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

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Multiple operators/Private home: "So good to be back", Mar, 2021, by Craig A Wood, PA, US ( Top Contributor 55 reports with 48 Helpful votes). Report 11514 has 3 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
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	After a 178 day surface interval, I finally got back in the water in SE Florida. The Philadelphia airport was considerably busier than it was last Sept, but still well below normal activity. Of course, it is Spring Break, but mid-week. Many of the vendors are still closed. The AA Admiral's Club in B/C is open and they even have a limited self-service for food and drink items. Everyone in the airport and on the plane complied with masking. The airport in West Palm was only moderately busy. The Emerald Isle at National Car is back open, but, with a poor selection. It worked out fine. I made my one run to the grocery store at Winn Dixie, it was uncrowded and everyone was masked. One of the reasons I chose to come down now is that my wife and I are fully vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine. My 2nd dose was Feb 16. I am strictly following masking and distancing. The only place I go is out on the boats. Day 1 I did 4 tanks today with Jupiter Dive Center. JDC is still going out with a limited load and encourages masking whenever possible. It was a pretty rough day out, solid 2-4, occasional 5, occasional bigger. As you can imagine, several people fell down, several people got seasick. The air temperature was warm, low to mid 80s, moderate wind. The water was significantly warmer than I was told it had been lately, I was told 72-74, it was 77-78. My 7mm was a bit much, I will switch to my 5mm. The visibility was not the best, 30-40 feet most of the time. The current was quite brisk all day. We did Wreck Trek and Bluffs in the morning and Spadefish Point and Scarface in the afternoon. The current was a bit much for Wreck Trek, too much holding on, it was fine for the reefs. Easily, the highlight of the day was a big Tiger Shark at Spadefish Point. As we drifted north, it casually swam south, turned broadside to us briefly before disappearing. This is only the second Tiger Shark I have seen in SE FL, both in Jupiter. There was lots of other cool stuff on all the dives, Lemon Sharks, Reef Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Goliath Grouper, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, and a Green Turtle, Green Morays, and all the usual reef fish. Day 2 I did 2 dives with Narcosis out of West Palm today. When seas are up, I often go out of West Palm and usually use Narcosis. The Palm Beach Inlet is easily the most forgiving in big seas, being wide and deep. The Boynton Beach Inlet is clearly the hardest, Jupiter is intermediate. The Narcosis boat is a 48 footer, wide beam, and 2 engine powerful. Capt. Alex does a great job driving, drops and pick-ups are right on. Alex stepped into some really big shoes following Capt. Van, for many of us, an old favorite. Narcosis is continuing limited load and masking. Seas were up today, started 2-4, built to 3-5, both with occasional bigger. Water was still 77 degrees, visibility was better, 60+ feet. The current was still extremely brisk north. We were scheduled to do Governor's River Walk, I'm glad they skipped it, would have been hold on for dear life. We ended up doing North Double Ledges and MId Reef. Lots to see, at least half a dozen Lemon Sharks, 3-4 Bull Sharks, Nurse Sharks, Loggerhead and Hawksbill Turtles, and all the usual reef fish. At the end of our second dive we came upon a large, husky Bull Shark that swam around us for a couple of minutes. To our surprise, it accompanied us about half way up to our safety stop before disappearing. Two of us missed the 1st pick up due to the conditions and had to wait for the boat to swing back around. We were surprised when we spotted the shark again, about 15 feet below us. Kept us nicely occupied until we were picked up. You go down, swim around, you never know what you are going to see. Day 3 Four dives with Jupiter Dive Center today. It was a nice day, started with clouds and a few sprinkles, turned mostly sunny and warm, moderate wind. The seas were down. Started at 2-3, even better in the afternoon. The current also decreased significantly, only mild north. Water temp was also a bit down, 73 on Wreck Trek, 75-76 on the reefs. Visibility was a little better, 40 to maybe 60 feet. We did Wreck Trek and Capt. Kirle's in the morning and Lemon Drop and Scarface in the afternoon. Lemon Drop was absolutely phenomenal. We had Lemon Sharks with us virtually the entire dive. There were sometimes one or two, often up to a half dozen. We had Lemon Sharks follow us up half way to our safety stop, and then seven joined us at the surface at the back of the boat. This was one of the best dives I have had at Lemon Drop. There will be photos, when I get to downloading my camera. At least a few of them should be good. Wreck Trek had a fair number of Lemon Sharks and Goliath Grouper. The reefs had some Lemons, Nurse Sharks, Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles, Green Morays, and all the usual reef fish. Day 4 I did 4 solo dives today with Loggerhead out of Boynton Beach. It was cooler today, with the wind, I was very sorry I did not take my boat coat. A rain coat and fleece jacket worked OK. The seas started out quite calm but built in the afternoon while the wind picked up. Likely ended up 3-5, occasional bigger. Water temp was 75-77 degrees, visibility varied from about 40 to 60 feet. Loggerhead is also running reduced Covid load and encouraging mask use. My four dives were Briny Breezes outside to inside, Black Condo outside to inside, Clubhouse outside, and Table Tops to the main reef. The morning dives had a mild north current, afternoon had switched over to a mild south current. Easily, the highlight of the day was a Great Hammerhead on the 3rd dive outside of Clubhouse. This is only the 2nd Great Hammerhead I've seen in Boynton Beach. A good 10+ footer swam up behind me and passed me on the right side. It was in no hurry, turned broadside in front of me, before slowly turning south and swimming away, It was magical. All the dives today were quite good with a few Lemon Sharks, Nurse Sharks Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles, Green Morays, and the plethora of usual reef fish that Boynton Beach is known for. Day 5 Sunday was a no go due to sea conditions, or predicted sea conditions. NOAA said 7-9 with occasional 11. I rode my bike to the Boynton inlet in the early afternoon and it was much, much less than that. Oh well. Day 6 Today, I did 2 dives with Starfish out of Boynton Beach. NOAA prediction was 5-7, occasional 9, it was actually around 2 feet or less, the flattest day I've had this visit. The morning started out quite cool, warmed a bit. I took my own boat coat but Starfish now has loaner boat coats, a nice addition to their service. Water temp was 75-6 degrees, a mild north current, and visibility around 50 feet. Starfish is still running a limited load and masking. I usually dive by myself, today I took along a young man on his 1st dives in SE Florida. The only other 2 divers on the boat were already a pair and were hunting. I really don't mind occasionally taking a diver or divers with me to help orient them to the beautiful reef in Boynton. First dive was outside at Clubhouse with a crossover to Gulfstream. This is not a dive most beginners would likely be doing here. The second dive was all inside at the gorgeous site Black Condo aka Tumbled Rocks. For the first day this trip, there was nothing spectacular seen on these dives, just the diverse variety of beautiful reef fish so common in Boynton. Day 7 Wow, what a way to go out. I did 2 dives today with Starfish out of Boynton Beach. Not to sound like a broken record (some of you may be too young to know what that is), but NOAA missed again. It was nearly perfectly flat and glassy today. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day. The water was 76 degrees, a mild north current, and visibility was at least 60 feet. There were only 3 divers today, the deckhand, Ren, dived also. Our first dive was a hot drop on the Castor. You could see it shortly after you started down. There was a huge school of large Barracuda on the bow, I quit counting at 50. As I started back to the stern, a large Loggerhead Turtle swam by, along with a Goliath Grouper. On my way to the stern, one of the resident Bull Sharks cruised by a few times on the starboard, west side. There was a very big school of Horse-Eye Jacks in front of the stern structure. There were fewer Goliath on the wreck today than sometimes, perhaps a half dozen. It's possible others were off the wreck in the mild current. The second dive was on the northern reef at Lynn's and Castle Ledge. Good visibility, a mild current and fish everywhere you looked. We were met by a Bull Shark as soon as we descended that stayed with us for a little while. A large Goliath Grouper swam with us for several minutes before heading off. There were numerous, gigantic schools of grunt and everywhere you looked were Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Filefish, and Parrotfish of all kinds, along with other reef fish. Another, or the same, Bull Shark joined us near the end of the dive. It doesn't get a lot better. So, I ended up getting in 18 dives in 6 of 7 possible diving days. I used 4 different operators, out of 3 different marinas. It's only 30 miles from Boynton Beach to Jupiter, with West Palm right in the middle. Sometimes you have to be very flexible to get in the maximum amount of diving. In addition, the different areas are quite complementary to one another in what they offer. My sincere thanks to Jupiter Dive Center, Narcosis, Loggerhead, and Starfish for allowing me to enjoy diving so much this week.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Bonaire, Curacao, Turks & Caicos, Roatan, 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
Closest Airport	Palm Beach International	Getting There	I flew AA direct from Philadelphia to West Palm, rental car
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy, cloudy, dry	Seas	calm, choppy, currents, no currents
Water Temp	73-78°F / 23-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	5
Water Visibility	30-60 Ft/ 9-18 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Each operator had some rules, dive time, etc.
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 four boats have some provisions for cameras. The crews on all the boats handled cameras carefully

Report currently has 3 Helpful votes

Subscriber's Comments

By Ellen Marie Smith in MN, US at Jun 22, 2021 17:17 EST

I haven't done any Florida diving and I find your reviews to be very helpful! Thank you.

By report author: Craig A Wood in PA, US at Jun 22, 2021 17:28 EST

Thank you, SE FL is an undiscovered gem

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

Multiple operators/Private home: "So good to be back", Mar, 2021,

Photos Submitted with this Report

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):

Subscriber's Comments

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