If we make it there on the 6th. (in that case just my wife and I the other couple starts their class on Key Largo on the 7th... and herein lays the potential problem ... are they agreeing to wait out our BHB dive or are "the girls conspiring" that we shall get to Key Largo as early as possible ...I should know by the weekend) I won't attempt to ruin your dive for you by trying to gang up with you guys etc. (my wife is awfully new at this), but I'd love to say hi on the parking lot or such.
SE Florida for timid beginner, early March
- Thread starter Schwob
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So this is how it went:
Vacation was great with one down point, but it was great!
We arrived close to Midnight of 03/05 @ FLL. By time we were in a hotel room (we had 2 rooms booked for the 4 of us, but somehow they only had one left...) it was 1:30 am-ish... But, no vacation day used up yet. That morning I drove by myself to BHB to check it out and dive and maybe meet up with @Lorenzoid - who actually showed up to say hi despite the bad vis.. Kudos & nice meeting you!
Anyway, vis was about 1 foot an did not really get better at high slack tide. I needed to hold the computer closer to really see it well, hence I called VIS 1' & not more. I put putted around by myself a bit, fiddling with trim etc with my 19cf pony, which I used the first time. And with a flag (one that needs replacing with one with a stay), also a first. But I won't call it a dive...
The wife and our friends on visit from China enjoyed a day - I don't know where actually - and we met up in the evening on Key Largo. The next morning we dropped our friends of with Rainbow Reef for their OW class. It became immediately clear that the language barrier is going to be a factor. We stuck around for a couple of hours to help out.. Our friends were in training for two days but were progressing slowly due to swimming skill and water comfort issues ... and language.... This was somewhat predictable, but they wanted to try nevertheless... Anyway they basically were told at the end of day two that it is really not safe for them to continue until they up their swimming, finning and general water-skills - and then continue. After a lot of 'splaining and translating etc. they did accept that "fate" (me thinking why does no one ever listen upfront) and concentrated on vacationing. I do not see any fault there at RR's side. They tried. They also gave them a break on the cost of the class. I think it's all good.
Anyway, my wife (water-scared non-swimmer until mid last year, still timid) and I went diving with RR on the afternoon of 03/07 and following days with the last dives the morning of 03/12. My wife's intend was to go diving half days only and sit out a whole day also. Notable here is that on that first two tank boat trip she sat out the second dive, not being comfortable at the surface in 2' waves AND ... the last morning she was ready to go for the second dive in 3' waves not even thinking about it, when it got - to her surprise (well, mine too) cancelled by the captain. All together she made 5 trips, 8 dives. Almost doubled her dive count in the process. Certainly more than doubled her dive time. Proud of her!
I managed 16 dives, in 9 trips (twice the second dive of a trip got cancelled), staying with shallow trips all the way as I wanted to dive the full allotted time. I had another chance to dive BHB the evening of the 12th. but spared myself the drive and started drying gear instead. My little "achievements" were that I:
- managed to find the boat again on my first 5 "real open water" solo dives...
- did not kill a camera or gopro...
- saw some dolphins, although they were too far for pics to turn out...
- and foremost of all, helped my wife to become more comfortable in the water... and to agree to do some diving locally (after the water warms up...) to work on the "more safe and more competent part..."
We had some relaxed evenings playing cards and talking ... there may have been some wine... 'twas all good and a nice break from work.
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sportxlh
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Glad everything worked out well (except for BHB). Now your wife has built up some confidence and you can plan other trips.
aquacat8
Contributor
Sounds great, you are smart to progress slowly with her; if I understood you right she was asking for more by the end—awesome!
This serves as a welcome reminder why not to plan a vacation dive trip to South Florida. Every time that I’ve gone down there ended up like this. (Missed dives, rough water, boat cancelations, etc). Great if you live relatively close I suppose but too iffy if you’re comitting vacation time to a trip.
Glad to hear Key Largo was a success. We showed up two days in a row to see if BHB was diveable. It will be months before we have a chance to go back. But that's diving--you take your chances. Anyway, nice meeting you.
aquacat8
Contributor
Valid thought, but:
It was early March, not counting BHB, I thought I actually was lucky in having "just" 2 out of 18 boat dives (9 trips) cancelled.
Now, that said, I need to get more savy to myself cancel the boat trip that is likely to cancel the second of two dives anyway once we're out there (full refund and an available half day for cancelled trip vs. minimal refund & used up half vacation day for cancelled 2nd. dive...)
And yes, there may be calmer spots to dive and shorediving on Bonaire is hard to beat as nobody but yourself cancels on you... But I cannot fly there after work for $140 or so including luggage... , nor can I fly back early in the morning and show up for work...
In those senses the trip really worked out for us. But, yeah, I would have liked a week or two on Bonaire better...
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Southeast Florida can be tough, particularly late fall, winter, and early spring. The Keys have always seemed more benign, but not without their own rough seas. This is one reason Southeast Florida has not become a real diving destination, especially, outside of the summer season. This is particularly hard on visitors, who may be locked into a single location and/or operator and do not know the area well.
Over the years, I have developed a strategy that works quite well and allows me to get out whenever it is possible. The inlets are not all the same. The Boynton inlet is very narrow and relatively shallow, making it very sensitive to big seas. The Jupiter inlet is intermediate and the West Palm inlet is big, wide, and deep. I mainly use 5 operators, 3 in Boynton, 1 in Jupiter, and 1 in West Palm. If I can't get out in Boynton, I can sometimes get out in Jupiter. If I can't get out in Jupiter I can get out in West Palm if the conditions are doable. If I can't get out in West Palm, sometimes I can still do the Blue Heron Bridge. If none of those are available, well, I ride my bike to the Boynton Inlet and watch the breaking waves and big swells. Sometimes brave, or something else, boaters, make for exciting entertainment.
This season has been particularly hard, all the operators I use can't remember a tougher year. So far this year, I've dived 21 of 26 days in 4 visits and have gotten in 43 dives. I've not yet dived the BHB this year. Of course, there are some caveats. Many of the trips have been in relatively rough seas, I have seen many seasick divers. I've spent a lot of energy trying to not fall down and have been exhausted on some days. It has also been cool and windy, a good boat coat has been a necessity. Of course, I have also escaped frigid temperatures and snow at home in Philadelphia, there's always a bright side
Good diving, Craig
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