West Palm Beach Advanced Trip

Upcoming trips:

17 - 19 January 2015 (no night dive on this trip)
17 - 19 April 2015
12 - 14 September 2015
10 - 13 October 2015 (4-day, 3-night trip; up to 11 dives)

This trip is designed for divers completing their Advanced Open Water and Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty courses. All divers on this trip must be an Advanced Open Water Student or hold an Advanced Open Water rating and must have Nitrox certifcation (because we plan to make four dives on the second day). I also offer an open water trip.

Remember that you must have Divers Alert Network (DAN) Dive Accident Insurance. I also highly recommend dive travel insurance, which can be purchased from DAN or Dive Assure.

Prices:

Price per diver, double occupancy: $500
Diving only: $360
Non-diver: $110

Add-ons:

Certification fee: $50 per rating
Private room: $110
Additional 2-dive charter: $70

Includes:

7 dives (two day dives at the Blue Heron Bridge, 1 night dive at the Blue Heron Bridge, and two 2-dive charters with Pura Vida Divers)
2 nights stay at the Seaspray Inn, right on the beach
Tanks and weights
All scuba equipment for GT Scuba students
Equipment rental for non-GT student divers: 20% discount from Pura Vida Divers or weekend-long reg-BCD-wetsuit-bag package from Diver's Supply for $40

Diving West Palm Beach

The coral reefs in south Florida are almost as nice as Key Largo's but tend to have more large marine life such as sea turtles, rays, and sharks. The gulf stream current runs close to the south Florida coast so almost all of the boat diving is drift diving, in which the boat drops divers at the south end of a dive site and picks them up wherever they drift to at the end of their dives. While the entry can seem rushed sometimes, the diving is relaxed. You just float in the current until you reach your bingo air, ascend, and the boat comes to pick you up -- no navigating, no fighting the current.

While the drift diving is great, perhaps West Palm Beach's greatest attraction is The Blue Heron Bridge. The Blue Heron Bridge offers an easy walk-in shore dive with no current (if you time the tides right) and amazing sea life. On an Open Water certification trip we do the first three certification dives at the Blue Heron Bridge, the last certification dive on a drift diving boat, then take one more boat trip for additional experience and a chance to see reef sharks, turtles, wrecks, or more coral reefs depending on your preferences.

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Typical Itinerary

Day 1: Saturday

Arrive at Pura Vida Divers by 3:00 PM to pick up tanks for Blue Heron Bridge
Navigation and Search & Recovery adventure dives at Blue Heron Bridge
Night adventure dive with Pura Vida Divers' group night dive at Blue Heron Bridge

Day 2: Sunday

Two-dive boat charter for Deep and Peak Performance Buoyancy adventure dives
Two-dive boat charter for Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty dive

Day 3: Monday

Optional two-dive boat charter for experience dives

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Getting to West Palm Beach

The closest airport is Palm Beach International (PBI). Fort Lauderdale (FLL) is about an hour's drive. Delta has direct flights to both airports.
Driving takes about eight and a half hours from Atlanta to Seaspray Inn