Dive Review of Multiple operators/Private home in
The Continental USA/Jupiter, West Palm, Boynton

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Multiple operators/Private home: "Great summer visit to SE Florida", Jul, 2022, by Craig A Wood, PA, US ( Top Contributor 54 reports with 48 Helpful votes). Report 11976 has 2 Helpful votes.
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Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
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Comments	I flew down from Philadelphia on July 6. The Philadelphia airport was pretty busy considering it was mid-morning, mid-week. I would say only 15-20% of people were wearing masks in the airport or on the plane. The West Palm airport was uncrowded. Picked up my car at National and headed home. I don't think any customer but I was wearing a mask in Winn Dixie for my one shopping trip. Dive Day 1, July 7 I did 2 tanks with Jupiter Dive Center, Capt. Ryan, Guide David, Mate Brandon. I had planned on 4 dives but they cancelled the afternoon as I was the only one signed up. Seas were around 2 feet, very warm and sunny. I was told that they had a thermocline down to 74 degrees on Tues, so wore my 3 mm and hooded vest. The water temp turned out to be 84-5 degrees top to bottom on both dives. I ditched my hooded vest for the second dive and was much better. Visibility was not great, mostly about 30 feet, particulate and floating red algae in the water. Sadly, there is still red algae on the reefs. Current was moderate to brisk north on both dives. First dive was at Area 51. One Loggerhead and one Goliath Grouper, along with usual reef fish. Second dive started at Lighthouse and went into Loggerhead. The second dive was much more active, a couple of Nurse Sharks, several Reef Sharks, 3 Goliath Grouper and more Loggerhead turtles than I could count. They were everywhere, sleeping and swimming. There was also a gigantic school of Horse-Eye Jacks and a nearly endless river of Creole Wrasse, in addition to all the usual reef fish. Dive day 2, July 8 I did two dives with Starfish out of Boynton Beach, Capt. Chris and mate Mody. So, this was a strange diving day. We were scheduled for the Castor. After the mate swam down the mooring ball, it was decided that the current was too brisk to dive, estimated at 4 knots. We ended up doing two inside reef dives, Clubhouse and Lynn's Reef/Castle Ledge. Current was moderate north. Water temp was 85 degrees, visibility about 40 feet. The Boynton Reefs have much less red algae than Jupiter. Nice dives, nothing outstanding. A couple of Nurse Sharks, several Loggerhead Turtles, all the usual reef fish, and a nice school of Spadefish. Dive day 3 July 9 I did 4 dives with Starfish out of Boynton. Capt. Chris and Mody in the morning, Capt. Alex and Mody in the afternoon. Brisk current today, especially on the outside. Water temp 84-5, visibility 30-50 ft. Seas were 2-3, wind picked up in the afternoon. 1st dive was outside of Clubhouse, crossover to Gulfstream. 2nd dive was inside at Lynn's Reef and Castle Ledge. 3rd dive was outside at Clubhouse, crossover to Black Condo. Last dive was outside at Sharkie's Ledge, long crossover to Briny Breezes. Nothing very spectacular, a large Lemon Shark at the end of the 2nd dive. Several nice Loggerheads, a couple very large. A couple of Nurse Sharks. All the usual reef fish. By this I mean Banded, Reef, 4 eyed and Spotfin Butterfly fish, Whitespotted, Scrawled, and Yellow Filefish, Queen, French, Gray, and Blue Angelfish, Porcupine fish, Spotted Drums, High Hats. Trumpetfish, Cornetfish, Lobster, Green Morays, Spotted Morays, all the Parrotfish including Midnight, Blue and Rainbow and schools of Spadefish, Bermuda Chub, and all the Grunt. Sure I am missing a few. Dive day 4, July 10 So, I had planned four dives out of Boynton with Loggerhead. Unfortunately, the AM dive got cancelled due to lack of participation. The good news in that the afternoon dives were phenomenal. The first dive was outside at Clubhouse with a crossover to Black Condo. There was virtually no current outside, allowing easy swimming up and down the fingers. It was a little cooler at 82-3 degrees, very refreshing. Visibility was 50-60 feet. A couple of Loggerhead on the outside, the inside was absolutely packed with fish. The second dive was north at Castle Ledge and Table Tops. Current was more brisk north and visibility was down to about 30 feet. However, paid dividends with a couple of large Lemon Sharks and 3 Loggerheads in addition to all the usual reef fish. Dive day 5, July 11 I did two dives with Starfish out of Boynton Marina with Capt. Alex B and deckhand Mody. I had the pleasure of diving with my friend, John. He brought fried blueberry pancake coated sausages for the surface interval between dives and I have a witness for the observations from today. Mody did a short dive during our surface interval and came back with a great Black Grouper, made his trip. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, light wind, seas less than 2 ft. Water temp was 84-85 degrees, visibility was mostly 30-40 ft. Our 1st dive was outside at Clubhouse with a crossover to Gulf Stream and Black Condo. The current was ripping north. Not long after making the eastern side of the reef, we saw a large Great Hammerhead, I would guess 10-11 feet. This is just the 4th Great Hammerhead I've seen in Boynton in 13 years. We encountered a nice Loggerhead turtle and all of the usual reef fish. We covered a lot of ground. I had the flag on the 1st dive, burned the most gas on a dive in a long time. I barely made the hour dive with my AL80. The 2nd dive was inside at Briny Breezes. Current was rapidly changing, sometimes brisk, occasionally nearly nothing. Capt. Alex dropped us right on top of a very, very big Eagle Ray. The Eagle Ray did three leisurely circles around us before disappearing. This is only the second Eagle Ray I have seen while diving in Boynton Beach. We frequently see smaller Eagle Rays from the boat in the inlet when we are going out or coming back in. We saw several nice Nurse Sharks and all of the usual reef fish. This was one of the best dive days I have had in SE FL. You go down, you look around, and you never know what you are going to see Dive day 6, July 12 I did 4 dives with Jupiter Dive Center today, Capts Ryan and Tim, Guide/Deckhand Mark and Ben. Seas were less than a foot in the morning, a thunderstorm came up between morning and afternoon and the seas were 1-2 ft. Water was very warm 84-85 degrees. Visibility was about 30 ft., occasionally 40. First dive was at Spadefish Point. Second dive at Scarface into Capt. Kirle's. Third dive at Juno Ledge, fourth dive at Lighthouse and Loggerhead. The first 3 dives were fine but, it was best for last. The dive at Lighthouse/Loggerhead was fantastic. Many Loggerhead turtles, sleeping, crawling, and swimming. There were 4 or 5 Goliath Grouper, Two medium size decided to swim with us for at least 10 min, making close encounters, eye to eye. There were also 2 or 3 Lemon Sharks. Dive day 7, July 13 Two dives with Walker's Dive Charters this morning out of Riviera Beach City Marina. Forrest drove and Ali and Autumn were the guides/deck hands. The boat was quite full with 15 divers. Seas were about a foot, mild north current, visibility mostly 30 feet, water 85 degrees. Two easy, shallow reef dives. First dive was at Bath and Tennis, second was at Ron's Rock, Middle Earth, and Flower Gardens. Nothing spectacular, all the usual reef fish and a couple of Loggerheads on the second dive. There are many Yellowhead Jawfish in the sand after Ron's Rock. I did not see any with eggs. Dive day 8, July 14, last day of diving. Did a 3 tanker with JDC that was mostly chartered by a dive shop from St Augustine and went out at 10 AM. Capt. Tom, guide David, mate Ryan. Seas were around a foot, water temp 84-5, moderate to brisk north current, poor visibility 20-30 ft., sometimes less. First dive was at Bluffs, just into Scarface. Second dive was Scarface into Capt. Kirle's. Third dive was Lighthouse into Loggerhead into Julie's. Quite a few Loggerhead Turtles, a few Goliath Grouper, a couple of Nurse Sharks, and the usual reef fish. So, 21 dives over 8 days using 4 of my 5 usual operations out of 3 marinas. I’ll be back in September for Goliath Grouper aggregation.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Curacao, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel, Key Largo, SE Florida (Boynton Beach, Jupiter, West Palm...), Maui, Oahu, Cape Ann, San Diego, Costa Rica, Panama, Cocos Island, Red Sea, Galapagos, Revillagigedos, Malpelo
Closest Airport	Palm Beach International, West Palm	Getting There	Nonstop flight on American from Philadelphia
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, cloudy	Seas	calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp	83-85°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-40 Ft/ 6-12 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	Operator dependent dive time limit, no deco
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	All boats had camera rinse tub. Crew was careful with camera equipment

Report currently has 2 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Multiple operators/Private home in The Continental USA/Jupiter, West Palm, Boynton

Multiple operators/Private home: "Great summer visit to SE Florida", Jul, 2022,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Multiple operators/Private home in
The Continental USA/Jupiter, West Palm, Boynton