diving in Fla

Has anyone on this forum done any diving with Jim Abernathy off West Palm, Im going there next week and considering doing some diving on one of my days down there. Hows the Vis? and how are the reefs his service frequents? Give me some advise please and Thanks in advance! Visit My Website

Just back from there, 3 weeks ago. I was only there for a single day of diving, then off to the carib.

Water was 72 F. I went with a 3 mil full with a 3 mil shorty over it and a beanie - it was NOT ENOUGH!

The water was rough and very windy so all but 2 cancelled for the day. They set up those that wanted to go with a boat by them and provided the divermaster/guide for them on that dive.

I got feedback later on that dive. LOTS of blacktips and nurse sharks (30-40 ) and a really nice dive once under the waves. A cold windy interval however with constant 20 mph winds and 65 degrees. I was told the viz was good but I do not have a figure for you.

I went for the Blue Heron Bridge instead and had Laz as my personal guide. That was a lovely dive with 2 manatee, several octopus, seahorse, various bottom dwellers. Its a different kind of dive - no coral, its a muck dive but a fun one.

You cannot beat it for a shore dive. You can do it unguided but I think it was WELL worth the $100 to have Laz find all the creatures for me and point them out. I would never have found most of them.

You can only do the bridge at high tide to have little current and good viz. Our viz was maybe around 50 ft. Its a dive in 10-20 ft of water. The tide determines the finish time.

Get GOOD directions to their dive shop and write them. They have NO SIGN yet so its VERY easy to miss. I was sitting in their parking lot trying to figure out where they were...and I was parked in front of their door! You have to sort of guess which door to open to find them.

Get to the boat early as the roads there are not clear by the boat and you can drive around a few minutes first. Once you find the dive shop, the way to the boat is easy and they can direct you.

Their shop has no dive products for sale so come equiped. They do rent gear, etc. I rented the 3 shorty there.

I thought they were all great to work with and would again in a heartbeat.

Hope that helps.

Dave

I see that my entry had one point that was not clear. Jim A's had their dive guide join the other boat with the Jim A. divers. The boats were combined since there were not enough divers on either alone.

I did not get on either boat but both seemed well set up for diving and I would have been happy with either one.

Personally, in that area, for open water boat diving I prefer the diving in Jupiter, 20 mins further North. Jim's operation does not go up as far as Jupiter.

The Blue Heron Bridge in West Palm for shore diving is of course a different matter.

nice .... cool........

Has anyone on this forum done any diving with Jim Abernathy off West Palm, Im going there next week and considering doing some diving on one of my days down there. Hows the Vis? and how are the reefs his service frequents? Give me some advise please and Thanks in advance! Visit My Website

Well it was definitely worth the dive and drive to West Palm from Sunrise. We did two dives and yes there was a bit of chill to the water as I were a 3m suit and hood. Ill try to figure out how to post a couple of shots from the dive. Not a lot of coral but some intresting animals and critters were seen. I would definitely advise and recommend the service for those making a trip to S. Fla.

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