diving places between Miami and Jupiter

[linsupportable]

Hi, my name is Stephane, french frog living in Paris/France
I will come and spend a few days to dive in Florida (before flying to mexico)
I will go to crystal river for the manatee and have 3 days of diving on the east cost (from the 22th to the 24 th of january in the morning)
I don't want to go to the keys, and would prefer to stay in an area between Miami and Jupiter
I'm not a big fan of wreck, and dive to encounter marine species

you can see some of my pictures there:

sous marines

and on my facebook profile

Particulary in Florida, I would like to maximize the probability of meeting Goliath groupers, lemon sharks, finishing a book about marine life in the world (publication oct 2012)

I read a lot of the topics about diving in Florida on the forum but it is particulary difficult to decide what should be the best place to dive (boat dive): West palm beach? Jupiter?; I would like too to dive the blue heron bld bridge to try to meet macro life (bat fish?) and look for a place where it is possible to rent tank and weights

I thank you for the informations you will be abble to give to me

stephane
photograph
ffessm (france) instructor, state instructor (bees1), CAH2B (professionnal diver)
1600 dives, solo diver,... ...

 

[linsupportable]

 

[danvolker]

Hi, my name is Stephane, french frog living in Paris/France
I will come and spend a few days to dive in Florida (before flying to mexico)
I will go to crystal river for the manatee and have 3 days of diving on the east cost (from the 22th to the 24 th of january in the morning)
I don't want to go to the keys, and would prefer to stay in an area between Miami and Jupiter
I'm not a big fan of wreck, and dive to encounter marine species

you can see some of my pictures there:

sous marines

and on my facebook profile

Particulary in Florida, I would like to maximize the probability of meeting Goliath groupers, lemon sharks, finishing a book about marine life in the world (publication oct 2012)

I read a lot of the topics about diving in Florida on the forum but it is particulary difficult to decide what should be the best place to dive (boat dive): West palm beach? Jupiter?; I would like too to dive the blue heron bld bridge to try to meet macro life (bat fish?) and look for a place where it is possible to rent tank and weights

I thank you for the informations you will be abble to give to me

stephane
photograph
ffessm (france) instructor, state instructor (bees1), CAH2B (professionnal diver)
1600 dives, solo diver,... ...

Stephane,
First, Happy New Year.. And second, if the BHB is important for you , and I am thinking it is after checking out your photos...then I recomend you diving out of Singer Island ( West Palm) on this first trip....Stay at the Hilton on singer Island with their special Diver Rates, and be about 700 yards from the BHB. You wont need a rental car, as the concierge can drop you there, and there is a great dive shop right on the island, about 600 yards from the hotel--Pura Vida divers.
The hotel will also drop you at the diveboats, which are less than a mile away.
The next time you visit, then try Jupiter or Boynton Beach---each of the 3 areas of Palm Beach offer unique aspects /different marine environments. Visit South Florida Dive Journal > Home to find out a great deal more about each of the marine environments in Palm Beach, and how you can best find the dive you are looking for.

 

[Reck Diver]

If I were coming as far as you, my vote is for staying close to Boca Raton and dive the reefs between Deerfield and Boynton. There is plenty of life big and small on the reef. Nearby wrecks in Deefield hold big resident Golaiths. It's not uncommon that time of the year to encounter sailfish. Closer to Palm Beach you can run into the Spinner Sharks which are abundant and in less and 20 feet of water, but are very skittish about divers and boats.

The reef in both Boynton and Boca have lots of ledges, and drop offs and you will see everything from large palagics down to sea horses. The best dives are on the "third" reef which is 45' to the top of the reef and nice shear wall down to 60-65'. There are two other major reefs in 85 and 110, but I prefer the shallow one. A little further south is the "Pompano Dropoff", which is the prettiest 20 ft. deep dive you will ever make.

I know a lot of people like the dive the Blue Heron Bridge, but with your profile, I think you will be greatly disappointed. With an 80 cu.ft. tank you will have about a two hour dive that you could cover in a fraction of that. The bottom is mostly sand, with some rubble, bridge pilings sponges and shopping carts. The dive also has a very small daily window of opportunity. One hour before and after high tide is the only realistic time to dive it. The main selling point is that it is free. However, if you are coming all the way from France, the price of a the dive boat is well worth it.

Just my .02

 

[sportxlh]

Staphane: beautiful pictures!!

Based on your photos, I agree that you'll need to dive Blue Heron Bridge: it is the perfect muck dive to see much macro life including tiny nudibranches, caribbean sea spiders, sea horses, mantis shrimp along with bigger critters like bat fish, flying gurnards, stargazers and lots of immature varieties of tropical fish and eels. Just remember that it is a slack high tide dive (roughly an hour on each side of slack high tide). The other thing to keep in mind: the topography is not pretty: it really is a muck dive in which you'll focus on photographing the small critters. It is not like diving a beautiful reef where the reef/topography itself can be stunning.

There are two shops very close to BHB: the already mentioned Pura Vida and Force -E. Riviera Beach Scuba Diving Center - Dive store in central Riviera Beach Both shops can also help you find dive boats if you decide to stay in this area (e.g. Singer Island).

Another good operator for boat diving in the area is Jim Abernathy: Scuba Diving Palm Beach, Florida :: Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures

I am partial to Jupiter where divers are very likely to see large marine life: sharks, goliath grouper, at least 3 species of sea turtles along with some macro life too (occasional nudibranch, flamingo tongues) and tropical fish. You are also more likely to see Lemons in Jupiter when the 'lemon shark' season rolls around in a few weeks. I tend to use this operator: Jupiter Dive Center. Jupiter Dive Center but there are several other good ones in Jupiter as well.

Both Jupiter and West Palm Beach have some beautiful reefs that are teaming with life along with some nice wrecks.

Boynton Beach can also be a neat area to dive reefs though I tend to see less large marine life when I am down there diving. I'll see a turtle or two or maybe a shark or two..... compared to a couple of recent dives in Jupiter where I saw 20+ reef sharks and 12 turtles, 6 morays, etc.. Then again, if I dove in Boynton more often, maybe I'd stand a better chance of participating in dives in which large marine life is encountered regularly. The operator I like in the Boynton area is Underwater Explorers: https://securec7.ezhostingserver.com/diveboyntonbeach-com/indexs.cfm

Ft Lauderdale/Pompano and Lauderdale by the Sea are also great areas to dive through the wrecks are better than the reefs in my opinion: if you want to stay away from wrecks, you might want to stick to Boynton, WPB or Jupiter. One other thing to keep in mind: the current is generally less of an issue in Ft Lauderdale compared to Boynton/WPB/Jupiter where almost all of the diving is drift diving (I only mention this since it is more difficult to take photos on a drift dive). If you decide to go to Ft Lauderdale: here's some good ops I've used:

Scubatyme: .:: SCUBATYME ::.

Pompano Dive Center: Pompano Dive Center

South Florida Dive Headquarters: Visit One of the "Top Ten" Scuba and Snorkel Dive Locations, Sunny Sourth Florida, with South Florida Diving Headquarters

This shop can get you on almost any boat in the area: Gold Coast Scuba Gold Coast Scuba Divers (954) 616-5909 (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - Meetup They also sponsor a lot of beach dives as well.

I am sure you'll get some other opinions on dive operators and locations: you almost can't go wrong from Ft Lauderdale to Jupiter.

The only other thing to keep in mind is that winter marine conditions can be rough. A few weeks ago, very few boats were going out because of the wave heights. Hopefully you'll arrive during a period of relative calm.

Again, wonder photographs! Enjoy your trip to Florida!!

 

[linsupportable]

thanks to you for your informations
it was hard to choose; for my first time in florida, i will try Jupiter dive center, all I've read about was really only compliments
I'm not sure I will be abble to dive the BHB, the tide hours are quite late (8pm)
I will enjoy in every case, now I can pray to have the best conditions
Dan, Wonderfull mag

 

[jimw]

OR early, Hi tides are about 12 hours apart. On January 22 hi tide is 7:27 AM as well as about 12 hours later. Nite dives at BHB are usually sponsored by a dive shop as permits are needed to be in the park after sunset.

The 23rd hitide is 8:12 AM and the 24th is 8:54 AM. Enter the water about 1/2 hour to 1 hour before hi tide.

The bridge is about 25 minutes south of JDC via US 1, so hit the bridge in the morning and do an afternoon trip with Jupiter Dive Center, etc.

 

[kevmiami]

Plus one on Underwater Explorers https://securec7.ezhostingserver.com/diveboyntonbeach-com/indexs.cfm We dove on Sunday 03/25/2012 for the first time. Every place along the East Coast offers something just a little different and we enjoyed our both the Black Condo and Castle Ledge spots. Although I have seen a fair number of Goliath Groupers under ledges and wrecks, I have never been stalked by a 300-400 lb fish before I was buddy breathing with my partner (doing my Remora imitation), when I looked over our shoulders and we where being shadowed by a really nice Goliath - he seemed almost indignant we weren't paying more attention to him. He slowly turned and swam away, only for him to reappear shadowing us in the same manner a couple of minutes later. It was quite glorious to see this beautiful fish swimming fully in the open water very close. Great time had by all, Kevin.

 

[bilsant]

I think the original poster's travel dates have come and gone, though I'd be interesting in hearing how she enjoyed the dives and photography.