Dive Review of Starfish Scuba/Private home in
The Continental USA/Boynton Beach,Florida

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Starfish Scuba/Private home: "Boynton Beach after Irma", Sep, 2017, by Craig A Wood, PA, US ( Top Contributor 54 reports with 48 Helpful votes). Report 9822.
No photos available at this time
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
Value for $$
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Comments	I have reviewed Starfish Scuba previously but thought readers might like to hear about the Boynton Beach area following Hurricane Irma. In addition, I went out with a backup crew as owners, Adam and Maggie, were away on vacation. Hurricane Irma passed over Southern Florida on September 9-10. My house in Boynton Beach was without power for 5 days. I flew down on September 17 and was lucky to get in 2 days of diving on September 21 and 22, in a lull between high seas. Captain Alex drove both days. I have known and dived with Alex for 8 years and nobody knows Boynton Beach as well as Alex. This was reflected in his pinpoint accurate drops and perfect pickups. On the first day, there were only 4 divers. I usually dive by myself but buddied with a young woman from NJ and a father and son, who were lobster hunting, made up the second group. We dived two of Boynton’s premier sites, Clubhouse and Black Condo. The visibility was about 20 feet, but, with the high profile reef, navigation was easy. There was a fair amount of sand on the reef, many fans were down, many sponges had been severed and there was some debris. On the bright side, the reef was teeming with all of the usual reef fish. There were several Nurse Sharks and 4-5 Loggerheads. Unfortunately, the field of Finger Coral at the end of Clubhouse, was decimated. On the second day, we dived the Castor and then had a chance to see the outside reef on a dive at 007, crossing over to Clubhouse. At the Castor, Alex tied in the line on his DPV while Jason drove. The current on the Castor was moderate and the visibility was 20-25 feet. September is the peak of Goliath Grouper aggregation. I was not sure what to expect after the hurricane, but the Castor did not disappoint. There were 20-25 Goliath Grouper on the stern and about the same number on the bow. I could see others in groups off the wreck but did not venture far with the poor visibility and significant current. There were large schools of Horse Eye and Bar Jacks and small schools of bait fish. There were also several groups of Barracuda effortlessly hanging out. I had a real treat at the end of the dive while heading back to the stern. There was a large Bull Shark leisurely swimming around the cargo deck, until it saw or sensed me and took off like a rocket. The outside of the reef appears to have done better than the inside reef with far less damage. The Finger Coral field on the outside was minimally damaged and nearly intact. Again, there were many of the usual reef fish, a couple of Nurse Sharks and turtles. First of all, we are very fortunate that Irma did not do more significant damage in SE Florida. I was lucky to have the opportunity to see that the diving in Boynton Beach will continue to be among the best in the area. Captains Alex and Jason are a great backup crew! Good diving, Craig
Websites	Starfish Scuba
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Bonaire, Curacao, Turks and Caicos, Cozumel, Costa Rica, Panama, Cocos, Roatan, Red Sea, Maui, Oahu, San Diego, Cape Ann, Key Largo, Boynton Beach, Jupiter...
Closest Airport	Palm Beach International	Getting There	Nonstop from Philadelphia
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	83-84°F / 28-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	20-25 Ft/ 6-8 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Individual divers or groups take a flag for the drifts on the reef
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	1 or 2	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	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of Starfish Scuba/Private home in The Continental USA/Boynton Beach,Florida

Starfish Scuba/Private home: "Boynton Beach after Irma", Sep, 2017,

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 Starfish Scuba/Private home in
The Continental USA/Boynton Beach,Florida