The continuing sagas of the Blue Heron Bridge

[Trisha]

Originally posted by CoolTech

Well, we leave for Bonaire the 26th, so it is possible to get some diving in at Blue Heron...
Diving can be done on the: 21st (afternoon), 22nd (afternoon), 24th (night) - These are the only dives I can make. The next available dive time is on Saturday the 26th (morning)
You might also be interested in knowing that ForceE is sponsoring a free night dive on the 24th of June:
Thursday June 24th:
Pick up parking pass at Riviera Store by 6pm. Start diving as early as 7pm. High tide is 8pm. Finish diving by 9pm.
EVERYONE MUST BE OUT OF THE PARK BY 10PM!! Parking tickets will be issued after that point.
NO DIVING AT LEAST 50FT NEAR THE EAST SMALL BRIDGE. Bridge is under construction anyone caught will be ticketed and takes a risk of having scuba diving banned at the park!

Also posted by CoolTech

The parking pass is for launching a boat and has absolutely nothing to do with diving (except you can dive from a boat and don't need a permit to dive at night). The beach area closes at dark. Night permits are taken out by local dive shops who sponsor the dives by putting everyone under their liability insurance... Everyone must be out of the parking lot (except those with boat permits... AND boats for the permit) by 10:00 PM diving permit or not...
Nothing has changed since they started allowing night dive permits

We will be headed down for our usual vacation at LBTS at the end of the month. How have the rules changed for Blue Heron Bridge since last year?
Also, we will again be taking our kayak for some Second Reef dives. Will a BHB parking pass count for a kayak (with some night diving) and where could we get more information about that?

Wonderful photos and dive reports, as usual.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

We will be headed down for our usual vacation at LBTS at the end of the month. How have the rules changed for Blue Heron Bridge since last year?
Also, we will again be taking our kayak for some Second Reef dives. Will a BHB parking pass count for a kayak (with some night diving) and where could we get more information about that?

Wonderful photos and dive reports, as usual.

The boat parking pass (not to be mistaken for the night dive parking pass) is for motor boats on a trailer. You need to purchase one for the day if you have a trailer to park in the boat area (or, they can be purchased for the whole year).

The non-motor launch is just past the play ground and is part of the beach that closes at sunset. No permit is needed to launch a non-trailered boat/flotation device from the beach during daylight hours

Night parking permits to dive the beach are contingent on liability insurance that covers all divers (i.e. takes the hassle out of the city's hands).

Dive shops who have submitted their information to the city can go to a special internet site and... (the rest I don't know because I don't have liability insurance registered with the city )

Other groups who carry liability insurance for divers can also obtain permitting... These would include some instructors who carry independent liability and some Dive Clubs who may also carry liability insurance for club functions.
---
I do not have more information than that. I have tried to search the information on the web and through the city's web site but can't seem to search correctly to find the wording of the city's rules for night diving. I have found petitions, but not the city's official wording for this issue.

 

[DebbyDiver]

Also, we will again be taking our kayak for some Second Reef dives.

Ooooooh, where and are you looking for dive buddies? I'm usually free on Fridays and Sundays and I love yak diving.

 

[Trisha]

Thanks for the update on Blue Heron Bridge and access after dark. We will be seriously considering it... the neighborhood is a bit daunting, but we have had excellent conversations in the past with the local law enforcement who patrol the area, so that's not a problem. We just don't want to contribute to a situation that makes local diving more difficult.

Hopefully, our LBTS Internet connection will be better than in past years and can get together with some SB members for shore dives at Datura Avenue beach access. Most mornings in July Richard is out there with his dive flag and camera. I occasionally tag along for an hour or more.

We are getting the regs serviced and the tanks VIPed. Those pictures are looking good....

 

[Shcubasteve]

You can always count on BHB for some characters! Among other things, I saw a guy diving double AL40s w/ a manifold (?? please explain), an instructor in a florescent YELLOW BC, and VINTAGE DIVERS! They do still exist! One guy had a horse collar and double hose reg and the other guy has these tiny little doubles. Never a dull moment.

 

[ScubaRyan]

Water temp was back up to a nice temperature today as well!

Here's some pics from today!

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Some shots from 6/6/2010 (Sunday)... I left my tow line on top of the car so I had to drag my flag around... Tied it off to mooring balls and did my dive around the moored boats (chit happens):

Jess, I cain do au daunce for juo...

Who needs eyes in the back of their head?

This Scorpionfish was so small it took three pictures for me to realize he wasn't a frogfish...

Just a baby...

Look closely at the background... You can see momma's snout...

Momma (Or, maybe Daddy...)

This was toward the west span in 4' of water and he was just a juvenile...

Very close to the Jawfish, also in 4' of water...

This guy posed so nicely...

I'm still editing pictures from our morning Boynton dives. But, those don't go in this thread anyway

 

[djtimmy77]

Great shots!

We are planning on diving the bridge Wed if the weather allows, and also saturday morning.

 

[mksmith713]

You can always count on BHB for some characters! Among other things, I saw a guy diving double AL40s w/ a manifold (?? please explain), an instructor in a florescent YELLOW BC, and VINTAGE DIVERS! They do still exist! One guy had a horse collar and double hose reg and the other guy has these tiny little doubles. Never a dull moment.

I saw that group exiting the water om Saturday at the west end.
One guy had a really cool old DA Aquamaster and what looked like 19cf's doubled up.

 

[tibenmiami]