Thezeker
Contributor
Saw the forecast for Friday and figured go out now boyo because odds are it's going to crap out again real fast. Which it looks like it is doing now.
Went out with Jupiter Dive Center for the two tanker. Forecast called for two foot waves with 4 second intervals and we got that, I'd say a little bit less than two foot waves. Breezy, choppy with occasional white caps. Overall it was pleasant on the surface, some divers had light jackets on during the surface interval, but I, with extra, custom deluxe built in insulation on my body, was comfy.
The first dive was at Captain Mike's reef. The water temp was 73 and the visibility wasn't that great, 20-40 ft, lots of particulate matter. The forecast was for sun but it was overcast which didn't help the visibility. The current was ripping. Take you average Jupiter current and add a knot or two. But I hadn't been out in over a month so I still had a good time screaming down the reef. Only saw a couple of reef sharks as I first hit the reef, no Lemons. A few turtles turned out as well as a few groupers and all the usual suspects.
The second dive was at The Tunnels. I was having a great time before I hit the water. The Tunnels is one of my favorite dives in the Jupiter area. There were two divers from up I-95 in Melbourne who wanted see sharks. I happily told them "If you came to see sharks, you're going to see a bunch of them here!" The water temp was 74 degrees (comfy for me in a 5mm with a beanie) and the visibility was about 40 to start with but got down to 20 in some places. But the sun had come out which really helped things.
It was a great drop by the captain as we hit the sand just short of the reef and the current pushed us to where the swim throughs are. There to meet us on the way down was a startled large nurse shark. We hit the swim through and it was difficult to slow down with that dang current. There were grouper lounging about and under the ledges starting to eye us suspiciously. Along with them were turtles rolling their eyes mumbling, "Oh dear, not this lot again." All the while you could see reef sharks cruising in from the murky areas on top of the reef and cruising back out of sight.
As we breezed down the reef toward the "Donut Hole" the number of sharks visible increased. At one point the largest Nurse shark I ever saw popped out from a cramped cubby hole beneath the ledge. Amamzing that it fit in there. I stayed as low as I could to the reef and got to the sand in the Donut Hole fighting the current. The sharks were on parade as reefies cruised by me, some close but none taking a serious look at me. One, about a seven footer, came particularly close. At first I kept thinking, "funny....that reef shark has a yellowish tinge to it". DUH....Lemon shark for sure.
The divemaster, Sandy, and I went a little further down the diminishing reef line and encountered a couple of turtles. Both encrusted with barnacles. They didn't look to healthy to me and Sandy commented the same thoughts on the surface as we waited to be picked up.
I think everyone enjoyed the second dive more as there was a palpable buzz on deck after the second dive. Looking at the forecasts....blah...who knows when it will calm down again.
Went out with Jupiter Dive Center for the two tanker. Forecast called for two foot waves with 4 second intervals and we got that, I'd say a little bit less than two foot waves. Breezy, choppy with occasional white caps. Overall it was pleasant on the surface, some divers had light jackets on during the surface interval, but I, with extra, custom deluxe built in insulation on my body, was comfy.
The first dive was at Captain Mike's reef. The water temp was 73 and the visibility wasn't that great, 20-40 ft, lots of particulate matter. The forecast was for sun but it was overcast which didn't help the visibility. The current was ripping. Take you average Jupiter current and add a knot or two. But I hadn't been out in over a month so I still had a good time screaming down the reef. Only saw a couple of reef sharks as I first hit the reef, no Lemons. A few turtles turned out as well as a few groupers and all the usual suspects.
The second dive was at The Tunnels. I was having a great time before I hit the water. The Tunnels is one of my favorite dives in the Jupiter area. There were two divers from up I-95 in Melbourne who wanted see sharks. I happily told them "If you came to see sharks, you're going to see a bunch of them here!" The water temp was 74 degrees (comfy for me in a 5mm with a beanie) and the visibility was about 40 to start with but got down to 20 in some places. But the sun had come out which really helped things.
It was a great drop by the captain as we hit the sand just short of the reef and the current pushed us to where the swim throughs are. There to meet us on the way down was a startled large nurse shark. We hit the swim through and it was difficult to slow down with that dang current. There were grouper lounging about and under the ledges starting to eye us suspiciously. Along with them were turtles rolling their eyes mumbling, "Oh dear, not this lot again." All the while you could see reef sharks cruising in from the murky areas on top of the reef and cruising back out of sight.
As we breezed down the reef toward the "Donut Hole" the number of sharks visible increased. At one point the largest Nurse shark I ever saw popped out from a cramped cubby hole beneath the ledge. Amamzing that it fit in there. I stayed as low as I could to the reef and got to the sand in the Donut Hole fighting the current. The sharks were on parade as reefies cruised by me, some close but none taking a serious look at me. One, about a seven footer, came particularly close. At first I kept thinking, "funny....that reef shark has a yellowish tinge to it". DUH....Lemon shark for sure.
The divemaster, Sandy, and I went a little further down the diminishing reef line and encountered a couple of turtles. Both encrusted with barnacles. They didn't look to healthy to me and Sandy commented the same thoughts on the surface as we waited to be picked up.
I think everyone enjoyed the second dive more as there was a palpable buzz on deck after the second dive. Looking at the forecasts....blah...who knows when it will calm down again.
