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Diving the Atlantic is a mixed bag
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Summer brings calm seas and warm water that bathes the northernmost limestone reef ledges and wrecks of Florida. Thirty years of intense artificial reef building has attracted a wide variety of marine life, making this area a favorite of fishermen, both spear and sport. Most dive sites are referenced from the jetties at Mayport, where the St. Johns River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Local dive shops offer charters that put divers on unusual profiles such as an F-4 Phantom jet fighter, a 600-ft. dry dock from the old Jacksonville Shipyards, and press boxes from the old Gator Bowl stadium. A beautiful natural reef, Amberjack Hole’s ten foot ledge is encrusted with soft corals and sponges. Crevices along the ledge offer refuge for huge lobsters and nearby wrecks and concrete rubble attract a colorful array of tropicals.
Nine Mile Reef runs from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach, disappearing into the sand and then rising from the sea floor in 75 feet of water. Dumpsters, culverts and concrete rubble from an old pier supplement the rock ledge profile.
South of Jacksonville, a formation of 33 Navy jets makes a unique dive at Intruder Jet Reef off St. Augustine Inlet. Spruce Creek Scuba in Daytona Beach teaches a full range of courses, from Open Water through Technical training, every two weeks all year long. Their location with proximity to deep water wrecks like the 400-ft. freighter Lubrifol or freshwater springs of central Florida allow a variety of training experiences and conditions.
“We fill a niche in our area in that we are teaching consistently and constantly,” said co-owner Charlie McDaniel. The shop is busy all year long hosting activities that combine diving and fellowship, with exciting twists like Santa flying in by helicopter for Spruce Creek’s annual Christmas event.
Highlights along the coastline from Stuart south to Jupiter include beach dive sites and the 459-ft. Rankin, an exciting dive that ranges from 65 feet to 120 feet. Jupiter Dive Charters’ convenient online reservation system at their website allows divers to reserve their place onboard the dive boat Temptation any time of the day or night.
The House of Refuge in Stuart is an old life saving station turned museum that is well worth the visit for the displays and the turtles that are raised on the premises. The ribs of an old schooner situated just 100 yards offshore, across shallow sand bars that yield sand dollars. Blowing Rocks Preserve, north of Jupiter Inlet is an anomaly for this coast: a rocky shoreline that on a calm summer day makes for a beautiful dive.
West Palm Beach is a popular destination for both visitors and Florida residents looking to explore outside their area. The operative word here is convenience: the reefs are easily accessible and located close to shore, which gives divers more time underwater and less time on the boat. Finale Charters runs a comfortable boat for six divers and are flexible enough to cater to your schedule.
Boynton Beach to Delray Beach offers drift diving over a number of ledges, reefs and wrecks in comfortable depths of 25 to 100 feet. These dependable sites even produce the occasional surprise—like when divers onboard Capt. Craig Smart’s Starfish Enterprise encounter whale sharks during the late winter/early spring migration season.
The Sea Emperor is a big draw for divers to Boca Raton and Deerfield Beach. The 171-ft. hopper barge lies in 70+ feet of water, home to a host of critters such as nurse sharks and Goliath grouper. A nearby area is known as Stingray Alley for the large local population of the fascinating creatures.
Reef dives along the south Florida coast are situated on three distinct limestone reef lines known as the first, second and third reefs that run parallel to the shore. Broward County has established one of the most extensive artificial wreck programs in the world. Since 1982, the Broward County Environmental Protection Department (EPD) has created over 112 artificial reefs. A map broken down by city is available at the website: www.broward.org.
Deep wrecks make the Pompano Beach area a popular technical training and diving destination. Bob Sheridan of Anchor Scuba is renowned for his skill and innovative techniques of technical dive training. Capt. Oliver Paoli’s Avid Diver specializes in deep dives, transporting up to six divers and their tech gear in comfort to the Bill Boyd, one of the deepest offshore wrecks at 300 feet.
In Ft. Lauderdale, Sea Experience runs two snorkel trips each day. Their Discover Diving program is also popular with visitors to the area, who are curious about diving and want to enjoy Florida’s unique marine environment during their stay.
Miami Beach has been the beneficiary of an active artificial reef program. Here you’ll find clusters of artificial reefs combined with natural rock ledges and coral reefs to create a continuous dive experience. A combination of wrecks ranging from barges to freighters to M-60 Army tanks provide shelter for lobster and marine life, as well as fascinating dive profiles.
Florida Frogman in Miami is offering a special price for Enriched Air dive training during the month of June. And if you call now, there still may be time to sign up for their PADI Project Aware cleanup dive being held on June 4. For readers of Scuba News, owner Pete Delgado is offering a one-time Lobster Sport Season offer: come in July 26-27 and buy $40 worth of lobster hunting gear, and receive two free air fills. |
Plan now to visit Florida’s Atlantic coast this year. Contact any of the dive retailers and charters below for a detailed description of diving in their area of the state:
Jacksonville
Atlantic Pro Divers, (904) 270-1747
www.atlanticprodivers.com
Jacksonville Scuba Center
(904) 223-1300
www.jaxscubacenter.com
Sea Beast Offshore, (904) 703-6844
www.seabeastoffshore.com
Daytona Beach
Spruce Creek Scuba, (386) 767-1727
www.sprucecreekscuba.com
Jupiter
Gulf Stream Divers, (800) 488-3483
www.gulfstreameagle.com
Jupiter Dive Charters, (561) 262-4885
www.jupiterdivecharters.com
West Palm Beach
Finale Charters, (888) 346-2530
www.finalecharters.com
Oceanquest Scuba Charters
(561) 776-5974
www.oceanquestscuba.com
SS Minnow Charters, (800) 261-8468
www.ssminnowcharters.com
Boynton Beach
Starfish Enterprise Charters
(561) 212-2954
www.idivestarfish.com
Ameridive Dive Center
(561) 732-0833
www.ameridive.com
Watervision Charters, (561) 818-3196
www.watervisioncharters.com
Boca Raton
Sunstar Aquatic Services
(561) 368-9952
www.thediversity.com |
Deerfield Beach
Dixie Divers of Deerfield Beach
(888) 772-DIVE
www.dixiedivers.com
Pompano Beach
Anchor Scuba, (954) 788-3483
www.anchorscuba.com
Fill Express, (954) 786-0661
www.fillexpress.com
Ocean Explorer Charters
(201) 664-3483
www.oceanexplorercharters.com
Parrot Island Adventures
(954) 942-7333
www.parrotislandscuba.com
Ft. Lauderdale
American Dream Dive Charters
(954) 577-0338
www.scubafortlauderdale.com
Divers Discount Scuba
(954) 523-8354
www.diversdiscountflorida.com
SeaExperience, Inc.
(954) 394-8732
www.seaexp.com
Pembroke Pines
Scuba Emporium
(888) 232-7234
www.scubaemporiumfl.com
Hollywood
Southeast Oceanic Services
(877) 277-3481
www.divefortlauderdale.com
Miami
Florida Frogman
(305) 599-9900
www.floridafrogman.com
For detailed informaion about diving in Florida, pick up Ned DeLoach’s
Diving Guide to Underwater Florida
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