Our Goal was Goliath Groupers

The Boynton Beach Goliath Grouper Dive on the Scubatyme boat did not disappoint!!  The day started off hot, as in typical Florida summer hot, with an ever-present threat of thunderstorms. We had a loaded boat of 12 Active Divers!!  The captain and crew got us loaded and on site with no issues.  Air temp was 90 and the water temp was 86 at the surface.

Dive #1: M/V Castor wreck - our goal was Goliath Groupers!! The Castor did not disappoint!!  The Castor is a 258ft Dutch freighter wreck sunk as an artificial reef. It sits in 110 ft of water.  This is an impressive wreck in and of itself.  It is covered in a variety of marine life.  Everywhere you looked, there were fish, eels, corals, and the star of the dive, Goliath Groupers!!! They were hanging around, and inside the wreck, they were such impressive animals with a great disposition.  Their curiosity let divers get close pics of them, and they glided elegantly about.  At one point, it was hard to know who was more interested in whom; divers looking at the Goliaths or the Goliaths looking at the divers!! And don’t forget about the large green moray eel!!  Oh, I almost forgot about the thermocline!!  As we descended the mooring line to the Castor, at about 70 ft, the beautiful 86-degree water began to chill.  In fact, it chilled down about a good 10 degrees!! This made the dive very refreshing, to say the least!!

Dive #2  - Boynton Caves. The captain picked this site due to the ominous thunder clouds to the west of us. We put in at the top of the reef and slid down to the west-facing side and followed it north.  There was only a slight current, so it required a lazy kick to move down the reef.

^{Grouper Divers aboard Scubatyme (from left) front row: Evy Brow, Angelica Cookson, Jonathan Hilliard, Jessica Bochenek. Middle row: Randy Sonntag, Ralph Doerner, Sam Bochenek, Cheri Craft. Back row: Steve Moore, Federico Quintana, Bruce Garber, Fabian Lago.} 

There wasn’t the extreme thermocline, but the water was definitely cooler overall on this dive.  Unbeknownst to us, topside the lightning was blowing up!! The captain later informed us that he was a little nervous, but we all came up during a window in all the action.  The trip back was uneventful, but it looked like the clouds were chasing us off the ocean. This dive complemented the first dive due to its relaxing conditions.  

Overall, the day goes down as a great dive day!!  Thanks to all the Active Divers who joined us!!

^{Happy Safety Officer Jonathan Hilliard enjoys the day!}