc. The GGs and Sharks are often around the wrecks. Juno Ledge is a great dive. All the wrecks are good. Breakers and the sites in that area S of the LW inlet are very nice. Jupiter has plenty of pretty sites, too. Avg depths are around 75-80. Good luck!!

 

[Trailboss123]

I just came back a couple weeks ago and wrote this trip report. You may find it helpful and feel free to PM me if you'd like additional info. Personally, I'd recommend that you dive out of Boynton Beach and go with Starfish Scuba for your objectives. Book your dives online and soon if diving on the weekend. It can fill up. Say Hi to Maggie and Adam from me, if you go with them. All the best-- Greg Bruce
Trip Report: SE Florida 2/16-20/2017

 

[sportxlh]

For wide angle, try Jupiter, WPB or Boynton. Lots of turtles, sharks and Goliath grouper in all those locations but Jupiter is the most reliable for spotting all three in my experience. In Jupiter, try to see the Tunnels site where both GG's and sharks live year round. My favorite operator is Jupiter Dive Ctr. Other options include Stuart Scuba, Capt Sl8er and Scuba Work's boat.

Boynton and WPB both have wrecks where GG's hang out year round too. They aren't present in the same number as during spawning season, but you're likely to see half a dozen in the summer. The Castor is in Boynton and the Bud Barge, Danny and Amaryllis are in WPB.

 

[Bison]

There are many options as the previous posts have listed. I did a recent " quick " stop in Florida and had a great time. Just figure out where your going, what type of diving your going to be doing and research the dive shops/charters in the area your staying. Can't go wrong with all experienced feedback and advice in here to help refine your trip. Have fun and dive safe!

 

[johnnywulff]

I just came back from Florida, for Shark Feeding and Goliath Grouper at Jupiter with Emeralds Charters and Scuba Works it's a must do it.

 

[scubadada]

A trip to SE FL between Boynton Beach and Jupiter will satisfy all your objectives. In my opinion, Boynton Beach has the most luscious reef, full of all the usual reef fish. The wreck of the Castor has a resident population of Goliath Grouper, this goes up dramatically for aggregation, late August through September. West Palm is often the best choice when winds and seas limit access from Boynton Beach or Jupiter. Jupiter consistently has sharks, turtles, and Goliath Grouper. Send me a message if you would like recommendations for operators, after 7 years and more than 600 dives, I have strong opinions