Dive Trip Report to:
Jupiter, 12-Oct-2002
Purpose:
To Dive the Reefs & Wrecks of Florida
Pictures by the Irishman using an inexpensive under $100 35 mm camera: Fish , Fish , Turtle , Turtle , Strange Striped Fish , Fish , Fish , Moray
Dive #1:
My Dive #415
A. Dive Boat / Location:
Adventure Scuba / Jupiter - Leigh's Reef
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
50 - 60 feet (pretty good vis, it would have been nice to have had
Top-To-Bottom Blue Water though)
Seas:
Less then 1 ft (with a recent passing hurricane, we were very worried about
having 6 ft plus seas)
Water Temp:
82 deg on the bottom
Skies:
Sunny, Clear Blue Sky's - Typical of Florida!!
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 85 feet for 52 min, PO2 1.14, 32% NITROX
Air consumption:
Me: (120 cu ft), 3700 lbs to 900 lbs. Yea, I really did suck down this tank.
But, I was working swimming all over looking for bugs (didn't find any
keepers)!
Current:
Mild to the north.
Description:
Well after not being in the water for a month, diving in Jupiter (one of my
favorite spots) was a dive to look forward to. The weather wasn't looking too
good. There was a hurricane that was headed straight for us, the winds weren't
too strong, but strong enough to kill a dive! But, all turned out well, the
hurricane turned north, moved fast and left us with good weather. The dive was
typical Adventure Scuba - meet at the dive shop, unload our stuff at the boat
and then move you car around the corner. Capt Leigh was our boat Capt for the
day. Her hubbie, who's been our Capt for years, was on vacation in Rotan
(though life)! Well, the first dive was called "Leigh's Reef". It was just
part of the Jupiter Ledges. This was an awesome dive. The vis was good. There
were fish all over the place. The ledge went from about 65 feet at the top
down to 85 feet over a 50 ft range. This slope was covered with grunts. There
was a layer of grunts about 1 foot above the reef line for the entire length of
the dive. It was awesome.
We also saw at least one big Nurse Shark. She was under a ledge and scooted away after we stared at her for a while. During the dive, we saw one big (8 - 10 ft) Reef Shark (black tip??) about 50 ft in front of us. It was going from the bottom to the top of the reef just at our maximum visibility range. I'm glad it was that far away - this was a big shark! There were 2 green moray's (pictures a-coming), and 2 turtles (again, pictures a-coming). One small bug was pointed out, but it was way undersize. One diver from the other group spotted several bugs under a ledge. As it happens, the diver without any equipment see's the bugs.
Dive #2:
My Dive #416
A. Dive Boat / Location:
Adventure Scuba / Jupiter - Loggerhead
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
30 - 40 feet (pretty good vis, definitely not as good as the first dive.
Seas:
Less then 1 ft (with a recent passing hurricane, we were very worried about
having 6 ft plus seas)
Water Temp:
80 deg on the bottom - it's getting colder. I'm still wearing a skin and a
shortie.
Skies:
Sunny, Clear Blue Sky's - Typical of Florida!!
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 77 feet for 49 min, PO2 1.06, 32% NITROX
Air consumption:
Me: (120 cu ft), 3700 lbs to 1200 lbs. Yep, this time I came up with spare
air. I ran out of computer bottom time. I probably would have had more bottom
time if I used 36% instead of 32% NITROX.
Current:
Mild to the north.
Description:
Well, after an hour wait, we again entered the water. The first dive had the
NITROX divers go in first because they will stay down longer. The air divers
went in on the second group. This time, the air divers went in first as they
were up the longest. The NITROX divers went in second. This reef was much
shallower, not a pretty, not as much relief. But, it was a pretty reef. There
was not as much relief stricture, just random spots of reef line. It was still
a good dive. We saw one turtle, two green moray's and one small spotted moray.
We were playing with the 3 foot long spotted one for a while. They sure are
vicious - they'll go after anything. And again, there were lots of grunts all
over the reef line (along with a less amount of other typical tropical's)!
Last Updated: 20-Oct-2002