Dive Trip Report to:
Florida's Beaches - Pepper Park / Round Island Park, 30-June-2002
Purpose:
To
Beach Dive Florida
for old wrecks, cannon, ships, bugs etc!
Date / Dive #:
Sunday, 30-June-2002, Morning Dive. My Dive # 395
A. Dive Beach Location:
Beach Dive - Round Island Park
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
15 to 20 feet. This was Ok for a beach dive. We've had better and we've had
less. 20 feet of vis for a beach dive is considered normal.
Seas:
6 inches to 1 ft, with some rollers. There was a wind from the SE at 5 - 10
knots. The waves for the entrance / exit were about 6 inches - acceptable for
a beach dive.
Water Temp:
81 dg - very nice temperature!
Skies:
Typical Florida Sunny Clear Blue Skies!! But, we had some heavy rain at Pepper
Park at first, but when we moved north to Round Island Park, it was clear! So
we dove there.
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 17 feet for 44 minutes I can't believe I
had that much bottom time with some of our initial entry problems!
Air consumption:
Me: 3000 lbs to 1800 lbs, (80 cu ft] Air (21 % NITROX)
Current:
Slight to the North
Description:
. Group
Picture
. Limon Rum Toast
Picture
The group met at Pepper Park at 8:00 am. For the ride down, the weather was
great - clear, blue skies. On the way down, I had a phone call from one diver
in Boca - it was raining hard and they did not want to drive in the bad
weather. We arrived at Pepper Park just as the skies were turning black. The
low clouds were moving in from the SE - it started to rain! ScubaGirl gave a
quick call to TailWheel. He brought up the Radar and said the weather was
going to stay at Pepper Park for a while, but it was clear to the north. We
moved north towards Vero, but decided to stop at Round Island. This is a new
park just opening last year. We attempted a beach dive last year but could not
do the entry due to
BIG
Waves.
At Round Island (there's showers, picnic table, bathroom, lifeguard - and it's a new park), we suited up. Although we brought along the SS Nemisis , it was decided to use a float tube. On the way out, one young snorkeler had some problems with his gear. Laura saved the day and got all the above water snorkeler's out to the reef line. ScubaGirl pulled the flag, I pulled the float tube. I believe we were on the third reef line and we headed south. The reef line was grass covered rocks and there was not much of it. ScubaGirl found two small bugs. There were not a lot of fish. Vis was acceptable for a beach dive at about 15 to 20 feet. About 10 minutes into the dive, the grassy covered rocks changed to a good rock ledge. No more bugs were seen, there were a few fish. This was the first beach dive in this area for one family and so we were concentrating on showing them the procedures. With one diver down to 1000 lbs of air, we turned back (towards the north) and followed the eastern edge of the reefline - some fish, no bugs or nurse sharks. ScubaGirl found a Scorpian Fish buried in the sand - it was pointed out to the other dives - don't touch it!! Even with the life guard stand, we headed back in. The exit was easy, the weather held for us at sunny and clear. The showeres were great for a first wash off of our gear. We all had the traditional Bacardi Limon Rum Toast and then had lunch at the nearby picnic table.
Although this dive started ot really bad, it ended on a good dive and relaxing lunch! This was our first Successful Beach Dive of 2002!
Last Updated: 24-July-2002