Dive Reports

How do you describe a dive with low visibility, lots of trash in the water, rough conditions and a less than graceful exit from the water…? It was great! Andre and I ran across several old friends on the reef, including a small moray eel and a humongous scorpion fish, plus a ton of angelfish. The angels were all there: queens, french, and greys. The only angels missing were the rock beauties. We gathered plastic and paper garbage as we could, but the winner of the day was a dangerous grappling hook that André found. If you’re going out, be careful, the jellies were all around. Unfortunately the surge on top of the reef was terrible and conditions on shore had deteriorated to the point it was a messy exit. Regardless, it was a great day diving with our gay scuba club.

We had a great day of diving Saturday onboard Shark Bait with Aqualife Divers. Thanks to DM Skip, Capt Tom and Carlos for making the cold air bearable and the warm water inviting. The two wrecks are highlights of diving off Fort Lauderdale, but the poor Mercedes has seen better days. Her mid section has collapsed, the stern is tipped over, but the bow is sitting upright. (We all know the pain!) Other divers on Shark Bait reported seeing a Goliath Grouper, but it must have seen us coming and took off before we caught a glance. Even though we didn’t get any big hits on the critter butcket list, it was great to hit the water on a day when the air temperature made the water temperature seem like bath water. We all agreed that the better experience was diving the Captain Dan. Many parts of the ship are still intact with enticing swim-throughs and more coral growth than you can imagine. Of special interest to many was the presence of the non-native orange cup coral, also called the sun coral. It is one of the corals that does not depend on sunlight for nutrition, and is a voracious

It was another beautiful south Florida day to go diving, and we chose one of our favorite spots in front of the posh L’Auberge on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Though the parking is sparse, the beach access is awesome, and the walk is not too far. (The sand IS soft, so be careful to keep your balance.) André definitely won the eagle eye award for this dive, finding one of the biggest green sea turtles we’ve seen in the area, as well as lots of macro items like arrow crabs, coral banded shrimp and flame scallops nestled up in the crevices of the reef. We also ventured out into the sand to try and reach the first reef line, but had to turn back as a safety measure. While we were out there, we found live sea biscuits and the test from an arrowhead sand dollar. We also ran across the remnants of the old tire reef, which has become housing for some nice size spiny lobsters.

You know those days when the visibility isn’t great, the water is rough and you still have a great dive? Sunday was one of those days. We can’t say that the low viz allowed us to sneak up on the critters, but it sure seemed like it. We had a lot of fun with a curious triggerfish who followed us for most of the dive, and discovered a beautiful queen angelfish at the last rock on our way out of the water. For whatever reason she had decided that this rock belonged to her, and despite her skittishness when we approached, she wasn’t leaving it. The beach in front of L’Auberge has become one of our favorites, and we’ve even named it Andre I after our co-founder who suggested we try it out. (Andre I is a reference to Andrea I in Bonaire, if you didn’t catch that.) Can’t wait to dive here again, but hope the weather and visibility will cooperate.