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Dive Review of Jupiter Dive Center/Jupiter Waterfront Inn in
The Continental USA/Jupiter, FL

Jupiter Dive Center/Jupiter Waterfront Inn: "Fine Goliath Aggregation Trip!", Oct, 2014,

by Richard J Lunsford Jr, KY, US (Contributor Contributor 14 reports with 12 Helpful votes). Report 7863.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Dive Op. Profile: Jupiter Dive Center. Strongly reputable op. often mentioned on ScubaBoard, which is where I heard of it. Has a dive shop where you can rent HP Steel 120’s with Nitrox (EAN 36 was provided, a fine choice for the dives we did), 2-tank boat trips (looks like Saturdays & Sundays often offer morning and afternoon trips, although I never tried to do both and judging from the times we tended to get back, I doubt it’d be feasible to consistently do both trips every day, if you even wanted to do 4 dives with those profiles per day). They do some 3-tank trips; judging from their online scheduling map looks like that’s mainly Friday and Sunday. On a 7 day trip, diving 6 of them, with a 3-tank trip in there somewhere, you can probably get 13 dives in (maybe 14?). I did 10 dives in 5 days, spent one with family then flew home. They rent sizes besides 120’s.

Dive Day Work-flow (for morning dives): Shop opens at 8 a.m.; I got there around that time. Wife pulled around behind the shop & dropped me & gear off by the benches area at the head of the dock. I go in, fill out the liability release, check in at the counter, pay $40 & tax ($42.40) for 2 EAN 36 HP steel tanks, analyze right there, print name & mix on tape & stick on tanks, haul them out to near the boat. Odds are I can get permission & board, pick a spot, & get my BCD & reg. on a tank right away. I bought the ‘buy 5 trips, get 1 free’ deal the 1st day. I didn’t see a big ‘dry box’ (e.g. trunk or chest) up front for keeping things dry, so I bought a dry box for keeping my wallet & iPhone safe from water & blunt trauma. A shop staffer provided me a fin bag to help keep stuff together at no charge.

Depart around 9 a.m. I think we ran anywhere from 8 to 18 divers, tending towards about 13, but the boats (Republic IV and VII) are wide and comfortable, and dives didn’t feel like a mob scene. There are 3 crew; 1 Captain, 1 Deck Hand/1st Mate & 1 Guide (who pulls a float & flag via reel). T they have snacks (I saw bags of pretzels) and free cans of Pepsi & Diet Pepsi.

Staff professional, friendly & safety minded. Not valet diving; know how to assemble your own gear, and how much weight you need. Pretty easy diving but not what I recommend for people fresh out of OW class (Key Largo would be great for that).

I did 10 dives (2 afternoon, 8 morning). Seemed most dive briefings were '90 feet to the sand.' The Jupiter Wreck Trek (Zion, Ms. Jenny, Esso Bonaire) and the MG111 are the 2 wreck sites (& far & away best to see large numbers of goliath grouper close for photos) & the rest were reef. Reef dives were generally drift dives over sand moving along the outer edge of a long plateau of pretty flat rocky shelf, on which was coral growth, gorgonians, etc... Not as lush as the sloping walls of Bonaire, but saw some reef sharks & a couple of nurse sharks. Normally doesn't involve a thermocline, but upwellings can change that, & all 10 dives saw deep thermoclines (e.g.: could be around 60 or 70 feet deep, in the high 60's to mostly low 70's. Most people used wet suits. My max. depths were around 63 - 89 feet, average depths around 48 - 66 feet, dive times around 50 - 55+ minutes.

Some people spearfished or lobstered, but most did not.

The goliath grouper is seasonal, around August & September. I went 9-7-14 to 9-11-14. There's a lemon shark migration at a different time of year.
Websites Jupiter Dive Center   Jupiter Waterfront Inn

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Bonaire (8 1-week trips), Key Largo (1 trip, 20 dives), Cruise ship stops in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Lucia, Cozumel, Costa Maya & Grand Cayman. Local quarry.
Closest Airport Palm Beach Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas
Water Temp 68-84°F / 20-29°C Wetsuit Thickness
Water Visibility 50-50 Ft/ 15-15 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile ?
Enforced diving restrictions Usual plan was a 45 minute dive for nitrox divers, descending as a group. I didn't hear anyone ask to dive apart, and it tended to be drift diving with some waves topside.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters N/A Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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Subscriber's Comments

By report author: Richard J Lunsford Jr in KY, US at Nov 11, 2014 17:47 EST  
One more tip. When I booked a room with Jupiter Waterfront Inn, I mentioned I was diving with Jupiter Dive Center and got a substantial discount.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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