Dive Report 9 August

Better and better! We had a little better vis today, 10' to 15', and 82 degree water. At 7:00 am on a Monday morning there was only one car besides ours in the parking lot. The high tide was at 8:06 am. My open water students arrived late so we actually started the dive at 8:03 after doing our predive safety check. We had to go straight out to the channel to run the skill set, but as is often the case with younger and smaller students, ears would not cooperate. Skill set incomplete, we started back after the ebb had started. The water became increasingly greener and the tidal flow became stronger. My students struggled with the current until we reached the relative calm of the water off the beach. I figure there is nothing like experiential wisdom to understand why we dive the slack high tide, and that it does not wait for us. I didn't have to say a word. Now they know better than they would have from any explanation from me. We'll be back tomorrow morning (well before slack high tide I'll bet). Get in the water (on time!), Ham

Dive Report 7 August

When there is eight feet of vis at least we can know that it could have been worse; it could have been three feet as it was the day before. (I wasn't at the bridge on Friday. An instructor relayed that information to me.) With eight feet of vis the dive was at least doable for open water students who really wanted to move through the course. I was glad to see the radar showing thunderstorms moving through Riviera Beach before I left the house for our 5:30 pm rendezvous because I figured that would clear everybody out of the park and make parking that much easier. A rainy day on the weekend is by far preferred by me, especially when the high tide is in the late afternnoon or early evening. Parking can be a real challenge. Despite the storms there were many people there! They had simply moved their picnics under the bridge! I got a parking spot easily enough, but there were many cars there, many more than expected. The heavily overcast skies and the late (7:00pm) high tide made the vis even shorter than the eight feet it would have been on a sunny day. Toward the end of the dive it was very much becoming a night dive and I had no light. My two open water students had trouble equalizing to the point where I figured it just wasn't going to happen, at least not in the next several hours when the beach would be long closed. By the time we got back to the beach it was much more evening than it was afternoon in terms of light. My students and I were in 3mm full wetsuits having heard about the very cold offshore temperatures and anticipating water colder than the recent 86 degrees we have enjoyed. The water temperature was 82. We were all very comfortable for our 54 minute dive. A highlight of the dive was the little web burrfish, "rare to uncommon Florida" in the Paul Humann book, but not rare to uncommon at the bridge! There is always something special. Get in the (not as cold as I thought it was going to be) water, Ham

Dive Report 3 August

Clear and warm water! We had 40 feet of vis today in 84 degree water. None of us were in wetsuits for our one hour, thirty-minute dive and none of us were cold. A little eel attacked my camera; I'm not sure if it was a spotted eel juvenile or a purple mouth juvenile. A pipefish in the sand was easily seen by my open water student. Several sharptail eels entertained us as they hunted. Parking was no problem and it felt really good to get in the water and out of the summer heat. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 29 July

I thought the parking lot might be jammed with mini-season lobster hunters, but there were only a few cars there. The visibility was again 40' plus and the water temperature was 84. Carrie, a fellow diver, Jim, my two open water students, and I were wearing only dive skins for our one hour, twenty-six minute dive. No one mentioned being cool. Out by the boat channel in "the canyon" I saw dive friend Mike taking pictures. I knew he wouldn't be taking a picture unless he had something very special. Looking at his subject I saw a stargazer on top of the sand! Mike later identified it as a northern stargazer. I've seen them buried in the sand at the bridge and I've seen them swimming at the bridge, but this one stayed stationary for us as we took photos! Absolutely incredible! Two batfish cooperated with the camera as well. Warm, clear water with good friends...great day to be diving. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 27 July

Conditions are absolutely superb! We had 40' or better of visibility today in 86 degree water. The combination of bright sun, a morning dive, and an uncrowded weekday, all added up to just a glorious day to be there. I was supposed to have an open water student, but he postponed due to a health problem; that meant a goof-off dive for me! A friend came along with me as Carrie introduced a ten-year-old to the Discover Scuba program. We watched a sharptail eel hunt for breakfast and a yellowhead jawfish do the same. A scorpionfish almost nailed a pufferfish for breakfast, but the puffer was too quick. An octopus was standing tall apparently looking for its mid-morning snack. For our one hour, twenty-four minute dive we wore dive skins. It is so nice to not be wearing a wetsuit. Conditions are optimum right now! Get in the water, Ham