Currents - Shore Diving - seasonal?

[Basking Ridge Diver]

General question - Florida Boca Rotan to Hollywood shore diving currents.

Are the currents always strong or is it based on wind, tides and weather? In other words are they always there?
Are late spring, summer and early fall the best times to dive with the least currents?
I am planning some dives and realized I have not seen anyone posting much about the currents or when they are most prevalent.

Thanks

 

[Johnoly]

General question - Florida Boca Rotan to Hollywood shore diving currents....

I think more experienced "shore" divers can help better, but I'll give you what I look at. I know ALOT of divers hate fast current, but I'm a "Ripping Current" junkie. You want to hear me screaming happy on the surface, just give me a 4 knot current that will rip your arms out of your shoulder sockets. Huge Smile Maker!! My teammates hate me when it happens.

Moon phases have alot to do with shore currents, but I have certain weeks marked on my dive calendar when it's traditionally ripping offshore and that can translate to inshore movement or Eddy's. In my experience, any current above 2knots will have Eddy swirls anywhere from 500ft to 1/2 mile long which means a south current if inside an eddy. My notes for screaming currents are :
Last week of March
First week of July
Last week of July
2nd week of October
King Tides in December

Otherwise I look at 2 websites.

Rutger's university
It's not a bad site, but it has lots of holes in it and I kinda use it as a "2nd verification" site to see what predictions are in agreement. Sea Surface temps equal the gulf stream placement.
Sea Surface Temperature - IMCS Coastal Ocean Observation Lab

Passages
My primary site for the last 10 years has been Passages website. This one is pretty accurate most of the time and can give you a heads up what to expect before you get on the water and dip a toe in see it in real time. Passages is mostly for sailboats and unfortunately not 'zoomable'. But it's a great starting point.
On this link you have to click on the map to drill down into the area, then click on the "Gulf Stream" tab at the top,. I don't have a one-step link.
Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Johnoly - Interestingly enough I use The Rutgers Site up here in NJ but never thought it would work in FL... Same up here - it is good but not perfect. Great suggestion. I will start looking at Passages - thanks and I will start monitoring those weeks as well.

On a drift dive that is fine but my wife just got certified and I want to take her where the viz is better than 4 feet and without a ripping current where we have to walk back to our truck...
Thanks - gives me some things to think about...

 

[Ghetto Diver]

Good stuff above.

Generally, there is a North bound current.
It will switch South, but pretty rare.
I shore dive Broward a lot and can think of one time where the current was so fast that it was a problem.
I am able to enter and exit at the same spot.
If there is a notable current I will swim against it and drift back to my stop waypoint and head home.
Parking is the real problem. Get there early. You will probably see more anyway.

Surge can be challenging at times btw. Low vis and heavy surge give me vertigo. Ymmv.