Diving Across from the Park

Dianne and I met Luis on A1A across from Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. We planned to spend the day, and we did not leave the apartment until around 8:30 am. We got to the beach just as Luis was turning from Sunrise onto A1A and parked near Tower 15.

We walked a bit North of the Tower to enter the water for our first dive. There was a little wind, a slight current and a mild surf. The entry was easy. We then headed East, but with three people taking pictures, it was a logistical nightmare. I'd take a pictures and look around to find either Luis or Dianne setting up for a shot, so I'd find something else to shoot while I waited. I'm sure they were encountering the same thing. We spent over 80 minutes underwater and barely got on the reef. We saw and photographed eels and a lot of reef fish. We got separated from Dianne once, partly because she did not bring her compass and did not follow us to the East.

We spent well over an hour warming up before we made a second dive. This time, we entered from South of the Tower and we made it to the Eastern edge of the reef. Dianne left the camera in the truck since she could not both take pictures and keep track of Luis and I. We got separated from Luis on the way back and he somehow swam past us in the poor visibility. He got to the beach first while we were waiting for him at the surface near the swim buoys.

While I had tanks to make three dives, neither Dianne nor I were interested. We went home.