OP
krukster86
Contributor
Booked a manatee excursion in Crystal River with Bird's Underwater for our last day "in the water". I know it is just snorkeling, but we wanted to get in the water with manatees 
Help Us Plan Our Dive Roadtrip: Augusta GA to Key Largo?
- Thread starter krukster86
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OP
krukster86
Contributor
Question for you FL guys and gals: do I need to invest in a "boat coat" for the diving the Atlantic side (palm beach) in December? I am guessing I should be OK for the Keys? I plan to take my wetsuit hood and gloves with me just to be safe.
definitely bring a boat coat. We tend to get cold north winds down in the Keys, so it's always smart to bring one and not need it rather than need it and freeze on your way back to the dock.
It doesn't need to be anything fancy, but I would suggest a dry shirt and a hoodie of some sorts so you don't have to spend alot of money on something you'll only end up using on vacation.
It doesn't need to be anything fancy, but I would suggest a dry shirt and a hoodie of some sorts so you don't have to spend alot of money on something you'll only end up using on vacation.
sportxlh
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I always brought a dry tee shirt, cheap fleece coat or wind breaker, baseball hat and a towel in a dry bag/canoe bag in the winter when I lived in Florida. Never owned an expensive boat coat. Depending on the boat, some will have have enough room and privacy for you to change out of your swim suit and put on dry shorts too. I know you can do this on Jupiter Dive Center's boat and Conch Republic's boat.
PullYourselfTogetherMan
Contributor
I'm in Augusta myself. Sounds like a nice trip.
OP
krukster86
Contributor
Less than 1 week to go! I will try and provide a post with my impressions and "Lessons Learned" for anyone wanting to do a similar trip in the future.
OP
krukster86
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Oh yeah here is a dumb Blue Heron Bridge question...as we are new to shore diving from a car, what is the general rule of thumb there with security?
- Leave no valuables in the car
- Hide car key somewhere?
- Leave no valuables in the car
- Hide car key somewhere?
Johnoly
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In my experience at BHB it's safe but always be in a direct line of sight with your gear. This is pretty easy since most back in their vehicles next to the sidewalk and setup or rinse at the showers which will both give you direct sight. Still be safe and and lock your vehicle. I haven't ever seen a locked car break in or smashed window (there's too many people (witnesses) around). For car keys, remember you are diving shallow at 20ft max. I have a tiny waterproof box the size of my fist that I clip off to a back D-ring. Or you can low tech redneck it and put just your car keys in a freezer ziplock baggie and duct tape or zip tie it to above your dive flag foam float you'll be towing around (required) at BHB then rip it open after you get back to your car.
On a side note, your detailed daily timeline looks like you might hit the Key Largo weather window. Keep an eye on this windfinder link as you get closer to this weekends trip and remember to have a great time and be flexible with your plans a bit and talk to the dive shops what they think weather will be. Ginger cookies and lots of sleep are pre-cures for big waves.
Windfinder.com - Wind and weather forecast Molasses Reef
OP
krukster86
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I am definitely going the redneck route then! Going to use my backup key (no electronics) just to be safe.
OP
krukster86
Contributor
Interim Trip Update:
We left Augusta at 4:30 AM and made it to Key Largo at 4:30 PM (with a stop at Versailles in Miami for a late lunch!). The next day, we dove Carysfort Lighthouse (double dip) in the morning with Silent World Dive Center. Visibility was so-so due to some extremely bad weather conditions a few days before. However, we were happy to be able to dive anyway. Lots of lobsters, eels, barracuda, puffers, angelfish, parrotfish, hermit crabs, grunts, and trunkfish. Even in 3.5mm full suits with fin socks and boots, we felt a bit chilly by the second dive. For the afternoon session, Silent World didn’t have enough divers for a boat to go out, so we were transferred to Horizon Divers next door, who gladly took us in as foster divers hehe! We dove Elbow Reef and The Fingers. We saw a green sea turtle, mantis shrimp, trumpetfish, green moray eels, and a nurse shark. Water was still a bit chilly. I will admit my navigation suffered due to the so-so visibility at Elbow Reef and my wife and I had to pop up to triangulate where the boat was, as it was difficult to see the mooring line, let alone the next coral head.
The next day, we decided to bring along our diving gloves and hoods to dive the USS Spiegel Grove, as it is deeper than the reef dives. This ended up being a brilliant decision, as I barely felt cold at all! There was pretty strong current all the way down to the superstructure of the wreck, and visibility was around 15-20 feet, so you don’t really see the wreck till it almost hits you in the face. We decided to play it safe and just do loops around the superstructure so that we wouldn’t get lost. We saw a massive school of HUGE barracuda that we were able to swim through, a lot of big Queen angelfish, a Goliath grouper, and a few blue parrotfish (which unlike the reef based ones, these were not afraid of our approach!). We started ascending at 1100 psi to play it safe. The second dive was literally a repeat of the first, no complaints though! Unfortunately our afternoon dives were cancelled, as other boat captains on the radio were reporting poor visibility.
For Christmas, we are being transferred over to Amoray Dive Resort to join their morning dive trip. 3 foot waves are forecasted but we are still good to go, as we have been diving in tougher conditions.
I really do appreciate the collaborative effort of the dive shops here in Key Largo to mix and match us around to ensure that we are able to dive to the extent possible.
I overheard someone mention that Blue Grotto may be closed due to flooding? If anyone has any news about that, let us know, then maybe we may extend our West Palm Beach stay by one extra day. If anyone is planning to go diving at Blue Heron Bridge December 26, we are diving between 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM.
We left Augusta at 4:30 AM and made it to Key Largo at 4:30 PM (with a stop at Versailles in Miami for a late lunch!). The next day, we dove Carysfort Lighthouse (double dip) in the morning with Silent World Dive Center. Visibility was so-so due to some extremely bad weather conditions a few days before. However, we were happy to be able to dive anyway. Lots of lobsters, eels, barracuda, puffers, angelfish, parrotfish, hermit crabs, grunts, and trunkfish. Even in 3.5mm full suits with fin socks and boots, we felt a bit chilly by the second dive. For the afternoon session, Silent World didn’t have enough divers for a boat to go out, so we were transferred to Horizon Divers next door, who gladly took us in as foster divers hehe! We dove Elbow Reef and The Fingers. We saw a green sea turtle, mantis shrimp, trumpetfish, green moray eels, and a nurse shark. Water was still a bit chilly. I will admit my navigation suffered due to the so-so visibility at Elbow Reef and my wife and I had to pop up to triangulate where the boat was, as it was difficult to see the mooring line, let alone the next coral head.
The next day, we decided to bring along our diving gloves and hoods to dive the USS Spiegel Grove, as it is deeper than the reef dives. This ended up being a brilliant decision, as I barely felt cold at all! There was pretty strong current all the way down to the superstructure of the wreck, and visibility was around 15-20 feet, so you don’t really see the wreck till it almost hits you in the face. We decided to play it safe and just do loops around the superstructure so that we wouldn’t get lost. We saw a massive school of HUGE barracuda that we were able to swim through, a lot of big Queen angelfish, a Goliath grouper, and a few blue parrotfish (which unlike the reef based ones, these were not afraid of our approach!). We started ascending at 1100 psi to play it safe. The second dive was literally a repeat of the first, no complaints though! Unfortunately our afternoon dives were cancelled, as other boat captains on the radio were reporting poor visibility.
For Christmas, we are being transferred over to Amoray Dive Resort to join their morning dive trip. 3 foot waves are forecasted but we are still good to go, as we have been diving in tougher conditions.
I really do appreciate the collaborative effort of the dive shops here in Key Largo to mix and match us around to ensure that we are able to dive to the extent possible.
I overheard someone mention that Blue Grotto may be closed due to flooding? If anyone has any news about that, let us know, then maybe we may extend our West Palm Beach stay by one extra day. If anyone is planning to go diving at Blue Heron Bridge December 26, we are diving between 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM.
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