Lauderdale by the Sea

[Twoblues]

The string gets tangled in your fins and WORSE!

 

[Twoblues]

As far as the OP's original question and additional responses and the quest to be FREE and unencumbered, you will have a coronary attack with the parking situation at LBTS.

Dive on..

Ten parking meters!!

 

[B1200]

Actually, 9 parking meters at Datura and one handicapped spot = 10 total spaces.

 

[Twoblues]

Yeah, I had to hunt for quarters before I could park! That was 2014! Still the same?
So State or Federal builds a reef project, and you can't get close enough to carry gear to the access! One of many reasons to board the boat!' hope my scopalomine patch works!

 

[Ghetto Diver]

If I don't get parking beachside, I park at the public lot on a1a and Datura. $10 all day.
I gear up there, to include a very large flag, and hoof it to the water.

 

[kelemvor]

I believe some of the posts have been made by divers unfamiliar with Florida law, every diver or group must carry a dive flag. Interpretation and execution are open to interpretation. I dive mostly in Boynton Beach, Jupiter, and West Palm. In Boynton Beach, none of the operators I use puts a DM in the water. I mostly dive by myself and carry a flag. If one was in a group and got separated from the flag they would have 2 options, surface and get redropped on the flag or deploy an SMB when surfacing. The operators I use in Jupiter and West Palm put a DM in the water with a flag. In both cases, you either surface with the flag or surface away from the flag on your SMB. In neither case is their any obligation to stay with the DM and surface on the flag rather than surfacing on your own. In many ways the diving in SE Florida is an excellent example of diving freedom. For those of you who have not tried it, consider doing so. It is not necessarily the best diving for everyone.

You have it slightly wrong. Probably because the east coast areas you're familiar with always want a flag for the reasons you cited. However, the only requirement really is that you are within 300' (horizontal) of a flag. That flag can be held by someone else, on a boat, on a permanent buoy, it doesn't matter. As long as you're in the zone.

Divers must make reasonable efforts to stay within 300 feet of the divers-down flag on all waters other than rivers, inlets, and navigation channels. Any person operating a vessel on waters other than a river, inlet, or navigation channel must make a reasonable effort to maintain a distance of at least 300 feet from any divers-down flag.

In areas where there is less current than yours, it's common for the boat to hoist a flag and that's it.

Here's the law: Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine

Here's where the FWC translates the law into English: Regulations

Personally, I think each buddy pair carrying a flag is a good way to go. Each diver would probably be even better, although some (such as my wife) would not be happy campers...


The biggest problem is that many boaters don't know what a dive flag means. There's no mandatory license/class required in order to drive a boat in Florida. Residents and longtime boaters typically know what they are. Visitors renting a boat, new boat owners, or careless long time boat owners often have no idea. Furthermore, the penalty for violating the law is so pathetic that a literal slap on the wrist would be more harsh.

 

[B1200]

Personally, I think each buddy pair carrying a flag is a good way to go. Each diver would probably be even better, although some (such as my wife) would not be happy campers...

Ooh, every diver towing a flag? Even in pairs I can easily envision the entanglements and twisted lines that would occur. Even with separate groups in the same neighborhood each towing a single flag, occasionally lines do tend to get crossed. One flag per solo, pair, or team might be sufficient, especially if everybody has a DSMB and is on the same page regarding sequence of actions in case of buddy separations.