Dive Trip Report to: Florida's Beaches!
Purpose: To Beach Dive for old wrecks, cannon, ships, bugs etc!
Dive #1: Saturday, 21-Aug, Morning Dive. My Dive # 233
A. Dive Boat / Location: Beach Dive - South of Vero -
Rio Mar Wreck
B. Conditions:
Visibility: 10 - 15 ft at first then down to 8 - 10 ft
Seas: Flat
Water Temp: 84 on the bottom
Skies: Sunny Clear Blue Florida Skies!
Air Temp: 80 - low 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 14 ft for 1 hr 7 min.
Air consumption: Me: 3400 lb - 1700 lb (120 cu ft)
Dive Partner: 3100 - 800 lb (80 cu ft).
Current: Slight to the North with slight surge at frist then several feet surge at the end of the dive.
Description: Well, the Beach Dive Team met at the small parking lot as described in Beach Dive Florida. We all entered the water at 8 am! It's a short walk to the crossover and only a few feet to the water. Our plan was as usual, go out on the top till were about the 3rd or 4th reef, then go down. We work our way into the current - to the South for 3/4 of the dive. When the first diver is down to approximately 15 - 1900 lbs of air, we switch direction to the North. Most of the time, we work our way in one reef.
An after-the-fact look at the books show we should have walked 1200 ft to the south, in front of a golf course! Thats where there's a 1715 shipwreck!
This reef had some 2-6 ft of relief. At one point, I stood up and my head was out of the water! This was a pretty reef, lots of fish - spade's, angles, sheephead etc. We did find one lobster hotel! It was under a 10 ft by 5 ft by 6 inch thick slab of rock. Unfortunately, every time we got close to some bugs, the surge would stirr up the sand and silt and you couldn't see at all. There were about 5 bugs under this rock, only one looked legal size. He's still there!!
One dive member ran into a nurse shark - haven't got the details yet!
While fiddling with my camera and bug stick, I descended to the bottom. Instink had me put out my hand to stop the fall - right onto a Urchan! Spines into the thumb were very painful!!!
This is a pretty reef, I'd recommend it for new divers. There's no facilities, so bring some water to wash off the sand. The parking lot is blacktop, so you don't track much sand in.
The first reef was right at the shoreline. There were lot's of holes that you could not see until your leg fell 1-2 ft into it! So, be careful on your entry and exit. After we took off our fins and were trying to walk to the beach, we did fall several times into these holes. This is one reason, I preach about keeping your reg in your mouth when your near the shorline - both going in and coming out!
Dive #2: Saturday, 21-Aug, Morning Dive. My Dive # 234
A. Dive Boat / Location: Beach Dive - In Vero - The Tracking Station.
B. Conditions:
Visibility: 5 - 10 ft
Seas: Flat, 1 ft waves on the exit.
Water Temp: 84 deg on the bottom
Skies: Sunny Clear Blue Skies
Air Temp: low 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 18 ft for 1 hr 6 min.
Air consumption: Me: 3400 - 1700 lbs (120 cu ft)!??.
Current: Slight to the north, some surge
Description: Well when you dive this spot, your suppose to look for the underwater telephone cable. The park is a nice park, it does have showeres and changing facilities. There's also a lifeguard. They told us to go south about 100 ft to the park limit sign before entering or leaving the water - that we did! We swam out on the top. When we went down, there was nothing but a lot of grass. As we worked our way south, we finally came across the cable and 5 ft of relief. There were no bugs and few fish. One diver, while turning a corner around some relief ran smack into a Nurse - Shark that is! He saw the fish's tail then saw the Shark go by him real fast! That's two divers each saw a Nurse Shark today!! We finished the dive by turning North and going out some more. This didn't improve the reef. I did spot a Juvenile Spotted Drum (page 351 of Reef Fish 2nd ed). These fish are very small, black and white stripes, and have a long tail!
I do not recommend this reef. There's more to see at some of the other locations!