Blackwater Diving Recommendations in West Palm

[Jcp2]

Reading glasses to see the tiny critters up close?

 

[OceanEyes]

The core community for these dives is a group of regulars who shoot macro photography or video. Several of these folks have made hundreds of blackwater dives over the course of the past few years. The main appeal is of course the chance to see the odd denizens of the deep who rise into shallow water each night.

While not usually high voltage, action packed adventures, the dives themselves can be among the easiest, most relaxing experiences you can imagine: drifting along effortlessly and weightlessly, watching the world go by. I’d suggest you give it a try. Unless you’ve got some serious photographic aspirations, one or two blackwater dives should suffice to give you an appreciation of some of the marvels in what most people believe to be a featureless void. Make certain that you have a good primary light, and at least one back-up. Don’t expect to get back to the dock much before midnight, but if my friend Linda I. is on your boat, she almost always brings along a batch of freshly baked brownies so you won’t head home too hungry.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The core community for these dives is a group of regulars who shoot macro photography or video. Several of these folks have made hundreds of blackwater dives over the course of the past few years. The main appeal is of course the chance to see the odd denizens of the deep who rise into shallow water each night.

While not usually high voltage, action packed adventures, the dives themselves can be among the easiest, most relaxing experiences you can imagine: drifting along effortlessly and weightlessly, watching the world go by. I’d suggest you give it a try. Unless you’ve got some serious photographic aspirations, one or two blackwater dives should suffice to give you an appreciation of some of the marvels in what most people believe to be a featureless void. Make certain that you have a good primary light, and at least one back-up. Don’t expect to get back to the dock much before midnight, but if my friend Linda I. is on your boat, she almost always brings along a batch of freshly baked brownies so you won’t head home too hungry.

Now you've gone a peaked my interest

 

[living4experiences]

A question for those who have done these dives. For those who are not macro photographers is there anything to see? Is it worth the cost?

I've never done one of these primarily because I'm not a photographer and certainly don't do macro. I'm just a point-and-shoot GoPro hack. I'm assuming there really isn't much point to these if you're not a macro photographer with a nice camera/light setup.

What am I missing (if anything)?

I got my first taste of black water diving in Kona, Hawaii, where the drop-off into the abyss is 5000 feet. Whether you do photography or not, black water diving is an exciting experience because you get to view the sea critters in their larval stages of life that you can only see with this type of dive. You're hovering in the water column with no reference point to the bottom because in Florida it's 500-600 feet deep and you never know what will pass by your mask. I only dabble in photography with my TG-6 and this trip I'll be trying out my new YS-03 strobe, but I don't even know if it's enough of a strobe to pick up the critters. And if not, it's fine with me. I just love the unique show that the ocean gives me with the creatures from the deep. Yes, they are small, but sometimes you'll get a bigger critter like a Venus girdle or ctenophore pass by or one of those things you only see on the Discovery Channel that light up with different colors and squiggle around. It's super cool! Try it once and you'll be back for more!!