Jupiter Diving!!!

What a great trip! Dave, Marcus, Amy and I headed to Jupiter for 6 great dives on the reef there. We saw lots of turtles - including what Dave and Marcus reported as a Leatherback Turtle (we never got confirmation though, so we're still wondering if it was as big as they say).

First things first, we went over to Jupiter Dive Center and I wanted to say thanks to Gerry, Capt. Mike, DM Chris, DM Les and the crew for a great diving experience. I was impressed with the focus on safety and enjoyment that the crew provides on the boat. We went out on the Republic IV over two days and were very happy.

Five of the dives were on reefs and one was on three wrecks. The current was moving, so every dive was a drift dive. Even with this, Marcus and Dave were able to complete their Deep Diver certifications. Congrats!

For me, the highlight of the trip was the Manta Ray that swam with us for w while. I learned again why you should always put fresh batteries into the camera and the ray came in to swim with us and the camera died. Below is the video I did get however.



I was really surprised by one thing that happened on our last dive. We had descended down and as we were cruising the ledges, we saw a nurse shark. A older diver (who shall go nameless) came over to look at the shark and when he got close he pulled an old style dive knife that was about 12 inches long. I laughed when I saw him do that as the shark swam off and came nose to nose with a swimming turtle. We kept going and I saw another Nurse Shark under a ledge. I signalled the DM and dropped down to get some video. The same guy swam do on top of me, kicking my camera, took out his knife again and grabbed the shark's tail!!! So, I don't wish a shark bite on anyone, but if it had bit him, I wouldn't have been surprised. There he was shark tail in one hand, big knife in the other. What a goof! Oh well - you can't always pick who you go with.

We'll definitely be doing this trip again! Greg