Pictures: Dive TEAM members about to enter the water. UNDERWATER poor vis. BEACH shot from dive loc. BUGS , BUGS and more BUGS
Dive Trip Report to:
The Florida's Beaches -
JC Park - Vero
Purpose:
To
Beach Dive Florida
For Lobster!! And, to check out this park - we havn't dove JC Park before!
Date / Dive #:
Sunday, 25-Aug-2002 , Morning Dive. My Dive # 406
A. Dive Beach Location:
Beach Dive - WithOUT Kayak's!!!
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
10 to 15 ft (Poor Vis for a beach dive)
Seas:
1 ft on Entry, 1 to 2 ft on the Exit!
Water Temp:
84 deg. It's really warm, we wore only a skin to protect us from whatever.
The skin does not protect s from the Spiny Urchens!!
Skies:
Typical Florida Sunny Clear Blue Skies!!
Air Temp:
High 80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 15 feet for 45 min
Air consumption:
Me: [80 cu ft], 3300 lbs to 700 lbs
Current:
The current was mild to the north, but there was a slight 3 - 5 foot surge.
Description:
Well, we wanted to dive for lobster and could have gone down to Pepper Park
again and did the long swim that we had done the day before on a kayak. But,
as the end of the Beach Diving Season is approaching, I decided to try a spot
further north. Lifeguards at Wabasso reported 1-2 foot of vis the day before.
So, we decided on taking a chance on a new spot that we've never dove before.
We've passed JC Park dozen's of times. It's about a mile north of RT 60 and
the Boiler Wreck. It's a nice park, showers, parking, food, lifeguards etc.
The walk to the water is longer than at Pepper Park and through more sand.
We all entered the water together and started to swim out on our backs. The vis was bad - you could barely see your fins! At a distance equal to the 3rd reef at Pepper Park, the vis improved some - but there was sand below us. We swam some more and some more. We were finally at a distance about equal to how far the boiler wreck is off shore and went down. The vis was poor - 10 feet! We continued to head east til the 1st reef line then turned south. We should have turned north as we found out later. The reef line was sparse, We did come across a few bugs - fought them hard, but the surge and deep under rock area - bug one, divers zero! For most of the dive, most of the divers were out of sight. Every once in a while they would come into view. It was a long swim out for a not so great reef. Some of the air hogs headed back early. I still had air in my tanks and continued for a while. Down to 1000 pounds, I decided to head back to shore underwater. While passing over a small rock cap, I spotted a shed bug shell. Looking around, under the rock were a dozen undersize bugs. Then - there was MaMa! I caught MaMa three times. MaMa got away twice! No eggs! MaMa was one heck of a big bug - about 3 - 4 pounds! MaMa was lunch for all and made the day for this dive!
Last Updated: 01-Sept-2002